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 Post subject: Gems that would be special, but for one crippling weakness
PostPosted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:40 pm 
I'm a bit of a genuine 'gem-noob' (diploma student), and have just waded into a group of coloured stone heavyweights with such a ridiculous thread idea, but hell, it might sink or swim.

Following on from the 'dream gems' and 'over-rated gems' threads that seem to capture people imaginations, I thought I'd ask a very hypothetical question for a bit of fun.

"If you could change one poor physical characteristic of one type of gem, what would it be?"

In less fanciful terms, I guess that roughly translates to:

"Which stone would be remarkable if it wasn't for one major weakness?"

I've always thought Sphalerite would be a sensational gem if it wasn't for that hardness. Some of the photos are breath-taking. Push it up to a bog-standard 7-7.5, and you have something special.

However, my favourite transparent facetted stone, from an aesthetic point of view (I tend to normally prefer obaque/translucent cabs and carvings - turquoise fanatic), is Kunzite. I wish that lovely unique and delicate lilac colour would stay forever :(


Last edited by Kyriakin on Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:43 pm 
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Saw sphene live and in person for the first time 4-8ct pieces at the Springfield show sunday, that would be an amazing stone if it were harder.

Breathtaking stuff.


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:14 pm 
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emeralds if they were clean and untreated, a beautiful gem, but just too fragile. :(


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:44 pm 
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How about some gorgeous apatites? 8)

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:25 pm 
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You guys already hit on a couple of mine: sphene and apatite :D

Sphene is absolutely incredible stuff, for those who haven't seen any. With dispersion higher than diamond, it really doesn't even look like a natural gem. When my wife first laid eyes on one that I had cut, she chided "I didn't think you cut synthetics anymore!" Soft or not, it is one of my favorite gems - particularly the bright yellowish-green stuff...

Another for me is kyanite - it can come in stunning sapphire blue colors. Its relative softness, perfect cleavage (in two directions), and tendency to fray make it a nightmare to cut and a difficult gem to utilize once cut.

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:13 am 
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I wish that good old pyrope garnet would have the brilliance and fire to make it better looking.

John

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:14 am 
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sticky11 wrote:
emeralds...too fragile.


Still way more usable then the other softies mentioned.

And even those...

This summer my tolerance to Moh lows went up a notch with a strand of fine fluorite :roll: beads.... the things looke so different from the usual $1/handful bead shop fare, I couldn't believe what they were! After a full summer of wear there are a couple of invisible scratches (maybe those even were there to begin with, dunno) - not a problem. I'll wait for allot more to accumulate before considering to re-polish them - perhaps even to a patterned 'satin' finish.

If a blue strand of similar quality would be there... or deep reddish purple .. or some of the interesting color patterns so admired in crystal form... I will not mind the price. Wouldn't go for faceted fluorite, but that's another story.


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:53 am 
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Whole multitude of stones:

Sphene - Wish it was at least 7 hardness. Fantastic stone!

Kyanite - Love the color! But the soft one way (Ive read everything from 4-5 hardness) & is usually, though not always included. Most stones are not cut very well.

Flourite - Just beautiful, but very soft.

Sphalerite - To soft.

Rhodochriste - Beautiful, but on the soft side.

Dioptase - Very rare faceted. Very small. Killer green color. Not real transparent. Soft.

Apatite - Same as above.

Emerald - Inclusions

Cinnabar - What a color. Way to soft.

Hauyne - So rare. So small. So beautiful.

Lazulite - Same as Hauyne. Also fairly soft.

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