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 Post subject: Re: riddle: mysterious gem
PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 2:42 pm 
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It could most probably be black Opal (with blue color binding) or black Sapphire(which is also dark blue) ..where as in ancient times black Sulaimani Agate was referred as sacred stone, and of course black Jade/Jadeite might have been of some kind of mportance... :)

My guess is black Opal or black Sulaimani Agate


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 Post subject: Re: riddle: mysterious gem
PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 3:11 pm 
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cascaillou wrote:
The "lady in blue" isn't refeering to the virgin. Also, as Nicky pointed out, the stone must be dark black.

Oh, ok. All I saw from Nicky was a guess at blue tourmaline.

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 Post subject: Re: riddle: mysterious gem
PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 4:12 pm 
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not opal, sapphire or agate.


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 Post subject: Re: riddle: mysterious gem
PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 4:32 pm 
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Help us with the god. If it is an uncommon gem we will never find out !


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 Post subject: Re: riddle: mysterious gem
PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 5:34 pm 
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I am as dark as the night,
from the depth of which
the lady in blue reminds me
of a god that binds us both.

who am I?


---------------------------------
I can't simplify things any further without giving away the all thing. Indeed let me tell you that it's actually an easy riddle as you don't need to be a gemologist to find out who is the lady, and then who is the god (I suspect that you're considering each verse individually which might be the reason why you can't find out).
Concerning the gem, it's rather uncommon but certainly not undocumented, and I'd be surprised if gemologists wouldn't have heard of it before.
---------------------------------


Last edited by cascaillou on Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:34 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: riddle: mysterious gem
PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 6:29 pm 
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I think it's fair to say it's either too vague or too clever.

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 Post subject: Re: riddle: mysterious gem
PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 7:34 pm 
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My riddle can be solved. Once, a collector indeed solved it rather quickly. As soon as you'll look at it under the right angle, things should immediately get quite obvious.


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 Post subject: Re: riddle: mysterious gem
PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 10:11 pm 
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Black: onyx: nope, that is a kind of agate
tourmaline: nope
sapphire: nope
spinel: nope
jade: unlikely
black opal: (good guess, but not)
smoky quarts: (not likely - if they are that black, they are probably radiated)
black diamond: (not likely - no depths in a black diamond)
hematite: (not likely - more silvery)
silicon carbine (not likely - no depths in it)
Diopside
Silliminite (not likely - a pretty unusual stone and more brown than any blue)
Obsidian (lady in blue indicates not, though perhaps peacock obsidian?)
labradorite / spectralite (has a blue flash, but no hint of a god anywhere)


Nope - I need a hint.


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 Post subject: Re: riddle: mysterious gem
PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 10:54 pm 
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It's none of the gems you suggested.

A simple note: you suggested spinel, but if that would have been spinel, then the poem would make no sense as it isn't true to say "Spinel is as dark as the night" (that's just like saying "Cats are white"). Indeed this riddle isn't anything like approximative or vague, and the whole poem formulation is deliberate.

Anyway, if you can't think directly of a stone that perfectly matches the poem, then try to figure out who is the mysterious lady instead. That really isn't a hard one if you take into consideration all the story around her.


Last edited by cascaillou on Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:35 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: riddle: mysterious gem
PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 11:05 pm 
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Spinel can certainly be as black as anything else.
Well, there is jet, I suppose.
It is pretty black, too.


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 Post subject: Re: riddle: mysterious gem
PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 11:13 pm 
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Spinel is not black. Spinel can be black. That's not the same thing.

I have to go to sleep now. Will come back later on.


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 Post subject: Re: riddle: mysterious gem
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 3:22 am 
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The other way round, it might be black Basalt with some kind of engraving of any blue lady, or could be a Black Marble, statue of lady, laying somewhere on a beach, or could be any kind of black schist stone.


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 Post subject: Re: riddle: mysterious gem
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:49 am 
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Your thinking is way too convoluted.

You need to guess a gem, that is to say a simple mineral name (not a rock). And at no point the poem is saying 'I am bluish'.

At last, the poem is built as a single sentence, but I'm under the impression that no one is considering the second verse as an important part of the story.


Last edited by cascaillou on Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: riddle: mysterious gem
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 12:14 pm 
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Black coral or black jasper.

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 Post subject: Re: riddle: mysterious gem
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 3:28 pm 
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Not coral or jasper.

This riddle is about a rare gem but still it is referenced in most gemological databases, and it's also well-known amongst minerals collectors, thus it's likely that you've at least heard of it.

Of course a poem is full of imagery, so obviously one has to extrapolate a bit: who could be the lady?


Last edited by cascaillou on Wed Sep 23, 2015 10:05 pm, edited 8 times in total.

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