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 Post subject: Re: blue quartz
PostPosted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 3:26 am 
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Can someone steer me to a reference of facet quality natural blue quartz?

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 Post subject: Re: blue quartz
PostPosted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 9:06 am 
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As far as I am aware there is no facet quality blue quartz. There is only synthetic blue quartz or clear rock crystal full of blue inclusions (This is not strictly speaking blue quartz)


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 Post subject: Re: blue quartz
PostPosted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:44 pm 
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Thanks, that was my point in asking the question.

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 Post subject: Re: blue quartz
PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 2:13 pm 
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There *are* natural blue agates and chalcedony, but of course being microcrystalline it is not what one would generally consider 'facet grade'. Nevertheless, some is quite translucent and can be faceted to good effect (particularly some of the material from Malawi and Peru).


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 Post subject: Re: blue quartz
PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 3:39 pm 
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I recall years ago I had a piece of what was dubbed as "massive blue quartz". It was a very pleasing denim blue but i suspect the color was due to inclusions of some sort. No idea of the source.

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 Post subject: Re: blue quartz
PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 9:16 pm 
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allen wrote:
Can someone steer me to a reference of facet quality natural blue quartz?


No. I have some dumortierite in a nice blue shade but it's not transparent. Here's a helpful reference on the topic:
http://www.quartzpage.de/blue.html

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 Post subject: Re: blue quartz
PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 12:13 am 
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Thx for the link ROM, again, lol! I knew I had seen reference of facetable blue quartz somewhere! Have never seen any in hand! But I knew it was due to inclusions though and not a chromophore. One can somewhat see this effect in some of the staring rose quartz from I believe Brazil as well, it will have blue tinting and/or flashes. If not for the pink coloring it would actually be blue, hehe.

Of course there are bluish and even purple chalcedony that can be faceted! Most of the blue chalcedony is gem silica though, seems to always get mixed up, lol. But it is still not totally transparent like one thinks, more of a glowing appearance, but still quite attractive. I have some purple here I will be faceted some of eventually!

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 Post subject: Re: blue quartz
PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 12:54 am 
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Swishman wrote:
Of course there are bluish and even purple chalcedony that can be faceted! Most of the blue chalcedony is gem silica though, seems to always get mixed up, lol. But it is still not totally transparent like one thinks, more of a glowing appearance, but still quite attractive. I have some purple here I will be faceted some of eventually!

It's macrocrystalline quartz vs. cryptocrystalline quartz. There's no doubt some of the cryptos/chalcedonies can be faceted but my personal preference is to cab them. They're simply not sufficiently transparent to bounce light around the way faceted gems should but the "glow" and saturation are fantastic in cabbed stones.

While my heart sinks every time I see a faceted chrysoprase or fine purple Indonesian chalcedony (a terrible waste of beautiful gem material for no real benefit in my opinion) I realize that tastes and preferences vary. Some people even think black diamonds are the bees'-knees!

Bottom line: to date no single-crystal chromophorically blue quartz has been discovered. If they can make it in a lab, so can Nature, which probably has done so somewhere, some time. We just haven’t found it yet.

Natural quartz that can be treated to yield blue facetable stones has been found as documented here: http://www.nordskip.com/bluequartz.html

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 Post subject: Re: blue quartz
PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 1:36 am 
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Thanks for the link Rom, my post was quite tongue in cheek. I did not know that this material existed.

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 Post subject: Re: blue quartz
PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:34 am 
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Hi Tim
Whilst ratting thru my collection of odd-ball gemstones I found an imitation amethyst doublet (or triplet) which I had cut ages ago. It is synthetic white spinel with a purple adhesive which I aligned with the girdle. Such faceting rough blocks of material were readily available then. Probably you could buy the same with quartz today if you knew where to get it.
Allano


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 Post subject: Re: blue quartz
PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:00 pm 
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Don't you think it would be a little eccentric in today's world to make a doublet when you could by synthetic for 10¢ a carat?


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 Post subject: Re: blue quartz
PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 3:18 pm 
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Barbra Voltaire wrote:
Don't you think it would be a little eccentric in today's world to make a doublet when you could by synthetic for 10¢ a carat?


Not to Viktor Kämmerling...


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 Post subject: Re: blue quartz
PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:43 pm 
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It's still very eccentric.


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 Post subject: Re: blue quartz
PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:27 pm 
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A little eccentricity is a good thing in today's world. It makes the gasoline engine work & keeps gemologists on the alert and always in demand.
Allano


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