Gemological ABSTRACTS 2002
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Gemological ABSTRACTS 2002 EDITOR COLORED STONES AND A. A. Levinson ORGANIC MATERIALS University of Calgary Characterization of beryl (aquamarine variety) by Mössbauer Calgary, Alberta, Canada spectroscopy. R. R. Viana, G. M. da Costa, E. De Grave, H. Jordt-Evangelista, and W. B. Stern, Physics and REVIEW BOARD Chemistry of Minerals, Vol. 29, No. 1, 2002, pp. 78–86. Five aquamarine samples were analyzed by Mössbauer spec- Anne M. Blumer troscopy to find a correlation between their dark blue to green- Bloomington, Illinois ish blue colors and the locations of iron atoms in the beryl Jo Ellen Cole structure. An asymmetric Fe2+ doublet was observed in the Vista, California spectra of all samples at room temperature. The asymmetry is D. Darmour related to a relaxation process involving Fe2+ ions and water GIA Gem Trade Laboratory, Carlsbad molecules in structural channels. At higher temperatures, the Vladislav Dombrovskiy spectra indicated at least two Fe2+ components. At very low GIA Gem Trade Laboratory, Carlsbad temperatures, the spectra of a deep blue specimen showed that 2+ 2+ R. A. Howie Fe was in structural channels. Fe also occupied octahedral Royal Holloway, University of London and tetrahedral sites, whereas Fe3+ was only located in the octa- hedral site. The authors conclude that the color of green-to-blue Alethea Inns 3+ GIA Gem Trade Laboratory, Carlsbad beryls is determined by the relative proportions of Fe in the octahedral sites and of Fe2+ in the channels. Thus, deep blue Taijin Lu beryls have little Fe3+, whereas greener beryls have more octahe- GIA Research, Carlsbad dral Fe3+ or less channel Fe2+. AI Wendi M. Mayerson GIA Gem Trade Laboratory, New York The enhancement techniques of pearls. G. Shouguo and S. Kyaw Soe Moe Lingyum, Journal of the Gemmological Association of GIA Gem Trade Laboratory, Carlsbad Hong Kong, Vol. 22, 2001, pp. 32–36. Joshua Sheby This article gives a short but very informative overview of sev- GIA Gem Trade Laboratory, New York eral techniques used to enhance the appearance and value of James E. Shigley Chinese freshwater and saltwater cultured pearls. Details are GIA Research, Carlsbad given of the procedures used for dyeing, bleaching, polishing, Russell Shor and adding luster to cultured pearls by immersing them in GIA, Carlsbad chemicals. Jana E. Miyahira-Smith GIA Education, Carlsbad Maha Tannous This section is designed to provide as complete a record as practi- GIA Gem Trade Laboratory, Carlsbad cal of the recent literature on gems and gemology. Articles are selected for abstracting solely at the discretion of the section edi- Rolf Tatje tor and his reviewers, and space limitations may require that we Duisburg University, Germany include only those articles that we feel will be of greatest interest Christina Taylor to our readership. GIA Gem Trade Laboratory, Carlsbad Requests for reprints of articles abstracted must be addressed to the author or publisher of the original material. Lila Taylor Santa Cruz, California The reviewer of each article is identified by his or her initials at the end of each abstract. Guest reviewers are identified by their full Paige Tullos names. Opinions expressed in an abstract belong to the abstrac- GIA Gem Trade Laboratory, Carlsbad ter and in no way reflect the position of Gems & Gemology or GIA. Sharon Wakefield © 2002 Gemological Institute of America Northwest Gem Lab, Boise, Idaho 280 GEMOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS GEMS & GEMOLOGY FALL 2002 Of particular interest are the many chemical formula- schaft, Vol. 50, No. 2, 2001, pp. 95–108 [in German tions and “recipes” for cultured pearl enhancement, as well with English abstract]. as the temperatures at which the enhancements are per- Lapis lazuli, one of the oldest gem materials used in jewelry, formed and the length of time they must remain in the var- is revered for its deep blue color. It is an aggregate (a rock) ious solutions. For example, one bleach solution is identi- mainly composed of lazurite, but additional minerals such fied as hydrogen peroxide + chloroform + 3-ethanol-amine + as diopside, calcite, and pyrite are usually present. 12-alkyl sodium sulfate + Britton-Robison buffer solvent. Commercially important mines are located in Afghanistan, The concentration of hydrogen peroxide is usually Chile, and Russia. Because lapis lazuli is such an important 2%–4%, and the recommended bleaching temperature is gem, it has several imitations, both natural (e.g., sodalite) 30°–35°C. The bleaching time for light-colored cultured and man-made (e.g., “Gilson synthetic lapis” and certain pearls is two to three days, but at least 10 days are required ceramic materials). Some of the imitations cannot be distin- for dark-colored varieties. Twelve illustrations comple- guished from the natural material by macroscopic appear- ment the text and show how the pearls are harvested, sort- ance alone. This article summarizes the distinguishing ed, and subjected to some of the treatments. LT properties of natural lapis lazuli and its imitations. When unset, natural lapis lazuli may be identified by Five centuries of Mexican pearls. D. M. Moreno and E. A. refractive index and/or specific gravity measurements, fol- Castillo, Australian Gemmologist, Vol. 21, No. 5, lowed by a microscopic study. When set in jewelry or fash- 2002, pp. 190–201. ioned as an objet d’art, a sample must undergo additional The history of the Mexican pearl industry in the Gulf of or advanced testing, such as infrared spectroscopy. California, on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, is reviewed. Details Claudia S. D’Andrea are given of the development of the pearl-culturing indus- try responsible for creating the Sea of Cortez™ bead-nucle- ated cultured pearl. The history of cultured pearls world- wide is described, and the pervasive influence of the DIAMONDS Japanese pearl-culturing industry is outlined. Innovative Growth habit of needle crystals in coats of coated dia- Mexican methods used to produce loose (whole) cultured monds. N. Shimobayashi and M. Kitamura, Journal pearls from the indigenous rainbow-lipped pearl oyster of Mineralogical and Petrological Sciences (Japan), (Pteria sterna) are described, together with the unique fea- Vol. 96, No. 5, 2001, pp. 188–196. tures of the pearls cultured in this bivalve. The farming is In coated diamonds from the Democratic Republic of claimed to have a positive environmental impact on the Congo (Zaire), the coatings were found to consist of an Gulf of California. RAH aggregate of acicular diamond crystals over an octahedral single-crystal core. The tips of the acicular crystals in the Iridescence of a shell of the abalone Haliotis rufescens coatings are bounded by curved {100} faces (or cuboids) caused by diffraction. Y. Liu, K. N. Hurwit, and J. E. with small {111} (octahedral) faces, showing a distinct sec- Shigley, Journal of Gemmology, Vol. 28, No. 1, tor zoning in cathodoluminescence brightness. This char- 2002, pp. 1–5. acteristic form of the acicular crystals is interpreted to be a The strong iridescence observed in the shell of the abalone result of the co-precipitation of inclusions, and of rapid Haliotis rufescens is a result of the diffraction of light by growth controlled by kinetic roughening of the octahedral microscopic aragonite tiles that are arranged in a statistical- faces and kinetic smoothing of the cuboid faces. RAH ly regular pattern. This specific tile structure serves as a two-dimensional reflection grating. However, the irides- In praise of diamond fluorescence. R. B. Drucker, cence found in bivalve mollusk shells (e.g., from mussels Jewelers’ Circular Keystone, Vol. 173, No. 5, 2002, and oysters) results from a finer-scale micro-groove struc- pp. 124–130. ture that serves as a single reflection grating. The irides- Until 20 years ago, diamond fluorescence was regarded as cence caused by this structure in bivalve shells is direction- an asset, in that it was the origin of the color term blue- al and cannot be observed along the groove direction, white. Although this term was banned by the Federal whereas that from the two-dimensional structure can be Trade Commission in 1938, fluorescent diamonds still observed in any direction. This difference partially explains traded at a premium. That changed in the late 1970s, the more subtle colors observed in bivalve shells compared when buyers in the Far East began rejecting strongly fluo- to the brilliant hues seen in abalone shell. JEC rescent stones, especially in the top colors. Since then, flu- orescent diamonds have traded at a discount, currently Lapis lazuli—Eigenschaften und Vorkommen, Imitationen 3%–6% for the more strongly fluorescent blue varieties. A und künstliche Eigenschaftsveränderungen [Lapis recent study (see Winter 1997 Gems & Gemology, pp. lazuli—Properties and occurrences, imitations and 244–259) noted fluorescence in 35% of diamonds. Of treatments]. U. Henn and C. Braun, Gemmologie: those that fluoresced, 62% were medium to very strong; Zeitschrift der Deutschen Gemmologischen Gesell- and of those, 97% were blue. GEMOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS GEMS & GEMOLOGY FALL 2002 281 This article emphasizes that blue fluorescence in a col- Fine Gems International (FGI) of Helena, Montana. Other orless diamond can, in many cases, make the diamond assets of the original AGC operations (e.g., the heat treat- appear to be better in overall color appearance than it actu- ing facilities, and the mine and processing facilities at ally is. Therefore, the discount compared to nonfluores- Rock Creek) were sold separately to others. cent diamonds is unjustified (except in the case of “over- FGI, which has a large stock of precision-cut, calibrated blues” and stones with yellow fluorescence). The author sapphires mostly in the 2–5 mm size categories, hopes to believes that retailers have missed many opportunities to finally bring Montana sapphires to the mainstream market promote the positive aspects of diamond fluorescence and by developing new lines with manufacturers and designers.