Fall 2011 Gems & Gemology
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2011 ALL F Pallasitic Peridot Pallasitic Vietnamese Ruby and Sapphire CVD Synthetic Diamond and Amethyst Identification Synthetic Diamond Stamp Collection XLVII OLUME V GEMS & GEMOLOGY FALL 2011 PAGES 181–258 VOLUME 47 NO. 3 Because Public Education Happens At The Counter. GIA’s Retailer Support Kit and website EPHRAIM ZION of Dehres Limited handles more diamonds in a day than most people see in a lifetime. Here he discusses the power of reputation, global diamond investment and why a GIA report is vital to any business built on integrity. A $97.00 value, shipping and handling extra. What’s something most people don’t know about your job? It’s the only business in the world conducted on trust. You sell 1 to 5 million dollars just on the telephone, without even a signature. A diamond dealer’s most valuable asset? Reputation. Yes, you need a sense of artistic value and a knack for design, but GIA’s Retailer Support Kit has been developed to help the most essential part is integrity. You can’t survive without it. sales associates educate the public about diamonds, What has doing business in Hong Kong taught you about the Asian market? It’s one of the strongest in the world. Every day, there are new millionaires and new businesses. Asians are very investment-conscious. Diamonds are safer and more the 4Cs, and thoroughly explain a GIA grading report. profi table than money in a bank. Take full advantage of all that GIA has to off er by visiting All-time favorite purchase? Most recently, a 100+ ct. D FL. Incredible brilliance and scintillation. Such a beauty. People fell www.retailer.gia.edu down when they saw it. Did it arrive with a grading report? Ha, ha. GIA, of course. What responsible businessman, with a good reputation and name, would sell a diamond without a GIA report? Why is a GIA evaluation so important to one’s reputation? It’s the most reliable, authentic, dependable gem institute in To order your FREE kit, log on to www.retailer.gia.edu the world. People know that, especially in the Far East. Remember what I said about reputation? A GIA report is crucial. Business words to the wise? Selling is an idea game. The more knowledge you have, the more confi dence you feel. GIA gratefully acknowledges those who, for 80 years, have used our resources to further world expertise in gems. Invest in your success at www.gia.edu GGWI10 Fall 2011 Volume 47, No. 3 ® EDITORIAL 181 New Beginnings Jan Iverson FEATURE ARTICLES 182 Ruby and Sapphire from the Tan Huong–Truc Lau Area, Yen Bai Province, Northern Vietnam Carat Points Nguyen Ngoc Khoi, Chakkaphan Sutthirat, Duong Anh Tuan, Nguyen Van Nam, Nguyen Thi Minh Thuyet, and Nguy Tuyet Nhung Although not as well known as the Luc Yen district, this area is an important source of ruby and sapphire suitable for cabochons, including star ruby. NOTES & NEW TECHNIQUES pg.182 196 Infrared Spectroscopy of Natural vs. Synthetic Amethyst: An Update Stefanos Karampelas, Emmanuel Fritsch, Triantafillia Zorba, and Konstantinos M. Paraskevopoulos High-resolution FTIR analysis can provide a conclusive determination of the natural or synthetic origin of amethyst. 202 Exploring the Origin and Nature of Luminescent Regions in CVD Synthetic Diamond Bert Willems, Alexandre Tallaire, and Julien Barjon Blue to blue-green luminescent zones, seen in the DiamondView instrument, reveal the growth history of some CVD synthetic diamonds. 208 Identification of Extraterrestrial Peridot by Trace Elements Andy H. Shen, John I. Koivula, and James E. Shigley LA-ICP-MS analysis offers an excellent means of separating meteoritic peridot pg. 218 from the earthly form. 214 A History of Diamonds through Philately: The Frank Friedman Collection Stuart D. Overlin Diamond history is chronicled in a collection of stamps and postal material. REGULAR FEATURES 220 2011 Challenge Winners 222 Lab Notes Large clinohumite • Black diamond colored by plastic deformation • Coated black diamond • Pink- coated diamond with natural spectroscopic features • Untreated diamonds with high strain • Subtle HPHT color enhancement • Luminescent cleavage • Large HPHT-annealed pink • CVD synthetic dia- monds from Gemesis • Treated pink synthetic diamonds • Cultured pearls with plastic bead nuclei • Large conch pearl • Be-diffused pink sapphire • High Be in blue sapphires • Green sapphires with different chromophores 234 Gem News International Greenish brown diamonds with color shift • Afghanite from Afghanistan • Ammonite from Mada - gascar • Aquamarine from Vietnam • Chalcedony from Peru • Afghan emerald mining • Fuchsite-rich pg. 232 rock • Color-change garnet from Tanzania • Colorless gems from Myanmar • Nuummite from Mauri - tania • Blue opal from Mexico • Freshwater cultured pearl beads • Quartz with spessartine inclusions • Pink cat’s-eye quartz • Rhodochrosite carving • Sapphire and zircon from Ethiopia • Sapphire min- ing in Sri Lanka • Green cat’s-eye spodumene from Brazil • Color-zoned topaz • Variscite from Peru • Corundum and lead glass triplet • Glass triplet resembling “mystic topaz” • A jewel that survived 9/11 258 Book Reviews/Gemological Abstracts Online Listing www.gia.edu/gandg EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Editor and Technical Specialist Managing Editor STAFF Jan Iverson Brendan M. Laurs Thomas W. Overton [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Associate Editor Editors, Lab Notes Editor, Gem News Stuart D. Overlin Thomas M. Moses International [email protected] Shane F. McClure Brendan M. Laurs Editors, Gemological Abstracts Contributing Editor Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Brendan M. Laurs James E. Shigley Alice S. Keller Thomas W. Overton Editors, Book Reviews Circulation Coordinator Susan B. Johnson Martha Rivera Jana E. Miyahira-Smith (760) 603-4000, ext. 7142 Thomas W. Overton [email protected] PRODUCTION Art Director Image Specialist G&G Online: STAFF Nanette Newbry Kevin Schumacher gia.metapress.com Studio 2055 k [email protected] EDITORIAL Ahmadjan Abduriyim Emmanuel Fritsch Robert E. Kane Kenneth Scarratt REVIEW BOARD Tokyo, Japan Nantes, France Helena, Montana Bangkok, Thailand Shigeru Akamatsu Jaroslav Hyršl Lore Kiefert James E. Shigley Tokyo, Japan Prague, Czech Republic Lucerne, Switzerland Carlsbad, California Edward W. Boehm A. J. A. (Bram) Janse Michael S. Krzemnicki Christopher P. Smith Chattanooga, Tennessee Perth, Australia Basel, Switzerland New York, New York James E. Butler E. Alan Jobbins Thomas M. Moses Wuyi Wang Washington, DC Caterham, UK New York, New York New York, New York Alan T. Collins Mary L. Johnson Mark Newton Christopher M. Welbourn London, UK San Diego, California Coventry, UK Reading, UK John L. Emmett Anthony R. Kampf George R. Rossman Brush Prairie, Washington Los Angeles, California Pasadena, California SUBSCRIPTIONS Copies of the current issue may be purchased for $29.95 plus shipping. Online subscriptions are $74.95 for one year (4 issues). Combination print + online subscriptions are $139.95 in the U.S. and $160 elsewhere for one year. Canadian subscribers should add GST. Discounts are available for group subscriptions, renewals, GIA alumni, and current GIA students. For institutional rates, contact the Managing Editor. Subscriptions include G&G’s monthly gemological e-newsletter, the G&G eBrief. To purchase subscriptions and single issues (print or PDF), visit store.gia.edu or contact the Circulation Coordinator. PDF versions of individual articles and sections from Spring 1981 forward can be purchased at gia.metapress.com for $12 each. Visit gia.edu/gandg for free online access to the 1934–2010 subject and author index and all 1934–1980 issues. DATABASE Gems & Gemology’s five-year impact factor (for 2005–2009) is 1.737, according to the 2010 Thomson Reuters Journal COVERAGE Citation Reports (issued June 2011). Gems & Gemology is abstracted in Thomson Reuters products (Current Contents: Physical, Chemical & Earth Sciences and Science Citation Index—Expanded, including the Web of Knowledge) and other databases. For a complete list of sources abstracting G&G, go to gia.edu/gandg. MANUSCRIPT Gems & Gemology welcomes the submission of articles on all aspects of the field. Please see the Guidelines for Authors at SUBMISSIONS gia.edu/gandg or contact the Managing Editor. Letters on articles published in Gems & Gemology are also welcome. Abstracting is permitted with credit to the source. Libraries are permitted to photocopy beyond the limits of U.S. copyright law COPYRIGHT for private use of patrons. Instructors are permitted to photocopy isolated articles for noncommercial classroom use without AND REPRINT fee. Copying of the photographs by any means other than traditional photocopying techniques (Xerox, etc.) is prohibited with- out the express permission of the photographer (where listed) or author of the article in which the photo appears (where no pho- PERMISSIONS tographer is listed). For other copying, reprint, or republication permission, please contact the Managing Editor. Gems & Gemology is published quarterly by the Gemological Institute of America, a nonprofit educational organiza- tion for the gem and jewelry industry. Postmaster: Return undeliverable copies of Gems & Gemology to GIA, The Robert Mouawad Campus, 5345 Armada Drive, Carlsbad, CA 92008. Our Canadian goods and service registration number is 126142892RT. Any opinions expressed in signed articles are understood to be opinions of the authors and not of the publisher. ABOUT Pallasite is a stony iron meteorite that contains areas of gem olivine (peridot). In this issue, Dr. Andy H. THE COVER Shen and coauthors demonstrate the separation of pallasitic from terrestrial peridot by LA-ICP-MS analysis. The pallasite slab is courtesy of Robert A. Haag (The MeteoriteMan, Tucson, Arizona). The 4.3-cm-tall peri- dot crystal from Myanmar is courtesy of William Larson (Palagems.com, Fallbrook, California). The 17.53 ct trillion and the 20.25 ct square antique cushion, both from Pakistan, were faceted and supplied by Stephen M. Avery (Colorado). The crystal and cut stones have been enlarged approximately 10% relative to the palla- site slab. Photo by Robert Weldon. Color separations for Gems & Gemology are by Pacific Plus, Carlsbad, California.