Identifying gemstones with a microscope

All amateur gemologists would agree with me when I say that, at present the greatest challenge in the field of gemology is to identify heat treated and fractured filled gemstones. Especially rubies, sapphires and emeralds. Being the top three selling gemstones it becomes all the more important to detect the treatments in them.

The article "Under the Microscope" by Julie Nash and Arthur Skuratowicz from Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America (MJSA) gives us a wonderful insight in identifying the treatments like , laser drilled holes, fracture filling,HPHT and irradiation in diamonds,glass filled and heat treated rubies ,fracture filled emeralds,etc. There`s even a small article in how to handle a microscope.Even the self explaining microscope photos are worth a glance.



Herea a small para from the article...

"Preventing misidentification of gems is not just a case of identifying the variety and species of gemstone. In our current business climate, it's also important to identify the treatments that gems have undergone. Many of these treatments are considered routine in our industry, yet consumers are often shocked to discover that their emerald has been fracture filled, or their tanzanite heat-treated. Full disclosure of all gem treatments is necessary and often required by the Federal Trade Commission"....to read more click here

Gold to cross $850!!

There are some of the best links below which says gold is quite stable around 800$ and it will soon cross the $900 and $1000 mark!

Gold dipped but held firm above $800 an ounce on Monday because of surging oil and prices and a weak U.S. dollar and dealers said strong fundamentals could help the metal retest a record high of $850 soon....to read more click here

What has been interesting over the past few weeks is that each retreat by gold has been a tiny one, and almost immediately reversed by another upward surge of much greater size. This is in stark contrast to the experiences of the past three or four years. read more here

The next target for some is $850 and others are already preparing for $900. Kotak Commodity Services Ltd, for instance, says gold can easily top $900 soon... more

Victorian Influences in Indian Jewellery Design

The Victorian influence in India can be traced back to 1876 when Queen Victoria was crowned Empress of India (1876), thereby encouraging trade between the two continents.

The Indian exotic woods, bright-coloured silks, enamelled and gem encrusted Mughul jewellery, had a profound effect on the jewellery and decorative arts produced in England then. The Indian rose-cut garnet encrusted jewels and cloisonné enamels worked their way into English design. Likewise, Indian jewellery designs too borrowed from the Victorian.

Infact, even today, long after India got its independence, the inimitable touch of the Victorian can be found in the Indian Jewellery Industry. Both the exclusive designers & the big jewellery design houses in India, have been churning out Victorian jewellery collections year after relentless year. But, what the buyer gets is sometimes far from the traditional Victorian fare and can only be labelled ' Victorian-Style INDIAN' jewellery. The delicate and curvy Victorian motifs combined with Indian motifs are very popular in wedding and festive diamond jewellery today.

Listed below are a few design elements that are characteristic of the jewellery of the Victorian era (1837-1901):

1) Jewellery was mostly made in18 to 22 karat gold & whenever diamonds were to be set, they were invariably white metal would be used to enhance their intrinsic beauty.

2) Natural elements like flowers, trees, and birds were predominant in the design. Commonly used motifs were serpents (a symbol of eternity), love and song birds, love knots, clasped hands and miniatures.

3) Two of the most popular design techniques were 'CANNATILLE' and 'REPOUSSE'. Cannatille jewellery used twisted strands of gold wire wound into elaborate designs giving it a delicate look, while Repousse typically had solid forms with raised and fluted edges.

4) Besides Cannatille and Repousse, the other techniques used were 'Filigree', Die rolling and Engraving which gave the illusion of mass and size, while only using a minimum amount of precious metal.

5) The jewellery was often accented with seed pearls, turquoise and pink coral. Other gemstones used include blue zircon, "pinked" or heat treated topaz, amethyst, peridot, citrine, aquamarine, garnet, ruby, sapphire and emerald.

6) Natural materials such as tortoise shell, lava, ivory and vulcanite too were popular choices, especially for carved pieces, miniatures and cameos.

See pictures of Victorian Jewellery here

You can pick a piece of precious history this Diwali, a Victorian style necklace or earrings maybe!

Art of gemstone buying!

There are lots of points to be kept in mind before investing in gemstones. The popular belief that diamonds are forever and it gets up to 75% resale value, but coloured stones have no resale value is absolutely wrong. On the contrary investing in gemstones can be a profitable business if not just a hobby. For E.g.: A 3 carat Burmese (old Burma) Ruby which could be bought for around Rs.10000 per carat, now costs more than Rs.50000 Per carat. Simple reason: demand in increasing continuously but production is very limited. Nature’s resources are fast depleting. And the resources are also very scarce. All the good quality gemstones are already mined.

And moreover because of the improving technology, the treatments done on the new gemstones are getting more and more difficult to detect. As a result the natural untreated material is becoming rarer.

One should keep in mind the following points before investing in gemstones:

1) Learn to love gems for their beauty, portability, and privacy. Align yourself with a knowledgeable expert. This can be a dealer, a wholesaler, or a retail jeweler.
2) Do not buy a colored stone without a reputed gemological laboratory certificate. For amateur collectors, this is critical. Especially if the gemstone is of more value.
3) Try to get as much information as possible of a particular gemstone which you are going to buy.
4) Always go in for un-treated gemstones. Gemstones close to their natural state will be very rare in future.
5) Always buy from a reputed dealer or trusted source. Ask for a money-back guarantee for a initial period i.e. say 15 days. So that one can show the piece to some other expert and cross verify.

Happy buying!!

Gemological Institute of India have given a good article about how to buy a coloured gemstone. Must read for new shoppers!!

"Trust Mark" by AIGJTF

All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation have made a very good effort in organising the Jewellery industry where in gold rate and purity of gold/diamond jewellery is concerned.Jewellers would need to apply for the Trust Mark at AIGJTF and the member jewellers having the "Trust Mark" logo in their showroom would need to follow a standardised gold buying and selling rate. Also these showrooms would deemed to have the License for selling BIS ( Bureau of Indian Standards ) Hallmarked Jewellery . So the consumers can benefit from the uniformity of gold rates and stop worrying about being overcharged.

But, hang on , just read the fine print below that clearly says, Disclaimer: While stating that a member jeweller has been found to confirm to the strict standards prescribed by AIGJTF under "Trust Mark", GJF deos not assume nor is GJF deemed to assume any responsibility whatsoever with regard to the purity, content or quality of any product sold by such jeweller.

So in simple words, the consumer should always be careful when buying jewellery and AIGJTF cannot be held responsible or guarantee for any inferior goods sold by the jewellers having the "Trust Mark".

P.S : Having license to sell Hallmarked Jewellery does not necessarily means that all the jewellery in the particular showroom is Hallmarked Jewellery. Main reason for this is that its not practically possible to test and hallmark each small items in the showroom.

For more infomation visit www.gjf.in

Booming gold prices!!

Gold prices are sky rocketing. It has already breached the Rs.10000/- mark (per 10 Gms) and it looks like there s no stopping to it.Rs11000 in the near future should not be a surprise at all. In the international market gold has already crossed the 28 year high mark. And a race to all time high seems very near.Factors that lead to increase in gold price are mainly crude oil and Currency. Rupee to dollar rate has become very strong in the recent times. From around Rs 44- Rs45 it has come to Rs38-Rs39. Crude oil has crossed the all time high to 90$ per barrel. Better late than never. start investing gold and gain from a long term point of view. check out this link about the gold price.

http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/20071018/big-move-coming-in-gold-price.htm

Platinum the rare metal

Top 5 reasons Why platinum is not preferred metal in Indian jewellery market!

1) Its high melting point(1768 c) does not allow any bench worker to melt in the traditional melting furnace. It needs high resistant furnace to melt (other than gold melting furnace).

2) There are a handful of platinum manufacturers who manufacture platinum–diamond jewellery that to in bulk quantity. Thus the designs are fairly round the mill and individuals craving for unique designer jewellery cannot be compleatly satisfied.

3) Consumers in India, still buy jewellery on a large scale for investment rather than luxury. So it’s hard to get people think and pay for metal which compares to silver in colour and pay almost twice as gold.

4) The cost of production is very high because of its high value, low demand and high technology required to make it.

5) Platinum usually does not fetch a good cash buy back guarantee, which can be very hard on people buying for investment or want to change jewellery frequently.

Despite the above setbacks, platinum has been gaining popularity among the young genaration. In the near future we can only hope that a better manufacturing infrastructre will give the comsumer a larger variety and availabilty of platinum jewellery in the indian market.