For a long time, people have highly appreciated the beauty of sapphire. He was credited with magical properties and healed diseases with his help. Sapphire is also used to make a variety of jewelry. To buy a ring or brooch with a natural stone, you should know its properties.
Necessary
- - magnifier with 10x magnification;
- - color filter;
- - refractometer;
- - handheld source of ultraviolet color.
Instructions
Step 1
Identify a sapphire deposit. The origin of the stone determines the depth of its color. If you decide to buy a blue sapphire, choose from Kashmir, Burmese or Thai minerals - they are considered to be the most beautiful. For example, Kashmir stones (India) have a velvety cornflower blue color with a slight milky haze, while Burmese stones are ultramarine and noticeably darker. Sapphires from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) are light blue or almost colorless with visible needles inside the stone. The darkest natural sapphires are mined in Australia - they have a greenish tint and almost black, and therefore are rarely used in expensive jewelry.
Step 2
Choose a sapphire color. In addition to the traditionally blue sapphire, there are other precious stones: pink, orange, green, yellow. They are striking in color depth, inexpensive and look great in jewelry.
Step 3
Stop your choice on a rare stone color - "lotus color" (padparadscha). It contains juicy pink and orange colors at the same time, shades of which form unique weaves.
Step 4
Determine the naturalness of the stone. Authenticity can be checked in several ways: viewed with a color filter, artificial and ultraviolet lighting, and examined with a refractometer. The most noticeable sign of the naturalness of sapphire is the presence of peculiar inclusions similar to white needles. View them through a magnifying glass. If you see clusters of long or short needles located at an angle of 60 or 120 degrees to each other, you are looking at a natural mineral.
Step 5
You can study the stone with a filter that eliminates all light waves except red ones. Take a real Ceylon sapphire that contains chrome and look at it through a colored filter - the stone will turn red.
Step 6
To verify the natural origin of the stone, use special devices. If the light from an ultraviolet lamp is directed at the stone, the artificial sapphire will turn pale green, and the natural sapphire will never change its color under such conditions.
Step 7
The most accurate determination of the naturalness of a stone will be its study on a refractometer. If you have the opportunity, use this device to determine the refractive index of light and doubts will disappear.
