Sapphire is a gem that is famous for its alluring cornflower blue color due to the combination of iron and titanium in it. In ancient times, they were used to decorate the clothes of priests and noble gentlemen. Sapphire is still in demand today. How to distinguish a real stone from a fake?
Instructions
Step 1
Natural stones such as tanzanite and blue spinel are similar in color and internal content to sapphire. It is almost impossible to distinguish them visually. For this, there is a special device that measures the refraction of light. It's called a refractometer. With its help, the authenticity of some precious stones is determined. If you measure the refraction of light in sapphire, the index will be 1.76, for tanzanite - 1.7, for blue spinel - 1.72. After measuring, be sure to look at the stone in profile. If the stone has the same color above and below, then it is real.
Step 2
Sapphire is the second hardest stone after diamond, so jewelry similar to it cannot be compared with it. Like sapphire, many stones have a deep blue color. But, for example, spinel is too dark to be confused with it, tanzanite has a slightly reddish tint, and aquamarine resembles a sea wave in color.
Step 3
only a specialist is capable of counterfeiting.
Step 4
Sapphire is one of those gemstones that are of high purity. But the complete absence of inclusions suggests that they are trying to sell you a synthetic fake. When choosing a sapphire jewelry, pay attention to whether the IF (purity) level of this stone is fixed somewhere. The fact is that it is not defined for sapphires, and if the seller points you to specific data, then he is selling a non-natural stone.
