Gemstones Flashcards

1
Q

Amber

A
Amorphous 
Isotropic
Hardness - 2 1/2
Stability - Poor
Toughness - Poor 
Resinous Lustre
Locality - Baltic Sea, Dom Rep and Mexico
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2
Q

Beryl - Emerald

A
Hexagonal - Uniaxial 
Anisotropic
Beryllium aluminium silicate
Hardness - 7 1/2
Stability - Fair
Toughness - Poor
Colouring element - Chromium and sometimes vanadum
Locality - Columbia, Brazil, India, Pakistan, Siberia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe
CCF - Pink or red
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3
Q

Beryl - Aquamarine

A
Hexagonal - Uniaxial 
Anisotropic
Colouring element - Iron 
Hardness - 7 1/2
Stability - Good
Toughness - Good
Locality - Brazil, Kenya, Madagascar, Burma, Nigeria, Ural Mountains, Sri Lanka, USA, Zambia, Zimbabwe
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4
Q

Beryl - Heliodor

A
Hexagonal - Uniaxial 
Anisotropic 
Hardness - 7 1/2
Stability - Good
Toughness - Good
Colouring element - Iron
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5
Q

Other Varieties of Beryl

A
Morganite - Peach/pink
Red Beryl - AKA Bixbite, locality USA, colouring element manganese
Goshenite - colourless, USA
Brown Beryl 
Pezzottaite - pink/red
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6
Q

Beryl - Synthetic

A
FLUX MELT INCLUSIONS
Twisted veils - flux droplets in healed fractures
platinum inclusions from crucible 
HYDROTHERMAL INCLUSIONS
Spiky nail head cavities capped with crystals
zigzag zones
heat haze like structure
growth marks
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7
Q

Chrysoberyl

A
Orthorhombic - Biaxial 
Beryllium aluminium oxide 
Colouring element - Iron
Hardness - 8 1/2
Stability - Very Good
Toughness - Excellent to Good
Three way triling gives psuedohexagonal habit 
Localities - Brazil, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Burma, Zimbabwe
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8
Q

Chrysoberyl - Cats Eye

A

Caused by fine parallel needles or hollow tubes

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9
Q

Chrysoberyl - Alexandrite

A
Colouring Element - Chromium 
Red in Tungsten and candlelight
Green in Daylight
Locality - Brazil 
Dichroscope - traffic light - Red, orange, green
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10
Q

Corundum - Ruby

A
Trigonal - Uniaxial 
Aluminium Oxide 
Birthstone - July 
Colouring element - Chromium 
Hardness 9 
Stability - Very Good
Toughness - Excellent
Localities - Burma, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Vietnam 
CCF - Red
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11
Q

Corundum - Sapphire

A
Trigonal - Uniaxial 
Aluminium Oxide 
Birthstone - September
Colouring element - Titanium and Iron 
Hardness 9 
Stability - Very Good
Toughness - Excellent
Localities - India, Burma, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, USA, Australia
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12
Q

Corundum - Synthetic

A

VERNEUIL FLAME FUSION INCLUSIONS
Curved growth lines
gas bubbles
FLUX MELT INCLUSIONS
flux filled cavities and healed fractures
platinum platelets
flux particles arranged in steamer or comet like patterns

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13
Q

Feldspar - Moonstone

A
Monoclinic - Biaxial 
Potassium aluminium silicate 
Birthstone - June
Hardness - 6 
Stability - Good
Toughness - Poor
Localities - Sri Lanka, India, Burma
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14
Q

Feldspar - Labradorite

A
Triclinic - Biaxial 
Calcium, sodium aluminium silicate 
aka Spectrolite
Hardness - 6 
Stability - Good
Toughness - Poor
Localities - Australia, Canada, Finland
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15
Q

Feldspar - Sunstone

A

Triclinic - Biaxial
Spangles effect caused by platy inclusions
hematite plates

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16
Q

Feldspar - other

A

AMAZONITE - microcline, colarado
OREGON SUNSTONE - pale yellow/pink, Oregon
ORTHOCLASE - colourless to yellow, Madagascar