Haematite is the mineral form of an iron oxide. It can be black to steel or silver-gray; brown to reddish brown; or red. It is mined as the main ore of iron.
BotryoidalHaematite (photo credit Harvard Museum of Natural History)
Gray hematite is typically found in places where there has been standing water or mineral hot springs. Haematite has also been discovered on Mars!
Haematite on Mars (photo credit NASA)
The name haematite is derived from the Greek word for blood ‘αἷμα haima’ as haematite can be red. It is used by jewellers in powdered form (with grease added) for fine polishing and is called rouge.
Red Haematite (Michigan)
Haematite is believed to have grounding properties. It is thought to help reduce the discomfort of leg cramps and broken bones. It is also thought to cleanse the blood, and help with blood-related diseases such as anaemia.
Haematite Sphere (photo credit Manchester Herbs)
There are some lovely haematite cabochons in my gemstone collection. If you’d like something beautiful made, let me know!
I have a very lovely mum and granny, who sometimes give me cash for birthday and Christmas presents with instructions to buy myself smithing tools. I have a little wish list (of course!), and one of the items on it was a disc cutter.
I use a lot of circles in my pieces, (being a fan of the ellipse!) and cutting them out by hand is a lengthy and sometimes tedious process.
The disc cutter is made from two steel ‘wheels’, bolted together, with various sized circles (in this case from 3mm to 32mm) cut in them. You slide a sheet of metal in between the wheels, tighten the bolt, and use the appropriate matching punch (which are made from special tool steel, hardened and ground) to cut through the metal.. The ends of punches are sharpened at a slight angle to enable them to cut through metal up to 1mm thick as if it were – well – butter!
You can see the sheet of silver I’m cutting here has already seen some disc cutting action.
The end result is a perfect circle, every time. I do love my disc cutter ~ thank you, lovely family!
Pantone have released their gorgeous palette for Spring 2015, and because spring is here already in the Southern Hemisphere, we can get in early. Lucky us! I love a bit of Pantone colour, as you can see from my previous blog posts here, here, here and here.
Divine soft colours seem to rule this time! As always, I’ve looked through my gemstone collection and matched these spring tone gemstones for you. If any of these gemstones appeal, let me know and I can create you something beautiful to go with your latest Spring wardrobe.
I was quite taken with this colourful Pantone iconic cartoon character guessing game recently created by Y&R, Shanghai. It’s called “There can be only one”. Who can you pick out?
Labradorite is a type of feldspar consisting of between 30-50% Albite and 50-70% Anorthite. It was named after peninsula of Labrador in Canada, where it was first found.
Labradorite shows labradorescence – a schiller effect in lustrous metallic tints, often blue and green, and sometimes the complete spectrum. This effect is also found in moonstone.
Labradorite is believed to stimulate imagination, help develop enthusiasm and to see more clearly in meditation. it is thought to assist with disorders of the eyes and brain and to relieve anxiety.
It is supposed to balance hormones and relieve menstrual tension; and regulate metabolism. Labradorite is used to treat colds, gout, and rheumatism, lower blood pressure, and aid in digestion.
I have some gorgeous labradorite cabochons just waiting to be turned into beautiful jewellery for you – you can find them in my gemstone collection. Let me know what you’d like created!
In order to create rings that fit my lovely customers, I need to know their ring size. I’ve written a post about measuring your own ring size, however the best way of finding out your ring size is to have your finger measured at a jewellers – this is the easiest and most accurate way of fitting a ring.
Above you can see my ring sizing gauges. The rings are for measuring fingers, and are graded in sizes – here in Australia we use letters of the alphabet (which are followed by numbers), so these go from size H up to Z, and then on from 1 to 6. The stick is for measuring the size of rings, and has different measurements, including the alphabet system, millimetres, and US sizing.
If you’re in Brisbane, I’m always happy to measure you up for one of my custom made rings!
When I was younger, I had no idea that I had any artistic talent. In fact I thought I was devoid of it – that being able to ‘do art’ was something you were born with, and I wasn’t. It took me a long time to recognise some things about art.
One of the things that started me thinking I had an artistic bone in my body was when my son encouraged me to have a go at painting his Warhammer miniatures. (Warhammer, you ask? Picture toy soldiers meet Dungeons and Dragons meets chess.) These guys come as little grey metal or plastic pieces (the standard ones are around 5cm high), which you have to glue together and – paint. I couldn’t paint to save myself.. could I? After a year of his cajoling and convincing, I finally gave in – and instantly discovered a passion. My early attempts weren’t the best, but I read and researched and practiced – I got better at it, and even won a prize or two for my efforts!
One of the first things I realised is that art can be found in many mediums. ‘Craft’ can be a form of ‘art’. So the ability to knit and sew and embroider and crochet can all be artistic talents. Gosh, huh, who would have thunk?
The second thing is that artists can be made as well as born. Painting and drawing (and all those crafty pursuits) are skills that you can learn! I amazed myself when I went from being a bad stick figure drawer, to being able to freehand draw realistic three dimensional pictures of jewellery in just a few lessons!
The third thing is that practice makes perfect. Sure, we all know those three year olds with the freakish ability to pick up a pencil and make masterpieces – but for those of us without that fortune, just keep trying, keep experimenting. It will come!
And finally – art is in the eye of the beholder. I’ve seen some expensive ‘masterpieces’ that anyone with a sponge and some poster paint could have slapped together – and some divine works of art that go practically unrecognised. Each to their own – just have the courage to appreciate (and do) what you really like!
And if you’d like to see more of my Warhammer painting efforts from this previous life, you can visit my ‘Cool Mini or Not’ gallery. There are some TOTALLY awesome artists there if you browse a bit further afield!
UNICEF is the United Nations Children’s Fund. UNICEF’s vision is of a world where the basic rights of every child will be met.
UNICEF works in over 190 countries to promote and protect the rights of children. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, clean water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and HIV.
Every child deserves these basic provisions, and I’m proud to support UNICEF this month with 10% of all The Silver Forge sales.
When I first began setting gemstones, I was dismayed to be told that one that I had chosen might have been dyed. I felt a bit cheated. Surely every gemstone was just rock that came out of the earth? I did some research, and soon found that just about every precious gemstone you see has been treated in some way, and that some of the methods have been utilised for millenia – one of the first records of treating gemstones was written by Pliny the Elder (23-79AD), and methods he outlined are still in use today.
In truth, we alter almost every gem that comes from the earth, at least by cutting and polishing it. We also treat gems in ways that can change the colour or clarity of the stone. There are some gemstones that would not even exist if it were not for treatments. Not only are these treatments acceptable, they are necessary to keep these products affordable and available. There are varying degrees of enhancements – some are permanent and cannot be detected; others are obvious; and some are less stable and may diminish durability – these should be avoided if possible.
While the gemstones I use in my work are semi-precious, and therefore should not be price-affected by treatment (and have usually not to my knowledge been treated) some of them have been (including the majority of the drusy agates I use, which have been quite obviously dyed). If any treatment is not obvious but has been disclosed to me or is apparent to me when I buy the stones, I will note that in my listing for the stone or piece.
Bleaching
Bleached Coral (photo credit Tomomarusan)
Bleaching is a chemical process used to lighten either a component of or the entire color of a porous gem. Some gemstones are bleached and then dyed. Bleaching is permanent and undetectable. Bleaching is usually followed by polymer impregnation, as the process leaves materials vulnerable to breakage.
Gems that are commonly bleached include jadeite and pearls; some coral, ivory, and chalcedony may also be bleached.
Bleached gems tend to be more brittle, and they may be more porous and thereby absorbent of human oils and other liquids. Pearls should be kept in a soft, dry environment to avoid surface damage.
Bleaching is virtually impossible to detect in most cases.
Dyeing
Obviously dyed drusy agate
Dyeing is the practice of introducing colored dyes into porous or fractured gems to change their color. Fractures are sometimes purposely induced by heating the gem so that an otherwise non-porous material can more readily accept the dye.
Some dyeing, i.e. of chalcedony and of pearls is prevalent, permanent, and acceptable – it is not deceitful as these colors do not occur in nature. Dyeing of other materials i.e. of jade, lapis lazuli, turquoise, coral, rubies, emeralds and sapphire may be less acceptable – dyeing of these materials is usually performed to disguise inferior quality stones.
Gems that are commonly dyed include pearls, chalcedony, lapis lazuli, black onyx, pearls, jade, coral, and howlite – howlite is often dyed and passed off as turquoise. The process has also been used since ancient times for materials such as turquoise, quartz, emerald, and ruby. Agate is also commonly dyed – most of the drusy cabochons I work with have been obviously dyed – these colors don’t occur in nature! Sliced agate is often dyed as well.
When dye is applied to porous materials, the durability is dependent on the stability of the dye. In gems with larger fractures, the dye can sometimes leak out. Many dyes can be removed if the gem comes into contact with a solvent such as alcohol or acetone. Some dyes are unstable with exposure to sunlight and can fade over time.
A qualified gemologist can detect dyed gems in most cases.
Fracture or Cavity Filling, Including Oiling
Emeralds are commonly oiled (photo credit Mauro Cateb)
Fracture filling and oiling are the practice of filling surface-reaching fractures or cavities with glass, resin, wax or oil to conceal their visibility and to improve the apparent clarity, appearance, or stability of gem materials. The filling materials vary from being solids (glass) to liquids (oils), and in most cases, they are colorless. The use of synthetic resins with hardeners often applied to make the process more permanent, in particular, is not considered an acceptable treatment. Filling does not repair the inclusion, it just makes it less visible.
Gems that are commonly fracture-filled include: amber, diamond, ruby, emerald; alexandrite, varieties of chrysoberyl, and demantoid garnets; quartz, aquamarine, topaz, tourmaline and other transparent gems.
Glass filling tend to be harder and therefore more durable than resins, oils or waxes.
In most cases, filled gems can be recognized by a qualified gemologist using magnification.
Avoid exposure of these gems to heat, ultrasonic cleaning, and changes in air pressure or chemicals. Filled emeralds can also be damaged by exposure to hot water used for washing dishes.
Heat Treatment
Tanzanite is often heat treated (photo credit Wiener Edelstein Zentrum)
Heating is the exposure of gems to high temperatures for the purpose of altering their color and/or their clarity and brightness. It can cause a stone to lighten, darken, or change colour completely. Unheated stones can come with a 50%-100% price increase – this doesn’t mean that the untreated gem is more beautiful, as in most cases the heating enhances the gemstone; the higher price is because of the rarity of the stone being unheated. It is usually irreversible.
The most commonly heat-treated gems include amethyst, apatite, aquamarine, citrine (naturally occurring citrine is very rare – almost all citrine in the market is heated amethyst); diamond (diamonds can be subject to ‘high pressure high temperature’ treatments, as this can alter the atomic structure of some types of diamonds; the treatment involves heating the diamond to high temperatures under high confining pressures to remove or change its color); ruby, sapphire, tanzanite (tanzanite is often a brown colour when mined – most of the shades of violet and blue available are heat treated); topaz, tourmaline and zircon.
Heat treatments in all of the gemstones mentioned above are considered durable and permanent under normal handling conditions.
Heating is detectable only by trained observers in a laboratory setting. Unheated rubies and sapphires will contain microscopic rutile needles or tiny gas bubbles in pockets of liquid which are evidence that these stones have not been heated.
Submitting gemstones to intense heat may render them slightly more brittle than usual, and care must be taken not to damage pointed faceted corners and edges.
Impregnation and stabilization
Turquoise is often impregnated (photo credit Parent Géry)
Impregnation is the process whereby the surface of a porous gemstone is permeated with a polymer, wax or plastic to give it greater durability and improve its appearance. Stabilization is the introduction of a bonding agent, usually plastic, into a porous material. Of the two processes, stabilization is the most permanent. The upside to stabilization is that treated gems will not absorb oils and discolor as much as untreated ones. Some gems are waxed on the surface to enhance luster but this is not very usual. Opal can be stabilized with plastic to hide crazing, but this is not common and would only be done deceptively.
Most commonly encountered wax or plastic impregnated gemstones are opaque. The most commonly encountered dyed gems include turquoise, lapis lazuli, jadeite, nephrite, amazonite, rhodochrosite and serpentine.
Impregnations are often only surface deep, and due to the melting point of plastic and wax, can be susceptible to heat damage. Plastic impregnations are considered durable in gem materials such as turquoise as long as they are not subjected to heat or chemicals.
In most instances a qualified gemologist can identify this treatment.
Irradiation
Irradiated Topaz (photo credit Rob Lavinsky)
Irradiation is the exposure of a gem to an artificial source of radiation to change its color. (This is sometimes followed by a heat treatment to further modify the color).
Most irradiated gems will not contain any harmful residual radiation. There are some interesting articles about irradiation safety here. According to a scientist’s report I read, the only areas of potential danger are gemstones which have been irradiated by a neutron beam (which takes place inside a nuclear reactor), and given the short half life of the materials in gemstones, they should be harmless within a week of this treatment.
The most commonly irradiated gems include diamonds, corundum (includes ruby and sapphire), topaz, pearls, quartz, some varieties of beryl and spodumene.
The colour of some irradiated gems fades upon exposure to strong light. Blue topaz, diamond and quartz tend to have very stable colors as long as they are not exposed to high temperatures.
Because strong blue colors do not occur naturally in topaz, strong blue topaz stones can be considered to have received irradiation treatment. Strong colors in green, pink, and red diamonds should also be considered suspect. Determination of whether a colored diamond is natural color or treated color requires examination by an experienced gem-testing laboratory.
Laser Drilling
Diamonds are the only gemstone that are laser drilled (photo credit Rob Lavinsky)
This technique involves using a focused laser beam of light to burn an open channel from the surface of a diamond to reach dark inclusions in the stone. This is generally followed by vaporizing or bleaching to dissolve or alter the appearance of the inclusion. Diamonds are the only gemstones that can be treated in this fashion, in part because only they can withstand the heat of a laser.
While lasers could potentially affect the structure of a diamond, most laser drill holes are microscopic, and have no effect on the durability of the diamond.
Easily detectable by most gemologists and qualified gemological laboratories because of the presence of the laser drill holes. There are no special care requirements for laser-drilled diamonds.
Lattice Diffusion
Sapphires can be subject to Lattice Diffusion (photo credit Sapphiredge)
Lattice diffusion is the penetration of certain elements into the atomic lattice of a gemstone during heat treatment, with the objective of changing or accentuating its color. Diffusion was originally used on sapphires. Chemicals, like beryllium, were infused at high temperatures, and actually penetrated the gems. Early diffusion only produced color on the surface of the gem’s surface and was referred to as surface diffusion. Great advancements have been made in diffusion treatment and it was discovered that if corundum is heated to very high temperatures for a long duration, the diffusion would penetrate the entire stone. It can improve color, change color, or create asterism (stars).
The most commonly encountered diffused gems include: Corundum (ruby and sapphire), diamonds (if you look at a filled diamond closely and rotate it under light, you should be able to notice a bluish flash); feldspar (varieties of feldspar, notably andesine and labradorite are receptive to the diffusion of copper, completely altering their color); possibly tourmaline and tsavorite garnet.
The treatment is considered permanent. It is extremely difficult even for qualified laboratories to detect with certainty. There are no special care requirements for diffusion treated corundum or feldspar.
Surface Coating
Titanium Coated Drusy
Coating, a process which has been in use for over two hundred years, alters a gem’s appearance by applying a coloring agent (like paint, lacquer, or thin film) to the surfaces of gems.
The most commonly encountered coated gems include: diamonds, tanzanite, topaz, coral, pearls, quartz (some of the drusy cabochons I use have been coated with titanium); and opals.
Because they tend to be softer than or may not adhere well to the underlying gem, thin-film surface coatings of any kind are susceptible to scratching, particularly along facet edges and junctions. Care should be taken to not allow any hard or abrasive objects to come in contact with coated gems.
The treatment is easy to identify by a skilled gemologist except where the coating substance is colorless and it has been added to improve durability.
When they are not being worn, coated gem materials should be wrapped in soft packaging and kept in a dry environment.
Gemstones That Are Not Enhanced
Malachite is not known to be enhanced
There are some gemstones that are not known to be enhanced. These include:
garnet (with the exception of demantoid)
peridot
iolite
spinel
varieties of chrysoberyl
tourmaline (with the exception of the Paraiba variety)
malachite
hematite
feldspar (with the probable exception of varieties of andesine and labradorite).
Bear in mind that new technology in gemstone treatment is always changing and improving and many techniques are difficult, if not impossible, to detect.
Disclosure
Here in Australia, the ACCC states that consumers should be able to “have a reasonable expectation that any treatment of gemstones to enhance their aesthetic appearance and value would be disclosed where the treatment is either not permanent or creates special care requirements, such as through the application of colourless oils, or the previous
practice of fracture filling. Additionally, businesses which fail to disclose gemstone treatments, where the value of treated gemstones is significantly less than the value of an equivalent untreated gemstone, may also risk contravening the misleading and deceptive conduct provisions of the Act.”
A gemstone vendor should always disclose any known treatments or enhancements; however, remember they may not always know themselves, especially with imported gems. Most gemstone vendors are honest and will let you know, but it is your responsibility to ask.
All in all, one of the reasons I enjoy working with semi-precious rather than precious stones is that they are less ‘valuable’ in monetary terms, and more likely to have come out of the ground the way they are – conversely though, to my mind, as long as the stone is obviously enhanced and you’re not being fooled into paying more for it, why not have fun and enjoy it! So, tell me – what do you think about treated gemstones?
It’s a very scary thought – since we humans started making plastic, millions of tons of it have entered our oceans. Plastic NEVER biodegrades, and so it simply bobs around in the sea. Due to the movement of the water around the world, this discarded rubbish concentrates in five rotating currents, called gyres. The Ocean Cleanup is developing world’s first feasible method to rid the oceans of plastic. The Ocean Cleanup’s goal is to extract, prevent, and intercept plastic pollution by initiating the largest cleanup in history.
At least one million seabirds and one hundred thousand marine mammals die each year due to plastic pollution. The survival of many species could be jeopardized by plastic debris. On top of that, plastic pollution is a carrier of invasive species, threatening native ecosystems, to say nothing of the economic and health effects this plastic waste has on human beings.
While diving in Greece, Boyan Slat became frustrated when coming across more plastic bags than fish, and wondered: “why can’t we clean this up?” He decided to dedicate half a year of research to understand plastic pollution and the problems associated with cleaning it up. This ultimately led to the passive cleanup concept, The Ocean Cleanup. A team of approximately 100 committed people, performing research in the fields of engineering, physical oceanography, ecology, finance, maritime law, processing and recycling, are all working to make this concept a reality.
An array of floating barriers and platforms are attached to the sea bed to concentrate the plastic before extracting it from the ocean – a collection process which is 100% driven by the natural winds and currents. Instead of nets, solid floating barriers make entanglement of wildlife impossible. Virtually all of the current flows underneath these booms, taking away all neutrally buoyant organisms, while the lighter-than-water plastic remains in front of the floating barrier, up to the microscopically sized particles. The scalable array of moorings and booms is designed for large-scale deployment, covering millions of square kilometers. Thanks to its projected high capture and field efficiency, a single gyre can be covered in just 5 years. The method is theoretically highly cost-effective.
What worthier cause than the health of our beautiful oceans? 10% of all The Silver Forge sales will be donated to The Ocean Cleanup this month. Head to my shop now to help out, won’t you? I love to support enterprising and hardworking people dedicating themselves to the future of our planet!
A jeweller is nothing without a jeweller’s bench! As you can see, my bench is a busy place – I even tidied it a little for you here. My bench was made by my silversmithing teacher, Elmar – it’s robust, utilitarian, set up just how I need it – and I love it.
One of the most important parts of the bench is the jeweller’s peg. This is the wooden piece that juts out the front of the bench. It is used to balance and stabilise whatever you’re working on – great for sawing, filing, emerying – anything that requires gentle force to be applied to metal. I leave most hammering for my large tree stump however! You can see the scars of filing and sawing on my peg – as time goes on, you develop your own comfortable nicks and dents for holding wire, filing rings etc. Eventually your peg wears away, and it has to be replaced – though I think mine has many more good years left in it yet.
There are so many different tools that help a jeweller – I try to accumulate only the ones that I really need and will use, but the temptation to collect is great! Pictured above are: my tri square – useful for making sure the ends of ring shanks are exactly square before bending and soldering, and for getting exact square angles on pieces I’m cutting out; a scribe and a pushing tool – The scribe is great for scoring silver before sawing it if I need a long straight piece i.e. if for cutting my own bezel, and as a general jiggery-pokery thing. I confess I don’t often use the bezel pusher, and never for bezel setting – but it’s a piece I made at a tool-making workshop I did, and I’m fond of it!; dividers – very useful for scribing a circle, or transferring measurements from one piece of metal to another; and my scraper – great for the occasional removal of pesky burrs.
An my bench – ok, confession time, it usually looks a bit more like this! With every piece, there are periods of time where you’re waiting i.e. for the metal to cool after soldering, or to pickle, so I work on a number of different pieces at once.
Ah, my workplace – a very zen space, where the sky’s the limit! If you’re interested, you can see more posts about my silversmithing tools here.
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