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Showing all results for: “corundum”
Fine Jewelry University
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Gem in the Spotlight: Sapphire
… used to refer to any blue stone. By the late 1800’s, the sapphire and ruby were recognized as gem varieties of corundum. Today sapphire has become the collective name for all colors of the corundum family other than the red ruby. To avoid …
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Gem in the Spotlight: Ruby
… humanity is broad and deep, with arguably the richest history of all gemstones. Gemology of Ruby Rubies are in the corundum gem family along with sapphires. Corundum is an extremely durable form of aluminum oxide with a Moh’s hardness of 9. …
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Fake Diamonds: The Great Diamond Attack
… question these days. And the problem of separating a fully natural diamond from all the modern possibilities is quite demanding. So what is a real diamond? Let’s start with the older diamond look a likes, (CZ, GGG, YAG, Synthetic corundum and spinal, Glass) or simulants are quite easy to separate. The diamond tester and understanding gem properties make choosing the diamond an easy task with these older lookalikes. Apathy and sloppy observation can let one of the older …
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The Birthstones
…and victory. The bible states that wisdom is “more precious than rubies”. Rubies and sapphires are the same mineral, corundum. Ruby is red and any other color is called sapphire. Learn more about Ruby August’s Birthstone: Peridot and Spinel … used to refer to any blue stone. By the late1800’s, the sapphire and ruby were recognized as gem varieties of corundum. Sapphire has been associated with divine favor. The Buddhists believed that the sapphire favored devotion and spiritual …
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Gem in the Spotlight: Topaz
… of your preference. Topaz itself is a hard gemstone with a Mohs hardness of 8. Mohs hardness is a standardized metric of how difficult it is to scratch something. For reference, topaz is a bit softer than diamond which is a 10 and corundum (sapphire/ruby) which is a 9 on the scale. It is a bit harder than emerald at 7.5-8 and quartz which comes in at 7. Here are some more gemological stats for reference: Refractive index: 1.619 to 1.627 Birefringence: 0.008 to 0.010 …
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Alternative Gemstones for a Non Traditional Engagement Ring
…, Princess Diana, Penelope Cruz and Elizabeth Hurley all chose a Blue Sapphire for their wedding ring. Sapphires (or Corundum) can come in any color except red. The red variety of Corundum is called Ruby. All of the colors are used as wedding… gave his fiancée, Halle Berry, an Eemerald engagement ring. Emeralds are not as durable as a Diamond or even Corundum. Their hardness score is 7.5 to 8, and they normally contain many inclusions. The inclusions can create a beautiful look, …
