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It is impossible to be indifferent to the mysterious shimmer of natural stones: this is not just natural beauty, but the embodiment of the entire universe - they are charged with the energy of the earth, mountains and water sources. - wonderful gift for yourself or loved ones. At the same time, at present, when the market is simply replete with jewelry with colorful stones, the issue of identifying and distinguishing a real treasure from a possible fake is of particular relevance. In this topic we will discuss how to check your jewelry for authenticity at home.

The main signs of natural stone

What makes a mineral precious? Of course, its beauty, rarity (uniqueness), wear resistance (hardness, strength). In the fashion world, it is believed that a talented model does not have to be ideally beautiful, quite the opposite: her beauty lies in her uniqueness - she is original and not like others. The situation is exactly the same with precious stones:defect-free, impeccably pure minerals are extremely rare in nature . If such samples are found, their cost reaches a very high level. Laboratory stones, in turn, have better visual characteristics and are several times cheaper.

There are 3 types of fake jewelry stones:synthetic (grown in laboratory)fake (less valuable ornamental stones, similar to expensive jewelry stones) andimitation made of glass and plastic.

In nature, the formation of a precious stone takes several tens or even hundreds of thousands of years: it is not surprising that natural “traces” (various inclusions, dents, microcracks) are a completely natural phenomenon. Under special laboratory conditions, the stone can grow within a period of several hours to a maximum of several months. Synthetic stones appear flawless, but the laboratory cannot recreate a process that completely replicates the natural one. Based on this,artificially grown stone does not have the magical and healing properties inherent only in natural stones . Therefore, the captivatingly bright Linda crystal cannot become your amulet and talisman.

What do professional gemologists study to determine the origin of a stone? First of all, these are internalinclusion , zoning (color distribution),growth microstructures , for observation of which a magnifying glass or microscope is used, as well as a polariscope, dichroscope and ultraviolet lamps.

There is one simple rule that is typical for most stones -natural minerals (except amber) are always cold . Fakes made of glass and plastic are warmer to the touch. To understand whether the stone in front of you is genuine, you can hold it with tweezers and bring the stone to your cheek - it should be cold.

Another feature -laboratory stones are always brighter than natural ones , they may even have an acidic tint. Natural minerals have calmer, “not flashy” tones, and most gems are characterized by the effect of dichroism - the property of changing color depending on the direction of light.

Methods for identifying popular minerals

Below we will give simple recommendations, which will help verify the authenticity of the most popular gems and, although not 100%, will still protect you from buying an obvious fake.


Ways to check the real onediamond plenty. The diamond can be rubbed with sandpaper - it should not leave marks in the form of scratches. If you look through a diamond into the light, only a luminous point should be visible in the crystal. And when immersed in water, a real diamond will shine brightly. It is also known that diamond leaves scratches on glass and on the surface of other stones due to the fact that it has the highest degree of hardness.

They fake it quite professionally. At the same time, if you look at the stone through a magnifying glass, you should see a characteristic pattern in its structure - parallel growth lines, but not spiral patterns. In addition, emerald almost always has defects and cracks. And remember: natural emerald should be cold.


On the left are earrings with laboratory emeralds, on the right are earrings with natural emeralds

Naturalruby It is extremely rare to be clean, large and brightly colored. There are several methods for diagnosing ruby:


Distinguish the real onesapphire from multiple "twins" external signs not easy, since methods for its synthesis are constantly being improved. The sapphire offered to you is presumably natural if:


Easy to spot with the naked eyestar sapphires and rubies , in which the main feature is optical effect: a multi-pointed star, whose presence on the surface of the stone is due to the presence of rutile, characterized by mobility, i.e. it changes position depending on the viewing angle. This effect has not yet been replicated in laboratory conditions.


Refers to minerals that have a magnetic attraction force. There is a simple method for testing a pomegranate; for this you will need: a magnet, metal scales and a cork. We put the cork on the scales, put a stone on it (to separate it from the metal pan of the scales). When the scales are balanced, we bring the magnet to the stone. If the garnet is natural, the balance will be disrupted - the scales will begin to fluctuate. If you look through the crystals of a real garnet into the light, you will notice small defects and uneven coloring. In jewelry, natural garnet rarely exceeds the size of a garnet seed.

Amethyst

The main feature of naturalamethyst are natural defects and inclusions visible through a 10x magnifying glass. Natural amethyst does not conduct heat well, and if you put it on your cheek, it long time will stay cool. And in water, a real amethyst turns pale at the edges, as if its color is washed away by moisture.


Beloved by many, sparkling mineraltopaz can be determined by touch by its characteristic “slipperiness”: when you touch it with your skin, it should be smooth and cool. Although topaz is a transparent mineral, in nature it is rarely perfectly clear, so when examining the stone through a magnifying glass, you will notice small inclusions. If you rub natural topaz with a woolen cloth, it will accumulate electricity and will attract small particles (a piece of napkin, hairs and other light debris). However, there are also high-quality counterfeits of topaz that even imitate physical properties mineral. Determine the authenticity of the stone in this case only possible in a gemological laboratory.

Citrine

Natural colorcitrine not as acid-bright as substitutes may be. When viewed from different angles, natural citrine changes shade from golden lemon to sunny yellow. Imitations do not have such properties.

You can choose and buy in our showroom using the link below:

Almost all souvenir shops selling stones have these fakes. We are not talking about passing off cheap minerals as more expensive ones, as is the case with painted “turquoise” from howlite or “citrines” from burnt amethyst, but about artificial imitations of semi-precious stones. The undisputed leaders here are cat's eye, aventurine and " moonstone" .

Fake cat eye

Most souvenir stalls sell this particular borosilicate glass.

Choice - for every taste and color!


In addition to glass, synthetic minerals - catsite and ulexite - are used to imitate a "cat's eye".

In fact, "cat's eye" is not even a specific stone, but the name of the iridescence effect characteristic of some minerals. This optical effect really resembles a cat's eye.
Natural "cat's eye" chrysoberyl (cymophane) is very expensive, like diamonds and rubies. Naturally, such stones are not sold in souvenir shops. In magical terms, the cat's eye is considered a protective stone. There is no need to be upset about its inaccessibility, because there are also other types of eye stones - tiger, falcon and bull's eye. They are not uncommon, they are inexpensive, so they are usually not counterfeited. Products from tiger's eye Available in almost all stores.

Natural "cat's eye" chrysoberyl

In glass" cat's eye"There's nothing bad - it's beautiful, bright and inexpensive material for decorations. But if the seller calls it natural, this is already a deception. Although very often sellers in souvenir shops themselves do not understand their product and sincerely believe in the naturalness of glass. But what can we say if in seemingly serious encyclopedias on minerals, fakes are used as illustrations. This is what leads to the savings of publishers on copywriters and the laziness of the copywriters themselves, who do not know how to use Google properly.

Such beads sparkling with golden sparkles are usually sold under the guise of aventurine. This is not a mineral, but a special aventurine glass with chips of copper, cobalt, iron or chromium oxide.

"The modern glass industry has many compositions of aventurine glasses obtained in different years V different countries. Aventurine glasses with shiny inclusions are known, containing oxides of silicon, aluminum, calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron, chromium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, titanium, nickel, silicon (SiO2, Al2O3, CaO, MgO, MnO, Fe2O3, Cr2O3, P2O5 , Na2O), etc. As we can see, a significant part of the periodic table of elements is involved. The disadvantages of such glass compositions are high temperature melting of glass melt (up to 1430-1460 oC) and low hardness of the resulting glass (650-730 kg/mm2). This leads to high cost of products made from aventurine glass due to high energy consumption and reduces their consumer properties, since the polished glass surface with low hardness quickly loses its quality due to abrasion.

Now technologists and chemists in this industry are faced with the task of obtaining aventurine glass of high microhardness and mechanical strength, expanding its decorative properties, as well as reducing the cost of the process and composition through the use of cheaper raw materials. This is a requirement of modern design art and increased industrial capabilities. Therefore, scientific institutes together with factories are developing developments in the direction of reducing the cost of aventurine glasses, and one of the options is to use raw materials containing up to 60% slag in the charge. Aventurine glass based on high-iron slag is being tested. Along with good decorative properties, it has improved physical and chemical properties: increased microhardness and alkali resistance, a softening temperature of approximately 650 ° C, and a refractive index of up to 1.596 units.

IN recent years our scientists managed to obtain glass alloys of increased hardness and improved strength characteristics by introducing boron oxides, expanding the color gamut, enhancing the aventurine effect by introducing oxides of copper, chromium, titanium, calcium and other various metals. Great achievements in the invention of aventurine alloys belong to scientists of the State Scientific Research Institute -Research and Design Institute of the Nitrogen Industry and Organic Synthesis Products, a worthy contribution was made by the inventor A.V. Kochanova from Lipetsk and many other scientists. These inventions are of global importance and are protected by patents.

The technology for producing such glasses is quite complex. First, the prepared charge is melted in high-power furnaces at 1350-1400 oC for about an hour, then the temperature is slightly reduced, and after a short exposure, annealing is carried out at 750 oC. To produce glass, they use enrichment products of apatite-nepheline ores and feldspathic mineral raw materials in a composition with granulated blast furnace and converter ferrochrome slags, selecting them in accordance with the required ratio of components. To increase the strength and stability of the composition, boron oxides (B2O3) are added, lanthanum, cesium, samarium, etc. oxides (La2O3, CeO2, Sm2O3) are added to expand the color gamut, titanium, potassium and copper oxides (TiO2, K2O, Cu2O) contribute to the coloring of not mixed areas in all colors of the rainbow, which is recorded on the glass in the form of frozen multi-colored patterns with sparkles of chromium, manganese and copper crystals (Cr2O3, MnO, Cu2O). The resulting glass has a hardness of 850-880 kg/mm2, opaque, its surface is patterned, and in the mass - golden, pink, green sparkles ranging in size from 0.5 to 2.0 microns." link

Most often, brick-colored avnaturine glass is sold in shops, but it also comes in blue, black, green...

This is what real aventurine looks like

Natural aventurine is a type of quartz; it actually has small sparkles - inclusions of plate-like or scaly minerals (green fuchsite mica, cherry-red hematite, etc.), which cause the stone to flicker when it is turned. In aventurine glass there are a lot of sparkles and they are the same size, while in stone there are usually few sparkles, they are of different sizes and brightness. Aventurine stone is inexpensive, so it makes sense to look for the real thing in specialized stores. Simple souvenir shops only have glass.

"Moonstone" - frosted glass

Beautiful, isn't it? But this is just glass that fills our souvenir shops.

There really is something lunar about him...

“Moonstone” is a folk, not a mineralogical name. The mineral adularia, as well as sometimes belomorite and labrodorite ("dark moonstone") are called "moonstones".

This is what natural good quality adularia looks like

Unlike the real “moonstone” adularia, “moon glass” is uniform in color and does not have an iridescent effect.


Adularia is a variety of feldspar with the chemical formula K. It gets its name from Mount Adula in the Swiss Alps. Mined in India, Sri Lanka, USA, Russia. The price of high-quality “moon stones” is quite high and, of course, they are not available in most souvenir shops. You can buy natural lunite in a specialized store or at a mineral exhibition. Do not confuse "moonstone" ( feldspar) with selenite (ornamental gypsum), on many sites they are lumped together.

Moonstone

Belomorite is an opaque “moonstone” mined in Russia

Labradorite - "dark moonstone"

As the song says: “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend!” To be precise, then best friends girls also have topazes, rubies, sapphires, malachites, emeralds, garnets, etc. Among such a variety of valuable stones, today you can often find artificially grown, and sometimes simply counterfeit, minerals. How to distinguish natural stone from fake? Of course, you can take the gemstones aversvrn.ru to a pawnshop for an appraisal or contact an experienced jeweler with a request to identify them. However, specialist services are often quite expensive. This article will list all known methods Determining the authenticity of expensive stones by eye.

How to distinguish a real stone from a fake

First of all, it is worth saying that the modern jewelry industry divides fake stones into three categories:

  1. Synthetically grown stones - these stones are real minerals, but grown in a laboratory.
  2. High-quality fakes are inexpensive natural stones that look similar to valuable minerals.
  3. Glass or plastic imitations.

As is clear from the gradation of the listed fakes, synthetic stones are quite valuable, fake ones are not valued so highly, and imitations are even used only in costume jewelry.

Regarding the question of how to identify natural stone, professionals give several tips on what you need to pay attention to first of all:

  • Zoning – uniform color distribution
  • Inclusions
  • Microstructures of growth

Naturally, it is impossible to examine and identify a mineral according to these criteria without special equipment, experience and a certain amount of knowledge. Then how to distinguish real gemstones from fakes without having all this?

In order to purchase an original in a store and not stumble upon a hack, you need to know a few nuances:

  • There are practically no ideal stones in nature.
  • Natural stones are rare large sizes, but growing a large mineral in laboratory conditions is a piece of cake.
  • Almost all natural minerals are cold to the touch. The only exception is amber. Glass and plastic imitations will feel a little warmer to the touch. You can find out by placing a stone on your cheek or tasting it with your tongue.
  • Natural stones, unlike imitations, are more durable.
  • Minerals grown under artificial conditions often have a brighter color than those created by nature.
  • The price of a natural stone will be many times higher than the price of a fake.
  • Any jewelry store that values ​​its reputation is obliged to issue a certificate for the stone confirming its authenticity.

Since it is quite simple to distinguish a gemstone from glass by checking their heat, the question remains open of how to distinguish a natural stone from an artificial one. To do this, it is necessary to consider each type of jewelry separately. If you want to learn how to clean gold jewelry with stones, we advise you to follow the link

Diamond or diamond

  • If you look through a cut diamond into the sun, you will only find a white dot inside it.
  • Diamond is one of the hardest minerals, so it can leave scratches both on glass and on other (fake) stones. At the same time, if you rub sandpaper over a stone, it will not leave a mark on it. Other stones may cause scratches.
  • It is impossible to see through the skin of a diamond ring worn on a finger.
  • If you treat a diamond with hydrochloric acid, the stone will remain unchanged. At the same time, zircon similar to it will acquire a cloudy tint.
  • If you immerse a diamond in an aqueous solution of glycerin, monophthlene monobromide or methylene iodide, it will continue to play beautifully with rays of light. If a similar manipulation is performed with other stones, they will simply become invisible in this composition of the liquid.

Turquoise

  • Over time, dark spots form on the fake.
  • If you bring a hot needle to the stone, the original will remain unchanged. At the same time, the plastic imitation will begin to melt. True, sometimes synthetic minerals are also able to withstand heat.
  • In a low-quality plastic fake, the color is erased even when exposed to alcohol.
  • If you run a sharp knife across turquoise, there will be no mark left on it. If you have hack work at hand, then grooves form on its surface white, and it begins to crumble.
  • In general, natural turquoise is quite difficult to distinguish from fake.

Pomegranate

  • Due to the cheapness of the stone, it is rarely counterfeited.
  • If you put a crust on a jewelry scale, put a pomegranate on it and bring a magnet to it, the hand of the scale will begin to dance.
  • The size of a pomegranate often does not exceed the size of a grain of a fruit similar to it.

Emerald

  • Since it is quite difficult to determine a natural stone from a fake on your own, it is better to entrust this matter to professionals. Upon closer examination, the master may notice twisted veils in the mineral. This sign indicates synthetic origin stone
  • An inexperienced person will be able to identify a fake only if the stone was made using the “sandwich” technique. This technique involves laying between two pieces artificial material a thin layer of real mineral. The joints between the materials are glued together with green epoxy resin. You can notice such hackwork if you closely examine the stone from the end.

Amber

  • If you hold the mineral over a lit match, it will begin to smell like resin, pressed stone will acquire light stickiness, unripe - it will become stained, and the plastic fake will emit a characteristic odor.
  • A stone without a frame can be placed in a salt solution - the original will float, and the fake will sink to the bottom.
  • If you run a knife over the mineral, it will give crumbs, while the fake will give spiral ribbons.
  • If you rub a stone on wool and bring it to pieces of paper, they will stick to it. There will be no such effect with glass.

Pearl

Since ancient times, moonstone has been considered one of the most powerful magical minerals. A natural gem can be transparent and colorless, have a light gray and bluish tint, sometimes even with a yellow tint.

Adularia is highly valued not only for its beauty, but also for its medicinal and magical powers with which he is endowed. The crystal actively helps in the presence of diseases associated with nervous system, helps with digestive problems, allergies and asthma. It is considered a symbol and talisman of lovers, helps to find a soul mate, and if the partner’s feelings pass, then it quickly fades and loses its natural shine.

Powerful magical properties, beauty and cost are what attract people to the moon crystal. However, this is a fairly rare gem and its production is limited. Today, fakes of this mineral are very widespread and only a few know how to distinguish a real moonstone from a fake.

How to distinguish a real moonstone from a fake?

One of the most obvious and important features lunar gem, in the presence of which one can unmistakably determine its naturalness - iridescence (the ability to flicker).

  • There are several varieties of adularia, which are often passed off as genuine due to their similar ability to glow: belomorite and peristerite. You can distinguish a mineral from counterfeits based on them solely by price. Natural crystal will be expensive, in contrast to more affordable high-quality imitations.
  • You can also distinguish adularia from a synthetic fake made of plastic or glass by examining the presence or absence of a natural glow in it. Without seeing the flickering, you can definitely say that this is a fake.
  • Genuine adularia is not capable of refracting light at an angle of more than 15 degrees. If it glows equally from different angles, it is definitely not original.
  • Due to certain properties, any natural crystal does not heat up, so when you pick it up, it will remain cool for a long time. In this way, most natural minerals can be distinguished from cheap imitation ones.
  • How to distinguish a natural moonstone from a synthetic gem? In the case of a moon crystal, it is worth remembering that an artificially grown or fake gem will be much brighter and more saturated than the original.
  • If you touch the surface of natural adularia, it may seem that you are touching silk fabric. An artificial mineral will not have such a strong effect.
  • The gem will never be sold in jewelry stores.

Only a specialist or jeweler can unambiguously determine the authenticity of a piece of jewelry after carrying out the necessary texts and checks. In order not to make a mistake with your choice and not fall for scammers and their counterfeits, choose stores that specialize in selling natural gems.

Online store Mineral Market is the world jewelry with natural precious and semi-precious gems. Here you will find the widest selection of jewelry in St. Petersburg at an affordable price.


Today, the precious goods market is replete with artificial jewelry - their quantity far exceeds natural products. For this reason it has now become topical issue differences between natural gems and artificial products. First, you should understand such concepts as imitation and synthesized precious product.

Peculiarities

A stone similar to a natural mineral, but created in a laboratory, is called synthesized jewelry stone. In terms of its physical and chemical parameters, it completely coincides with natural stone. A product that replicates only external data, but not structural properties, is called an imitation.

Thanks to modern technologies, it is possible to artificially grow stone in the laboratory in short time. For the growth of minerals, they are created ideal conditions, in which specialists improve the characteristic properties of the product. For this reason, synthetic samples correspond natural materials high quality.

The production of synthetic jewelry has been practiced since ancient times, using multi-colored glass as the starting material. In the 19th century, special institutions appeared in which high-quality rubies and sapphires were created, difficult to distinguish from real ones. Such centers have also appeared in Russia.

Which stones are most often imitated and how to check?

Turquoise

Turquoise takes the lead in imitation. Genuine turquoise is almost impossible to find in nature. Craftsmen make jewelry from turquoise powder and glue small crystal particles together. More than half of turquoise gems are not natural.

Turquoise is a semi-precious mineral, a symbol of happiness and good luck. Counterfeiting of turquoise began in Ancient Egypt, replacing it with painted glass.

Since then, both master jewelers and lovers of this stone have been trying to recognize the genuine mineral.

There is a simple way to distinguish the original from the fake: immersed for some time in clean water the stone will absorb moisture and change color.

Ruby

Ruby is among the leaders in the production of synthetic gems. When choosing a ruby, buyers need to remember that the natural product of the same name is cloudy in appearance, not particularly pure, and the crystal is expensive. If the buyer is offered to purchase a stone at affordable price and high quality, then most likely it will be a synthesized stone or imitation.

The basic rule for determining the authenticity of a ruby ​​is that price and quality match.

Diamond

This stone also occupies one of the leading places in synthetic gems. Specialists for the production of synthetic minerals use:

  • low quality natural crystals;
  • glass and plastic;
  • combined crystals with glass.

To determine the quality of the stone, you need to pay attention to the place of gluing. If there are bubbles, then it's fake. But an appraiser will help you reliably recognize the authenticity of a gem.

Emerald

The first synthetic emerald was grown by the Germans in the 19th century. Artificial emeralds are a skillful fake. You can distinguish a fake by its edges: in the light they are clearly visible, and you can see the parallel arrangement of the edges.

Sapphire

If we talk about sapphire, it is a crystal of the same name, with properties slightly inferior to diamond. Sapphire is endowed with an extraordinary blue or purple with a strong shine. There is a myth that real sapphire has magical and medicinal properties, brings happiness to the owner, protects from damage and slander.

By appearance At home, it is impossible to distinguish a genuine stone from a fake - only a professional appraiser can do this. Under a magnifying glass, a specialist will check the refraction of light and, by dipping the mineral into a special liquid, will determine the authenticity of the product. If the sapphire is real, it will sink, unlike a fake.

Pearl

Real pearls are a precious gem with a heterogeneous structure, uneven color, characteristic strength, density and value.

Natural pearls are a mineral with a rough surface and sandy texture.

If you run a pearl bead over the surface of your teeth and hear a creak, this means that the pearl is real.

Synthetic beads do not creak. You can also throw a bead on the floor - real pearls will jump up, but an artificial one may crack and split. The fake differs from the original by touch: natural stone is cool and artificial variant has ambient temperature.

Amber

One of ancient stones- this is amber. For hundreds of thousands of years, people decorated their clothes, homes, and themselves with products made from precious gems. Recently, the jewelry market has seen a lot of fakes and high-quality imitations of stones. It is not difficult to recognize real amber - it is imitated by low-quality crystals and plastic. If you bring a match to a fake, the mineral heats up and the smell of plastic appears, not resin.

Diamond

This stone is a processed natural diamond, an expensive gem that is most popular among both jewelers and buyers.

To distinguish a fake from a genuine diamond, you need to look at it under a lighting device at a right angle. A real diamond will have its facets at the back glowing. The authenticity of a diamond will be confirmed by its hardness. A diamond can be used to cut glass - it will certainly leave scratches and roughness on the surface of other minerals.

A real diamond is not afraid of sandpaper: if you rub it on the diamond surface, there will be no changes.

Ruby

Many fashionistas have jewelry with huge bright red stones. These are real or artificially grown rubies. A real ruby ​​costs slightly less than a diamond. There are several ways to determine the authenticity of a stone:

  • if you place the mineral in a glass container, a reddish light will flow out of it;
  • if you put a ruby ​​in a glass of milk, it will turn red;
  • if a real stone lies on the eyelid, it will retain its temperature.

Topaz

Looks incredibly beautiful semiprecious stone topaz. It is named after an island called Topazion, located in the Red Sea. Jewelry made from topaz are the most popular products chosen by women.

To determine the authenticity of a crystal at home, you need to use woolen fabric as an assistant. If you rub real topaz on wool, it will become electrified and attract small objects to it.

Then there will be no doubt that this is a real noble gem.

From all of the above, we can draw the following conclusion: jewelry purchases are checked in several ways. They are summarized below:

  • to the touch– natural stones have a lower temperature;
  • visually– when examined under a magnifying glass, you can see defective cracks in natural stones;
  • by color– for example, fake turquoise will stain the fabric used to wipe the stone;
  • by smell - for example, if you bring a lit match to amber beads, the smell of resin should be released when burning;
  • by hardness– an example of a diamond cutting glass;
  • by thermophysical properties– an example of electrified amber.

To learn how to distinguish natural stones from fakes and imitations, watch the following video.