Yellow Sapphires with Unstable Color
Some yellow sapphires contain unstable color centers. The following discussion outlines case studies of stones that faded after testing in the lab, and how color may be restored.
Articles
An A-maze-ing Fingerprint in Spinel
A web-like fingerprint creates a maze-like pattern in spinel.
Apatite Oiling — Before and After
Oil treatment has a significant impact on the appearance of an apatite.
Vietnamese Skyline
Hogbomite-filled dislocations in a Vietnamese spinel.
Beryllium Diffusion in Orange Sapphire — The Skin Game
The early history of beryllium diffusion in sapphire, starting with the 2001 appearance of large numbers of padparadscha sapphires in the Thai gem market.
Bubbling Up — Carbon Dioxide Inclusion in Sapphire
The internal world never fails to amaze, as witnessed by this incredible video of a negative crystal in a Sri Lanka sapphire.
Apatite in Blue Sapphire
An apatite crystal appears to float, suspended over a rutile silk cloud in a star sapphire.
Blue Apatite in Tanzanian Garnet
This article examines a blue apatite crystal that was found in a pyrope-spessartine garnet that is said to have come from Tanzania's Lindi Province.
Made You Look — Challenges of Identifying Inclusions at First Sight
This article discusses the challenges of identifying inclusions based on observation alone. While certain features can help narrow down the possibilities, other methods such as micro Raman help identify inclusions with a greater degree of certainty.
Al-Bīrūnī — The GGOAT?
Abū Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Bīrūnī was born in 973 CE, in what is now Uzbekistan. A polymath of the Islamic Golden Age, he distinguished himself in numerous fields, including medicine, astronomy, history, mathematics, physics, mineralogy, gemmology, encyclopedism, geography, philosophy, sociology, and travel. His vast intellectual contributions rank him among the greatest minds of any era. The author of some 145 works, tragically, many of these are now lost. Given the sheer scale and depth of his intellectual legacy, any attempt to comprehensively study al-Bīrūnī’s contributions is inevitably limited and fraught with gaps. However, what we do know demonstrates that this was a remarkable man, on the order of an Aristotle or Einstein. And yet much of the world has never even heard of him. This paper will largely focus on his gemmological work, while also touching on his other accomplishments.