Unfortunately I was unable to examine one of these stones as closely
as I would have liked. But I told the customer I would research what
it was she just bought.
From surfing the web I seem to be getting that its just a CZ in a
fancy box. The website claims a hardness of 9.1 which would rule out
CZ @8.5 but doesn’t give any other info of gemological relevance. In
the sunlight the stone looked moderately to highly fluorescent and it
hefted like a CZ. And it LOOKED like a CZ.
Putting the clues together I might suspect its a CZ with some sort
of synthetic sapphire coating. I just don’t deal with anything of
this (un)nature. Does someone have the inside track on these? She
might ask me to set it so any practical considerations would be
helpful.
Thanks much
Having looked at their site and reading all the bumph, I came to the
same conclusion as you Neil. The “stones” must be ordinary CZ. If
they were anything closer to the chemical composition of real diamond
they would be shouting it from the rooftops! The following forum has
(although I’m not sure how reliable) on these “stones”.
Someone cited a report from a gemological lab which found it to be
nothing more than ordinary CZ with no special coating.
http://www.diamond.info/forum/index.php?showtopic=2456. There is also
the suggestion that the company is a big scam, whose employees write
third hand reviews of excellence to perpetuate such a scam. Obviously
this could just be conjecture and they may be a very good company
selling a very good product, but to those people out there who like
to know what their “stone” is made of, they’re not doing a very good
job.
There was a company that amused me somewhat, when I was researching
diamond simulants and synthetic diamonds. I can’t remember what they
were called and can’t find the I had on them, but the
company said that they actually used the carbon remains of a loved
one and made that into a synthetic diamond! The impression was that
it was made of carbon just like a real diamond (possibly by some
sort of vapour deposition technique but I can’t remember for sure). I
was sort of mildly amused and freaked all at the same time.
But as for Diamond Nexus Labs, they are being so vague about the
chemical composition, well the is just plain not
available so it is more than likely CZ and should probably be
treated as such when setting.
Obviously I am a newby so don’t speak as a “jeweller” and wouldn’t
profess to give jeweller advice to you professional jewellers. I am a
hobbyist at present, but take a keen interest in the materials
composition side of things due to my chemistry training.
Helen
Preston, UK
There was a company that amused me somewhat, when I was
researching diamond simulants and synthetic diamonds. I can't
remember what they were called and can't find the I had
on them, but the company said that they actually used the carbon
remains of a loved one and made that into a synthetic diamond!
This company is a real company and yes they use human remains in
synthetic diamonds. Not sure how well they’re doing since I haven’t
heard much about them lately but they were really doing it.
Daniel R. Spirer, G.G,
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02140
There is also the suggestion that the company is a big scam, whose
employees write third hand reviews of excellence to perpetuate such
a scam. Obviously this could just be conjecture
It’s not conjecture. The person who started the company has admitted
to it. They are scammers, pure and simple. It’s CZ, end of story.
Wayne
Not sure how well they're doing since I haven't heard much about
them lately but they were really doing it.
A student told me that they can also use human hair, not just
cremated remains.
Elaine
Speaking of ashes turned to gems…
A couple months ago I was at a lapidary meeting for my local rock
club (Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society) and a fellow rockhound,
who is a locally recognized facetor, showed me a brilliant green
gemstone called Helenite. Helenite is a lab created gem stone made
from ashes of the Mt. Helens eruption.
Rick Copeland
Silversmith and Lapidary Artisan
Rocky Mountain Wonders
Colorado Springs, Colorado
http://rockymountainwonders.com
A couple months ago I was at a lapidary meeting for my local rock
club (Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society) and a fellow
rockhound, who is a locally recognized facetor, showed me a
brilliant green gemstone called Helenite. Helenite is a lab created
gem stone made from ashes of the Mt. Helens eruption
Interesting, I’d not heard of that before. Maybe I should get some as
my name is Helen! People often ask what is the stone you are wearing?
An interesting talking point, that and using cremated human remains
to make a diamond. Here is a link to Helenite in the Orchid archives
from 2003:
Helen
Preston, UK
the company,Life Gems, uses the carbonized remains of people and
pets…the only hair they could use would be the burned ashes from
hair…the student was a bit off on information
Elaine,
your loved ones eventual sale on ebay as a cheap CZ
I forgot about the Canadian company the uses DNA to preserve a loved
one in a gem form…not retrievable DNA,but when robber a says to
robber b " Dear aunt bertha always had a sharp tongue " while
dragging the diamond across a jewelery store’s windowpane makes le
pointe noir that much more macabre…or “damn, there went granny
down the drainhole”… the real kicker is that Lifegems, and
MemorialStones sell their carbon, and DNA containing varieties at
between 3 and 10 grand per stone…and who is regulating the
inclusions…( as I ponder creating a website offering cz’s made from
celebrities dna !!!or truly designer stones like Armani Rocks-
holding true to my beliefs about marketing and that people will buy
just about anything…I could be a millionaire in a few short
weeks!!)…as i consider opening the first lab to issue authentication
reports with the created stones…(another million coming!)…ah, the
possibilities of an untapped jewelry market…
Helenite is a lab created gem stone made from ashes of the Mt.
Helens eruption
Oh, please.
This is one of the oldest myths around. A ceratin rough dealer in
the Seattle area leaped at the chance to capitalize on the eruption
of Mt St Helen’s by producing a rolled glass product in various
shades of green, with the claim that it contained some ash from Mt
St Helen’s. This was suspicious, because all efforts of those in the
pottery/ceramic indisutry who had tried to make a glze from this ash
found that whether it was heated in a reducing atmosphere or an
oxidizing atmosphere, it just became brown or black and certainly
not transparent.
Testing by GIA of the “Mt St Helen’s Emerald” determined that it was
indeed a glass, but could find NO constituents that matched the
chemical profile of the ash.
There was no ash, there is no ash in that green glass. Now, I cut
lots of it, sold it for green glass and still have some laying
around from my days in Tacoma (I witnessed the eruption and had two
friends lose their lives that day).
The Mt St Helen’s “Emerald” is still marketed in the Seattle area
for the tourists, and the claim is still made that is contains ash
from the mountain. It is a falsehood.
But, it IS pretty!
Wayne Emery
the real kicker is that Lifegems, and MemorialStones sell their
carbon, and DNA containing varieties at between 3 and 10 grand per
stone
Precisely why I’m not happy with it as a concept. After all, they are
making lab created gems, which should and in most cases do sell for
reasonable prices. The fact that they are asking thousands for each
stone is playing on the vulnerabilities of the berieved. I very much
doubt for one minute that they actually use your loved one’s carbon
remains exclusively. It all smells a bit iffy to me.
Helen
Preston, UK
A couple months ago I was at a lapidary meeting for my local rock
club (Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society) and a fellow
rockhound, who is a locally recognized facetor, showed me a
brilliant green gemstone called Helenite. Helenite is a lab
created gem stone made from ashes of the Mt. Helens eruption
Has anyone compared the green glass that is used for ornamental
objects in Mexico to what is supposed to be “Helenite”. I remember
back when Helenite was first available someone compared it to green
glass, a=nd I believe it is glass.
google “In general, volcanic ash is mostly silicon,aluminum,
magnesium, iron a specific volcano in mind, there maybe a major
chemcial analysis, and less likely minor chemical analysis.”
Common glass is made from:
sand or silica (SiO2)
sodium carbonate (Na2CO3)
limestone (CaCO3)
magnesium carbonate (MgCO3)
additives to improve the glass quality and to colour the glass.
Richard Hart
Hi Richard,
Yes, it’s glass. The original claim by the manufacturers of the
material, sold to faceters by the ton, was that it contained ash
from the eruption. It was available in at least 3 shades of green, I
still have some here (I lived in WA at the time). Testing has shown
that it does NOT contain any ash from the mountain, none.
I know who was making it and I know their sole agent at the time.
His remark was “Well, we waved some ash over the melt, does that
count?”. It was trickery, designed to sell a bunch of green glass to
faceters and to the public, and it worked. It’s still happening,
visit Sea-Tac airport sometime. The vendors will GUARANTEE it is
made from ash from the eruption.
EVERYONE who has used ANY ash from this explosion as a glass melt
additive has achieved the same result…an opaque brownish glass.
All attempts to make a glass or glaze from the ash. whether in a
reducing, neutral or oxidizing environment yields opaque brown/black
material. The whole thing is bogus.
The more recent material has a small amount of lead added to raise
the RI, and it is very pretty. But, so is faceted Coca-Cola bottle
bottoms.
Wayne
This is one of the oldest myths around. A ceratin rough dealer in
the Seattle area leaped at the chance to capitalize on the
eruption of Mt St Helen's by producing a rolled glass product in
various shades of green, with the claim that it contained some ash
from Mt St Helen's.
Oh great! Now you tell me. I just agreed to do some setting for a
facetor in exchange for a Mt. Saint Helen’s stone. I was planning on
making a pendant for my wife with it. Hope she doesn’t hear it’s a
fake. 
Rick Copeland
Silversmith and Lapidary Artisan
Rocky Mountain Wonders
Colorado Springs, Colorado
http://rockymountainwonders.com