pigeon blood red rubies - Perhaps this is another term that could
be dropped from the current gemological lexicon.
Yes the term is a little gory and nonedescript as the blood of a
pigeon isn’t something most of us have seen, but I used the term as
I knew everyone on this forum would understand that I was talking
about decent quality rubies of a “highly prized” colour.
Beauty is of no use if gem is easily scratched or can shutter while
one wearing it.
All emeralds, high or low quality, can be easily broken, regardless
of the type of treatments used on them. I have seen some exceedingly
fine stones costing tens of and hundreds of thousands of dollars and
they are still blessed with “jardin”. Inevitably, “jardin” makes
these stones more fragile. So if your standard for calling a stone
“precious” is that it needs to be durable, emerald will simply not
fall into the category. But then that’s why the terms “precious” and
“semi precious” are so dated and in need of being dropped from
usage. Incidentally, after more than 30 years in the trade the only
untreated emerald I have ever seen was one from a Russian mine that
produced relatively little material. Why was it untreated? Because
they couldn’t get this particular emerald to take it, not because
they didn’t try to treat it. Sold that stone to a customer too.
Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
To her, if it isn't a tiffany set diamond it isn't jewelry.?
That gave me a chuckle too. It’s nice to see that other people have
somewhat infuriating and opinionated in-laws too. I have to just be
amused now rather than gasp in disbelief when my in-laws readily
insult the real gems in jewellery I’ve made or bought as worthless
and then proudly show me her latest pair of earrings with plastic
“stones”.
Most commercial emeralds, which do that, are only called emeralds
because FTC is asleep. What is passes under the name emerald,
should be called green beryl.
I thought the point of reference of Daniel’s post was your opinion
that durability should be of value in considering a gem precious?
Daniel said emerald, I assume he meant emerald that you would
consider emerald without an FTC ruling. So what is the correct
understanding of gems in relation to a “gem” quality emerald being a
precious gem?
Yes the term is a little gory and nonedescript as the blood of a
pigeon isn't something most of us have seen, but I used the term as
I knew everyone on this forum would understand that I was talking
about decent quality rubies of a "highly prized" colour.
sorry for picking on your post, but it encapsulates so much
misthat correction is in order.
The term “pigeon blood” used in the context it was intended,
describes ruby so rare that none of us would probably ever come
across. It is been used by dishonest gem dealers to sell their wares
and regretfully they have been getting away with that for years. If
someone offers you a “pigeon blood” ruby, my advice do not walk away
from the deal, run from it.
“Pigeon blood” describes ruby which fluoresces under sun light.
Fluorescence cannot be seen, but its presence manifested by
noticeable inner glow of the gem. The colour appears to come from
inside. The effect is partially due to the presence of extremely fine
silk, which caused dispersion of colour throughout the gem.
The only way it could happen, the ruby must form in the iron free
environment, and sufficient chromium must be present. Exsolution of
titanium oxide must be complete and had been accomplished at a rate
congenial to fine silk formation. Any variation from that scheme and
very nice ruby would form, but not a “pigeon blood”.
What it all mean is that true “pigeon blood” can be created in a
lab, but probably never existed in nature, but some specimens can
come
real close. Where to draw the line which demarcates when “pigeon
blood” becomes just a nice ruby is a very old argument and probably
will never be resolved.
GIA recommends not to use the term at all. My view is that the term
is too important to simply let go. Understanding of its true meaning
it a better option.
All emeralds, high or low quality, can be easily broken,
regardless of the type of treatments used on them
This is not accurate.
Emerald is a beryl coloured by chromium. If crystal is not fractured,
it is almost as durable as aquamarine. “Jardin” refers to presence of
fingerprints, included crystals, and 3 phase inclusions
(characteristic of colombian emeralds). These inclusions do not
degrade structural integrity of the gem, unless fingerprint is only
partially healed. It is the fractures, which are concealed via
different mean, that makes emerald vulnerable to impact.
I thought the point of reference of Daniel's post was your opinion
that durability should be of value in considering a gem precious?
nothing changes. Gem must be durable. It is very difficult to find
emerald without some kind of a fracture and decision was made,
probably in smoke-filled back room, to allow oiled, and otherwise
treated stones to be sold as gems. But that is bowing to the industry
pressure. I use gem in gemological sense, not in commercial one.
pigeon blood red rubies - Perhaps this is another term that could
be dropped from the current gemological lexicon.
Yes the term is a little gory and nonedescript as the blood of a
pigeon isn’t something most of us have seen, but I used the term as I
knew everyone on this forum would understand that I was talking about
decent quality rubies of a “highly prized” colour.
If I was ordering a ruby (or any other gem) of the highly priz= ed
red
color, I would say gem quality. I would specifically add, no pink, no
purple.’
Actually, I used to raise white king pigeons, and one day my
sister’s cat got to their nest… Their blood was pretty much the
same color as people’s blood, nothing like the hot pink color of the
rubies I’ve heard described that way. I’m not sure if it’s a case of
a traditional superlative being applied to cheaper goods, false
etymology, or poetic license, but simply describing a ruby as “blood
red” would be clearer and truer to the facts. Of course, then they’d
have to think of another marketing description for pink corundum -
anybody want to buy some “albino-eye” rubies?
sorry for picking on your post, but it encapsulates so much
misthat correction is in order.
Well now, I kind of expected this when I typed the term and was
cringing as I did it. The field of gemology is such a vast one and
there is so much to learn, and although I have been interested in
the subject from being very young and have read a lot, I’m obviously
not quite up to scratch as a lot of folk on Orchid. The rubies in my
ring were sold to me by a diamond dealer in Amsterdam as “pigeon
blood red” rubies as referring merely to their colour and they are
lovely rubies. Incidentally they are very real as their natural
inclusions are clearly visible with a x10 loupe and good light.
I’ll try not to make such a faux pas in future but can’t guarantee I
won’t and I’ll happily stand corrected if I do.
Actually, I used to raise white king pigeons, and one day my
sister's cat got to their nest... Their blood was pretty much the
same color as people's blood, nothing like the hot pink color of
the rubies I've heard described that way.
Attention!!! Do not read any further if you are overly sensitive.
The term describes color of the first 2 drops of arterial blood
after pigeon’s throat was slit. In Myanmar (Burma) where term
originated pigeons were used for food and population was very
familiar
with the colour.
I do not want to publish all the gory details of why and how here. If
someone really interested email me off the list. I will elaborate on
the subject.
I have cut hundreds of emeralds, many,many aqua’s, heliodors,and
morganites. Emerald is by far the most brittle and fragile.Even if
they are pure. I know, because I have also set thousands of
emeralds, hundreds of aqua’s and emeralds are by far the most finicky
commercial stone to set.
Leonid is exactly right. I have cut a lot of all types of beryl,
and, unless the material is internally fractured it is VERY hard
(harder than tool steel) and quite tough, as well. Hardness and
toughness are different qualities. Beryl has both.
The reputation that emerald has earned for being “delicate” is owed
to the fact that the internal fractures (not inclusions) that make
it weak are routinely hidden by “treatments”. The PRIMARY reason for
so many fractures in commercial emerald is the use of explosives in
the mining areas. Production, production, production.
In highly commercialized areas, the explosives are used
knowledgeably, but in many smaller operations throughout the world,
miners use whatever they can get their hands. Often, they will use
commercial dynamite, which has a fairly high detonation rate, when
the appropriate choice would be ammonium nitrate, a low det rate
explosive. It pushes or shoves…the dynamite shatters. And plastic
explosive REALLY shatters. But they use what they have available.
I did use association with aquamarine a bit loosely, but the general
thrust of the sentence is valid. However, the point is well taken.
Since emerald and aquamarine forms under different condition, the
two should not be compared. But you should agree that if we take a
lab-grown emerald, it would stand much better to the abuse then a
natural. That is probably a better comparison.
Again, you are correct about the beryls in general and emerald in
particular. The hydrothermally grown material is noticeably tougher
and harder than the natural, and the natural material, if “clean” is
pretty sturdy. Although, as noted by someone else, emerald is always
more brittle (less tough) than aquamarine. I don’t readily detect
much difference between synthetic aqua and natural, but I think I
read somewhere that the hardness of aqua rises with increasing RI in
the material as noted from different localities. Maybe “Emerald and
Other Beryls” by Sinkankas or one of the Russians writing about the
spectacular deposits of D’al Nagorsk. Can’t remember, sorry.
I cut a LOT of larger synthetic corundum in “fancy” cuts, and some
natural material as well. There is no question in my mind that the
synthetic material is considerably more resistant to abrasion by the
diamond sintered laps and hand-charged diamond/tin alloy laps I use
than is the natural material, at least in the “soft” directions. In
the “hard” direction, they are both just HARD!
I am surprised there has not been more work done on technical
hardness (Rockwell or Knoop) and toughness of some of these
crystalline materials according to their crystallographic axes.
Maybe it’s been done, but I sure can’t find it.
So today, my favorite supplier sent me a batch of stones on memo for
the holidays. Included among them was a 3.5 ct. tourmaline that
wholesales for just slightly under $20,000. Hmmm. “Semi” precious" I
don’t think so!!! Let’s just get rid of that term now for good.
Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
Included among them was a 3.5 ct. tourmaline that wholesales for
just slightly under $20,000.
When I went to Rio, we were invited to tour the HStearn
factory/building. We went through and watched the jewelers, the
faceters, the designers, the goldsmiths, the stone setters, and then
we went to the showroom. Everyone there had a noticeable ‘bulge’
under their arm, which I assumed to mean that everyone was armed.
Our Host asked me what I wanted to look at, and I said ‘Emeralds’.
He brought me about 5 trays of emeralds, and I went through them
pretty fast until the last tray. I picked out the Emerald, looked at
it with my loop, then told the Host " I am really not impressed. In
5 trays of Emeralds, there was only one that was even worth looking
at. I thought this was a high class store?"
He said, “you really know your emeralds…”
He took the 5 trays back, and told me, “I’ll impress you.”
He came back with a ring box, and in it was a 13+ ct paraiba
tourmaline ring. It glowed as if it were a small neon light. I put it
under the table in the shadows and it still had an electric glow. It
was priced at $50K per ct.
Not semi precious…
I was impressed.
I asked if I could photograph it, and was told “no, only the person
who buys it has the right to photograph this stone.”.
…But I will always have the memory of holding a $600K stone in my
hand for a few minutes.