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Another parody of sapphire - Benitoite
Benitoite is a rare gemstone and collectible mineral. It was named after the place of its first discovery - San Benito County in California (USA). Benitoite has a beautiful blue color and was originally mistaken for sapphire. The first stones found in this way were cut and sold as sapphires, and only almost a year after the discovery of benitoite it was found that it had nothing to do with sapphire, but is an independent mineral. Benitoite has a relatively high hardness - 6-6.5 on the Mohs scale and a slightly higher light dispersion than diamond - 0.046 (BG). Its only drawback is its high fragility, which necessitates a delicate attitude when cutting and using jewelry with inserts of this beautiful blue stone. For a long time, only a few manifestations were known near the site of the original find, but later manifestations of this mineral were found in the state of Arkansas (USA), and then in Japan (Niigata Prefecture) and Australia (New South Wales). But the main source of this rare and beautiful mineral is still the Gem Mine in San Benito County (California, USA).
В геммологической практике бывают весьма увлекательные случаи с диагностикой ювелирных вставок
Но помимо редкости цвета и высокой стоимости таких камней, многие розовые камни выделяются одной замечательной особенностью – они проявляют плеохроизм, то есть в зависимости от положения осмотра камня он может иметь дополнительные оттенки – оранжевый или пурпурный.
Currently, gemstones are produced by two fundamentally different technological methods - the High Pressure - High Temperature method (“HPHT”, High-pressure & High-temperature) and the Chemical Vapor Deposition (“CVD”, Chemical vapor deposition) method. The "HPHT" method is the most tested classical synthesis method, which can be used both carbon deposition on diamond from flux melts and catalytic reactions. In "CVD" synthesis, diamond growth occurs on a seed during carbon deposition mainly from a gaseous medium at relatively low temperatures and pressures.
Jewelry and precious stones are just such a category of goods, when buying which you need to pay attention to many criteria.
Sogdianite is a rather rare mineral and more often it can be found as a collection material (moreover, in systematic collections), and it is extremely rare in jewelry.