open 10 am - 7 pm
laboratory is closed
Artificial pearls and its varieties
First of all, do not confuse cultured and artificial pearls. Cultured pearls are pearls that are grown under natural conditions in a mollusk, but under human control. And artificial pearls are made by man without the participation of mollusks.
Due to the low cost and good decorative properties, synthetic pearls are a fairly popular jewelry market. The most common types of synthetic pearls are Majorica, Swarovski Crystal pearls and Shell pearls. About each of them a little more in detail.
Majorica is an imitation of a pearl, which is obtained by repeatedly applying layers of nacre on a frosted glass ball, which acts as a kind of seed. The process of making such pearls can take up to 30 days. Their characteristic feature is the high surface quality, which is achieved by polishing and UV treatment after each application of the pearlescent layer. Unlike natural pearls, Majorica has higher strength and is inert to external factors, such as sunlight, perfume and more.
Pearls of Swarovski Crystal pearls are similar to Majorica. During production, several mother-of-pearl layers are also applied to the “seed”, only the Swarovski crystal acts as the “seed”. The beads obtained by this method have a perfect smooth surface and a beautiful sheen, and also practically do not undergo wear.
Imitation Shell pearls appeared on the market for a long time, at the beginning of the last century, and to this day does not lose its popularity. Such beads are prepared as follows. The core for a bead is made from a mollusk shell, which is subsequently coated with natural mother of pearl mixed with a special solution. The "pearls" obtained by this method are quite large, their diameter starting at 10mm. In terms of physical and chemical properties, this type of synthetic pearl is similar to the two described above - high wear resistance, good surface quality and a wide variety of color shades are also characteristic of Shell pearls.
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.