Does any know what stone this is? Taxco 950 Inlay Bracelet

[randazzo1]

Just curious how someone can make such an accurate description from a photo that is dark and not the best quality. Are you a certified gemologist? That's good!!

No. That's just one of those minerals that's super easy to spot. I'm partners in a business that buys and sells a ton of jewelry and have had to learn as much as possible about it. We cycle through thousands of pieces per month so you start to learn just about everything there is to know. I took two of GIA's correspondence courses but only ever made one lab module. Last year we bought a bunch of basic tools (refractometer, mirco with dark filed, polariscope etc). Determining the type of gemstone you are dealing with is relatively easy with these tools. The problem is the darn synthetics. I am not able to tell a single gemstone (except emeralds and low grade rubies / sapphires because it's so easy just by looking at them) from the synthetic version (and by synthetic I mean elemental and structural identicial man-made material). That's going to take a lot more time. I bought several thousand carats of top grade amethyst in April and I unfortunately judged it natural on my own. It was all synthetic. 100%

 

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[Grundestoun]

No. That's just one of those minerals that's super easy to spot. I'm partners in a business that buys and sells a ton of jewelry and have had to learn as much as possible about it. We cycle through thousands of pieces per month so you start to learn just about everything there is to know. I took two of GIA's correspondence courses but only ever made one lab module. Last year we bought a bunch of basic tools (refractometer, mirco with dark filed, polariscope etc). Determining the type of gemstone you are dealing with is relatively easy with these tools. The problem is the darn synthetics. I am not able to tell a single gemstone (except emeralds and low grade rubies / sapphires because it's so easy just by looking at them) from the synthetic version (and by synthetic I mean elemental and structural identicial man-made material). That's going to take a lot more time. I bought several thousand carats of top grade amethyst in April and I unfortunately judged it natural on my own. It was all synthetic. 100%

I would really like to learn more about identifying gems. Where do I find out about the correspondence courses?

 

[gunsil]

I think it's natural. Stabilized maybe, but it doesn't look like crushed or powdered/reconstituted material to me. I'll post some photos of super cool raw material and a nice inlaid bracelet / necklace combo.

Do you have any idea of how hard it would be to cut and polish a piece of rough material to match the curve of the bracelet and be that thin?? Almost impossible. And if it were done, it would be subject to cracking and falling out with the lightest bump against any hard object. From the lousy photos, it could even be enamel in the panels, although I still lean towards the recon/epoxy idea, just by the construction problems associated with cutting a thin slice of stone to match the curvature of a cuff bracelet.

 

[randazzo1]

I would really like to learn more about identifying gems. Where do I find out about the correspondence courses?

You can go to GIA's website. If I was you, I would buy the book "Gem Identification Made Easy" by Antoinette Matlins. It's only a $30.00 investment and will give you a great overview of basic gemology. I've never seen it as a real science, more of a technician's trade. You can set up the basic lab she describes for under $500.00. We did it with all Chinese made tools (except the mircroscope, which I was fortunate enough to locate at an estate sale for next to nothing). The Chinese tools / instruments have their drawbacks, but they do get the job done. If you decided to stick with it, you can replace them with American made tools. One of my mentors took the opposite approach and purchased all U.S. and Japanese made tools right off the bat. His opinion is that if you are going to get involved with gemology, you need to start with good dependable tools. That's great, if you can afford them. If not, start with the Chinese tools. One caveat -- for some of the tools, like the polariscope, you are better off watching Youtube videos to learn how to use it.

Good luck and I hope you pursue this fascinating area!