Gemstone Science

When Lattice Diffusion Stops at the Surface: Reading Treatment Evidence in Synthetic Rutile

When Lattice Diffusion Stops at the Surface: Re...

How diffusion treatment creates a near-surface color zone in synthetic rutile, why the effect is not a bulk lattice change, and how evidence for treatment is assembled from microscopy, spectroscopy,...

When Lattice Diffusion Stops at the Surface: Re...

How diffusion treatment creates a near-surface color zone in synthetic rutile, why the effect is not a bulk lattice change, and how evidence for treatment is assembled from microscopy, spectroscopy,...

Moissanite Doublets and Triplets: How Assembled Stones Complicate Identification

Moissanite Doublets and Triplets: How Assembled...

Moissanite doublets and triplets complicate identification because surface-contact instruments sample only one layer. Learn how assembled stones are detected through combined optical, thermal, and spectroscopic evidence.

Moissanite Doublets and Triplets: How Assembled...

Moissanite doublets and triplets complicate identification because surface-contact instruments sample only one layer. Learn how assembled stones are detected through combined optical, thermal, and spectroscopic evidence.

When Diffusion Reaches Vesuvianite: What Lattice Modification Can and Cannot Do

When Diffusion Reaches Vesuvianite: What Lattic...

Why vesuvianite is a difficult host for diffusion treatment, how heat can change its color without lattice modification, and what analytical evidence can actually distinguish the two.

When Diffusion Reaches Vesuvianite: What Lattic...

Why vesuvianite is a difficult host for diffusion treatment, how heat can change its color without lattice modification, and what analytical evidence can actually distinguish the two.

Pleochroism, Not Color Change: How Kunzite Reveals the Difference Between Viewing Angle and Illumination Spectra

Pleochroism, Not Color Change: How Kunzite Reve...

Kunzite's pink-lilac variation is mostly pleochroism, not true color change. Learn how orientation-dependent absorption differs from illuminant-dependent transmission and why the distinction matters.

Pleochroism, Not Color Change: How Kunzite Reve...

Kunzite's pink-lilac variation is mostly pleochroism, not true color change. Learn how orientation-dependent absorption differs from illuminant-dependent transmission and why the distinction matters.

What Amber and Copal Reveal Through Spectroscopy, and What They Conceal

What Amber and Copal Reveal Through Spectroscop...

FTIR and Raman spectroscopy show maturation differences between amber and copal, but they cannot measure age or origin. Learn the real limits of organic gem analysis.

What Amber and Copal Reveal Through Spectroscop...

FTIR and Raman spectroscopy show maturation differences between amber and copal, but they cannot measure age or origin. Learn the real limits of organic gem analysis.

When a Ruby Is Not a Ruby: How Synthetic Corundum and Simulants Create an Optical Identity Problem

When a Ruby Is Not a Ruby: How Synthetic Corund...

How gemologists distinguish natural ruby, synthetic corundum, and ruby simulants using microscopy, trace-element analysis, and multiple lines of evidence, with attention to measurement limits and uncertainty.

When a Ruby Is Not a Ruby: How Synthetic Corund...

How gemologists distinguish natural ruby, synthetic corundum, and ruby simulants using microscopy, trace-element analysis, and multiple lines of evidence, with attention to measurement limits and uncertainty.