The Magic Wand of Truth and Lies [Gem Tester Tutorial] 

Thank you Tango~! I appreciate your kind words

Welcome, Astro. I'm glad you're benefitting from my work.

I'm glad that you've found it aswell ~

Thank you Yusuf. I am honoured by your words.

Cheers - different strokes for different folks, as they say. Glad the old content is still relevant for you ;)

Welcome Laurentiu, may my work serve your needs ^_^

It is definitely an intense simulant. Glad you enjoy it.

The only tools i “trust” at this point are my refractometer and spectroscope, and the latter only for my key fave stones eh? You really need the whole setup for certainty. Thx again Rog.

@@GemologyforSchmucks - thanks Peter. Yea I’ll have to get those. 👍

Is there an somewhat efficient way to test Sp Gravity?

@@tangojuli209 I found this link helpful. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xEuMlXMth_M.html

Thank you - i'm glad to have been of service.

As long as you call it "lab-created ruby/sapphire" or "synthetic ruby/sapphire", i'd call that fair disclosure.

Hi Chris~ It depends entirely on what your desired outcome is. If you want some general knowledge about coloured gemstones and diamonds, then GIA has a set of 3 courses that come together for the AJP certification, and the three courses cover the essentials/entry level knowledge for coloured gems, diamonds and jewelry. This is great for people that are looking at getting into a sales position, or want to taste gemology and decide if they want to go in for full studies in a course such as the GG with GIA, the FGA program with Gem-A (the Gemmological Association of Great Britain) or my own choice, the A.G. program with AIGS. All of these schools listed above have correspondence courses available and are in the same league. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages. If you're wanting to trade in gemstones, then you really need to put your hands on them and go see them in person, so I advise away from the correspondence route, once you have decided that you are going to commit and get into this world. Thanks for the comment.

If you're interested in distinguishing from glass, then i'd recommend this other video on using your phone and polarized sunglasses. It should assist with many gemstones (but not singly refractive ones like garnet, diamond etc. ) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZKja_p4ROs8.htmlsi=eaVCWsYuXUYhs9AD

It's just a slightly more contrived version as the one used in this video in my opinion. From all the material i've seen from the company, it makes use of the same technology and simply compiles a list of the stones that can fall in the same electrical/thermal readings. It's not to be trusted as an end all stone identification tool. Use it, but know its limitations.

They are nerve wracking to watch, certainly, but to my understanding most of the probes are copper, so the hardness isnt there to scratch most stones. That said, im sure there are brittle stones that wouldn’t appreciate that overt force.

@@GemologyforSchmucks Thank you for the lightning-fast reply! 🙏

Hi Jacob, and congratulations on graduating~ Most gemologists that I know will combine this or a comparable level of pen tester with a loupe or microscope. If you don't have a microscope, you'll still be able to use a loupe in this situation as long as you practice a little bit with some known stones. For the most cost effective choice, i'd say spending for the better tool (one such as this, not necessarily one WAY more high tech) is the better idea. Low price pen testers often lack the ability to distinguish moissanite from from diamond. If you don't deal regularly with diamonds, then i'd just skip buying the pen tester entirely (personal opinion). Ask yourself if the pen tester can protect you from losing money. If the answer is yes, the buy it. If not... skip it.

@@GemologyforSchmucks thank you for the response 😁

​@@GemologyforSchmucksWhy not use the polariscope to distinguish Moissanite from Diamond. Diamond is singly refractive while Moissanite is doubly refractive.

@@24kGoldenRocket If you're down to those last two options, you definitely could use the polariscope, excellent point. The thermal conductivity characteristics that the pen tester can measure however provides a little more information when dealing with other potential diamond simulants.

Hi there ~ until the covid govt ban on malls is lifted, exploring the markets will be tough. Once that is lifted, head to Silom in Bangkok and check out the Jewelry Trade center and many of the shops in the surrounding area. Feast your eyes; thats a good place to start. Get yourself a decent 10x triplet loupe (I have some reviews on this channel and what to look for.) And finally, can anyone other than the sellers profit, the answer is definitely yes IF you do two things: 1) Buy at a price that you can leave yourself a margin to sell on to a retail market. 2) cultivate end consumers. In coloured stones (as opposed to diamonds) there is plenty of space for independent sellers to do their trade. The difficulty is getting experience on the qualities of stones and building the pipeline of buyers that trust you. You actually find a lot of former bankers in the gem trade because being a banker is boring AF for many people, and they already have a network of people who are looking for physical assets that hold and or build value as opposed to 1s and 0s in a bank account. So yes - there is room, but no it's not as easy as selling detergent to an empty supermarket. Thanks for reaching out~

a diamond mine? maybe. Coloured stones? not so much. I think it is more likely to deceive you, if you do not know what to expect.

I welcome you to check Presidium's website, or research other competitive brands.

With something that substantial, once you're confident that it is a diamond, you'd want to get a gem report from GIA in my opinion. High octane reports for high-octane stones. I'm usually not too brand particular, but they're diamond people. Cool stuff, Sergio.

An excellent question. Diamond simulants in their endless varieties are not something I deal with on a daily basis, and i've not come accross CZ with a carbon coating. I've also not heard someone mention it. That said ~ the vast majority of diamonds are exclusively traded with gemstone reports, so I am quite skeptical that such stones would get very far.

It is color white but when i put this in the light of my cp, it shows a yellow orange color..

I have a picture on it and a video but how ican send it to you...

@@joeyjuntilla8823 head over to gemshepherd.com and there is a contact tool. Identifying stones from photo/video is something that no one can do reliably, but I might be able to point you in the right direction. If you want to know with absolute certainty, you'll need to have the stone tested by someone with the right instruments.

Indeed~ I am a man of much variety. Monotony is death. And yes ~ cheers to the knowledge, and good optics.

That is indeed what she said.

@@GemologyforSchmucks hahaaa,!

CZ shows up as inert on modern advanced pen-testers. As long as the probe is clean, most quality devices should be able to distinguish between CZ and a large variety of other simulants.

You are absolutely right Massimo. This style of pen tester is a poor replacement for a gemologist.

@@GemologyforSchmucks 100% agree ... I'm a Graduate Gemmologist!

I think more cooking AND more gemology XD