All that glitters
John Antonio Ortiga stands next to a display module at Alexis Jewelers in Glorietta 1. Seeing me, he unravels a delicately wrapped engagement ring, revealing a flawless two-carat heart-shaped diamond to marvel at. After watching the movie Blood Diamond on and off — I sleep when I watch television, wake up, and ask what happened, so no one wants to watch television with me — I learned to appreciate a gem’s provenance.
“Every one of them is unique in brilliance and in its story,” John tells me. “Oh, don’t worry. Our diamonds are all 100 percent guaranteed.”
John has made it his mission after an MBA to return home a graduate gemologist (GG) from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in
Last week, John showed me a supposed gem he assessed for a client to guide her. It turned out to be a doublet, which is a fusion of two stones by gluing both together to appear as one gorgeous gem. This is very deceiving and malicious. Therefore, if anyone purchases a stone from an unknown buyer, you should test it for authenticity and genuineness with John at their Amorsolo branch, too, in Estrella del Norte.
The instrument used to determine the authenticity of any precious or semi-precious stone is the refractometer index. Through its parameters, you can judge whether a gem is uniaxial or biaxial photopositive or photonegative, meaning one or two refractions. The photopositive refraction is when the light penetrates through an object while the photonegative is when the light bends or bounces back when it hits the light.
All those terms and the numbers John uses are too technical for me to understand and write about! Shouldn’t I just break my piggy bank to buy his stone? Anyway, here’s another try…
The Refractive Index Liquid or the GIA Liquid is dropped on the gem to be examined to know its specific gravity, for its genuineness, and from there one knows whether it’s real or fake. For example, the diamond, the hardest and strongest among the gems, has a specific gravity of 3.52 with a refractive index of 2.417, while other gems possess their own indices. If your diamond doesn’t register those numbers, you’re holding a questionable stone. Therefore, simulated or imitation stones will never have the exact physical and chemical properties as their naturally-mined counterparts.
John evaluates, measures, and scrutinizes minerals using his trained eye, a tweezer, a jeweler’s loupe, a microscope, and a refractometer to analyze those God-made or manmade wonders regarding their clarity, color, cut, symmetry and carat weight.
Now comes Janina Dizon Hoschka, an international award-winning jewelry designer from the GIA. (All those I interviewed came from the same school.)
Her store, Janina for Jul Dizon, is located at the mezzanine of The Peninsula Manila. Among Janina’s primary concern is whether a stone is natural or synthetic. What type of enhancement (if any) has it had, because the pricing will vary greatly between a natural and a manmade stone.
If we see internal structures under magnification called curved striae, which is a curved banding of the stone, end of story; it is a synthetic stone. If we see a microscopic inclusion called fingerprint, we have a natural stone. But what if the stone is flawless or if the inclusions are ambiguous? At that point, a gem lab is the only way to get an accurate ID. Any stone, precious or otherwise, can be enhanced by heat, diffusion, coating, filing or whatever other methods to improve its clarity and color.
These are the following tips Janina provides so as not to get burned: “Deal with well-established firms. Deal with individuals with credentials from well-known institutions that have a money-back guarantee to back the authenticity of their goods.”
Whether you are buying or have inherited or been given a gemstone as a gift, having your stones certified for authenticity by a reputable gemologist is recommended for your peace of mind.
Sandra Alfonso Olfato is also a graduate gemologist of the GIA in
Sandra says, “A real diamond is a girl’s best friend.” But that sparkling stone can turn out to be trash if, after wearing it for years, it turns out to be synthetic!
Three lessons can be learned from buying stones. One, there is no such thing as sight identification, which means looking at any gemstone based on experience is never a guarantee of the true nature and quality of the stone. Two, only scientific methods in the field of gemology and gemological equipment will determine whether the gemstone is real or not. This procedure of thorough analysis is called gem identification. Three, beyond trust is proof of knowledge. A reliable jeweler knows the gemological tests and has the essential equipment such as the diamond probe tester and Moissanite tester to measure the stone’s thermal inertia, a refractor to read the refractive index, and a gemological microscope.
“In the case of enhancement,”
What if the seller does not have this equipment and offers a tempting low price? If you can trust the seller try the heft test by holding the stone in your hand. Heft it and feel if it somewhat weighs right. If it feels heavier than normal, check the weight, it may be fake. With the price of stones now, and if you’re already investing anyway, find a reputable seller.
Another method is the transparency test in which the diamond is placed upside down on a newspaper. If the written portion of the newspaper is legible, then it is a strong indication that the diamond is not real. (You might be holding part of a pair of eyeglasses.)
Another test is called the fog test. Hold the stone and blow some air on it. If fog appears on the stone and stays for the next few seconds, the stone could be fake.
The last test is called the ultraviolet test. A real diamond projects a blue-colored light if put under ultraviolet light or black light. If the blue color appears, it is an indication that it possesses the natural property of fluorescence and indicates the diamond is real.
Remember, all that glitters may not be real!
