Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-03-01
J., IMITATION GEMS.
Row Many Kinds 0f Precious
Stones Arc Countorfe.tcd.
LOCK Crystal Ilars AN Important Hart In
The Manufacture 81 Artificial jew
eh-one Result ~ Progress
In heui-tr,.

The fins: imitation GtAtn,i:s az.
maze Guy - To- Try ~:al 81; y Wash
ln@''"n 3''..rr n rrc...us e.u,4,., :. :.
Hiar MAJ! rrrru..v. Tic ba~.e,t th,.
most sucrc~>f... r,-unt,-t,.,>ut a. s.i.,l~
- gems = a pur,. w.. ,i.r~rar... i..-'.I.
transparent ~'rt .-.ae~ ~h..A =
termed paste IL "a" ,r.r!,.. I,r a Sc.
N!An1 ';.GN TINS s,.A~e 5 >.,I.,y cu. and
Polished III facets, ~h.l, tnr initiating
Other stones. such a. rnlI,~ ,ii.rral:~.
sapPhir">. 1t. metal ic "xid,> are
mixed nh IL
In manufacturing gas t,r ~r,A i,ur-
poses the progresses cmpl"rr,i have 10
l." conducted With thu utu.~, n:r.t-.
Tor making even IN. i.>, mir - tine
necessary silica is ol,'a;ucl sr,in ur,!i-
nary white q .art1, wh!.,. common WIN
dc" pancS are produced from sea sand
I" a large extent; but. in this case. r.rk
crystal - substituted. compost about
fifty per cent. Of the il ,r-..i.nts - the
paste. To this must ! added twenty
two per cent. OF carb, ate IF Soda and
due proportions Of cal.incd hDray. salt
peter and red lead. AL ~ thrs.. things
are reduced Ia the finest powder, mixed
fused together by heat ia crucible and
cooled slowly
The density. transparency and
beauty Of the plate depend upon the
care taken in these pru'-sS,.s. Tins
made, II Is all ready IL hc cut up into
diamonds and prepared for market. IL
may be. however. that the manufac-
turer desires IA produce counterfeit
gems Of other sorts. If So. he has the
mr.lus readily ut hand. Surprising that
he wants rubies, he fuses with paste o
small quantity of peroxide of manganese
and trace Of Cassius purple, which
~lll give the proper color. For emer-
aids. he employs in like manner oxide
VI iron and for sapphires oxide Of CO.
oalt- ,'~..->; aA&a.-. -~-:es-.s> i:;g+ a-ssl
b Topaz is easily formed in the cruel
Die by mixing with one thousand parts
OF paste forty parts Of glass Of anti-
hony and one part Of Cassius purple.
For manufacturing other kinds IT gems
there are methods equally simple. OF
course. none Of these imitation precious
stones has the chemical constitution,
hardness, specific gravity or optical prop
critics OF real ones. Accordingly their
falseness is readily perceived by an ex-
pert. Inasmuch as the elements Of
which various gems are composed are
well known, synthetic chemistry has
attempted to reproduce them by putting
the ingredients together and effecting
capitalization in the laboratory. In
this way large masses of what might be
termed true ruby and sapphire are
turned out artlficially, such gem-like
material having some usefulness for in
dustrial purposes. although lacking the
brilliancy Of natures products.
For my own part, / am confident
that sooner or later some, il not all, of
the stones deemed precious will be re-
produced by artifice. The chemists who
have hitherto confined their attention
to taking things apart are beginning to
learn how to put them together. All
the gems are very simple in compost
ton and the problem is merely to make
their elements crystalline properly. In
all such knowledge science has made
but little progress as yet. We do not
even know for what reason one sub
stance is transparent while another is
opaque; though presumably there is
some relation between the arrangement
of the molecules in the transparent
body and the length of the light waves,
which, in the case Of the transparent
body. permits the latter to paae
through. -