Иностранный язык в сфере профессиональных коммуникаций (геммология). Составители: Шмакин Б. М., Золотарева Е. В

Synthetic ruby from Sri Lanka

The rough yielded a well-proportioned 4.17 ct, pear shape. Prominent, eye-visible zoning appeared to be caused by dense concentrations of the “silk” inclusions that are typical of ruby. When viewed with a microscope, however, slightly curved zones of tiny gas bubbles were seen. Between the zones of small bubbles were larger bubbles, some with a long attached channel. Also present were abundant, curved hollow cavities that were very similar to the “trichites” seen in many tourmalines.

The gas bubbles proved that this sample was a flame-fusion synthetic ruby. However, this fake crystal was unusual in that it was fashioned from low-quality synthetic material containing abundant bubbles. While most gem dealers are suspicious of high-quality rough without inclusions, few expect to see clever imitations of rough crystals made from lower-quality synthetics. Such mistakes can be very costly.
Дополнительный словарь:

waterworn – омытый водой	slightly – слегка, немного
handheld – ручной	to curve – гнуть, сгибать
to perceive – различать, воспринимать	to attach – прикреплять, прикладывать
pear – груша	abundant – обильный
prominent – выдающийся, выпуклый	hollow – пустота, углубление
fusion – плавка	suspicious – подозрительный
fake – подделка

9.7. Answer the questions:

1. What colour had represented specimen for examination?

2. What inclusions are typical of natural ruby?

3. What was the result of the appearance of parallel zones in the sample?

4. What internal features of gem material helped to identify it as synthetic?

5. What was unusual for researchers in this example?

1) омытая водой поверхность;

2) ручной спектроскоп;

3) слегка изогнутые зоны;

4) обилие газовых пузырей;

5) поддельный кристалл.

Glass is the oldest manufactured material used as a gem substitute. Whether single-crystal or multi-component, most gem materials familiar to us have been imitated by glass at one time or another. Even though manufactured glass is quite common and its identification is relatively routine, from time to time some unusual glass items submitted to the Gem Trade Laboratory call for extra testing. Such was the case with the semi-opaque dark red cabochon represented as “pupurine”. The cabochon displayed a spotty or patchwork surface reflectivity in incident light that is somewhat reminiscent of the aventurescence or schiller shown by some feldspar.

The specific gravity of the cabochon (determined hydrostatically) was 3.68, and the refractive index obtained by the spot method was approximately 1.62. Our ability to obtain an R.I. reading varied considerably from area to area across the cabochon, which suggests that surface-reaching inclusions might interfere with the reading in some areas. Examination with a gemological microscope and fibre-optic illumination showed that the cabochon was primarily composed of interlocked nests of dark red needles that were precisely oriented in a sagenitic (grid-like intersecting needles or plates) boxwork pattern within their respective nests. This caused all of the needles within a nest to reflect incident light simultaneously, while surrounding nests remained dark.

Inclusions of synthetic cuprite produced by devitrification in manufactured glass have been observed and identified before. For example, a Gem News item documented synthetic cuprite inclusions that formed brownish, green glass manufactured by Iimory Laboratory in Tokyo, and marketed as Maple Stone. In the present case, the matrix of the “pupurine” cabochon appears to be essentially the same color as the cuprite inclusions. This was apparent when the cabochon was examined around its edges with a pinpoint fiber-optic light source. The synthetic cuprite inclusions also must contribute significantly to the bodycolor of the cabochon, since they are pervasive throughout the glass matrix. We do not know the manufacturer of this attractive cuprite glass.

1. Is identification of glass substitute easily?

2. What optical effect did unusual sample of glass display?

3. In what minerals also shown this effect?

4. Why was the refractive index of testing cabochon reading differently?

5. What inclusion made gem glass attractive?

6. What trade name has this artificial gem material?
9.10. Find the following word combinations in the text:

1) многокомпонентный;

2) пятнистая поверхность;

3) падающий свет;

4) плотность определена гидростатически;

5) измерение показателя преломления методом пятна;

dull – depression -

concave - tiny -
Text 1.

Gemstone enhancement

Concern about gemstone enhancements and the search for methods to detect them are not new. Written descriptions of treatment methods date back almost 2,000 years, and reports on enhancement detection were being published as early as 1502. However, a number of developments in the last time have brought greater attention to the subject of gemstones in the market, the increasing sophistication of the treatment methods used, the need to relay accurate information both within the trade and to the consumer, and government interest in mandatory enhancement disclosure.

The impact that enhancement had on the gem market may be unparalleled in the history of the industry. Heat treatment brought hundreds of thousands of carats of blue and fancy-color sapphires and rubies to the trade, irradiation turned literally millions of carats of white topaz into attractive blue stones, and the filling of surface-reaching separations introduced an entirely new variable to the evaluation of color and clarity in diamonds. One of the key challenges to the gemologist is the identification of these and other enhancements.

What new treatments might face us in the not-too-distant future? A number of recent developments indicate some areas that must be monitored closely. Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition has been used to produce thin films of polycrystalline synthetic diamond and diamond-like carbon. While such materials appear to be relatively easy to detect, the possibility exists that a transparent layer of colorless monocrystalline synthetic diamond might in the future be grown on various gem materials.

Certainly, detection will continue to face many challenges in coming decades. Even if no new enhancements were to emerge, the need continues for definitive tests to identify heat-treated rubies and sapphires, artificially irradiated diamonds and tourmalines, and topaz that has been heated or artificially irradiated and annealed. Important strides must be made in the years to come.
Дополнительный словарь:

concern – интерес, забота	recent – недавний, последний
search – поиски, исследование	vapor – пар, испарение
disclosure – обнаружение	film – тонкий слой, пленка
entirely – исключительно, совершенно	definitive – наиболее точный, полный
challenge – проблема	to anneal – прокаливать
to face – наталкиваться	stride – успехи

10.5. Answer the questions:

1. When were people beginning to enhance gem materials?

2. What gemstones expose to the treatment for the most part?

3. What treatment methods exist for the improvement gems?

4. Is there need to continue research enhancement of materials?
10.6. Translate into English the following sentences:

1. Информация по облагораживанию ювелирных камней необходима как для продавцов, так и для покупателей.

2. Термической обработке подвергаются сотни тысяч карат сапфиров и рубинов.

3. Одной из главных проблем для геммологов является идентификация облагороженных материалов.

The last time witnessed an extraordinary influx of sapphires and rubies onto the market – over 95 % of which were believed to have been heat-treated by one method or another. Heat treatment is most widely used to develop blue color in light or near-colorless corundum by means of an intervalence charge transfer involving iron and titanium ions. Thermal treatment also came into extensive use to induce or enhance yellow to orange or brown colors in corundum. The resulting stones are often of a color that has been described as “rare and somewhat unnatural”. With magnification, the following identifying features may be seen in both blue and yellow heated sapphires: internal stress fractures or cotton-like features around inclusions; stubby, partially absorbed silk; pockmarked, melted facets, and abnormal multi-plane girdles where part of the original surface was missed in repolishing; blotchy color banding or diffused zoning in blue stones (rarely, with brown color zoning); and colored halos surrounding solid mineral inclusions.

Most citrine on the market has been produced by heat-treating of amethyst. While this treatment is generally not detectable, the presence of altered iron-based inclusions may provide proof in some cases. Experimentation has shown that when amethyst containing brownish yellow goethite inclusions is heated, the goethite dehydrates to reddish brown hematite, often with the accompanying formation of stress cracks.

Heat treatment continues to be used extensively to alter the appearance of a number of other gem materials. For example, heat treatment produces: a pink color in chromium-bearing orangy-brown topaz, a purer blue hue in greenish blue aquamarine, lighter colors in some dark blue to green tourmaline, and the blue-violet colors of tanzanite from greenish brown zoisite. In general, however, these alterations require lower temperatures, so the physical evidence, especially damage or alteration of inclusions associated with heat treatment of corundum, is generally lacking in these materials (the color produced usually is the only indication of treatment).

1. What colours has light corundum been obtained after the thermal treatment?

2. What identifying features have blue and yellow heated sapphires?

3. What mineral is heat-treating material to produce citrine?

4. How can we determine treatment citrine in some cases?

5. What stones else are heat-treated to alter its appearance?

1) перенос заряда;

2) цветное свечение вокруг включений;

3) хлопьевидное образование;

4) обезвоживание гетита;

5) хромсодержащий оранжево-коричневый топаз;

6) изменение внешности ювелирных материалов;

7) чистейший синий оттенок;

8) частично поглощенные шелковидные включения.
Text 3.

Oiling and cavity filling

This general treatment category refers to the introduction of any substance into surface-reaching fractures in gems for the primary purpose of lowering the relief of the fractures, thereby making them less noticeable. The substances used may be colorless or slightly tinted. Their primary purpose, however, is to improve apparent clarity and appearance, not to add color, and in some instances they may even have a negative effect on apparent color.

To most gemmologists, the term oiling is automatically associated with emerald. The two most commonly used substances for emerald treatment in Colombia are cedarwood oil and Canada balsam. The latter fluoresces dull yellow to long-wave U.V. radiation, which is used as an indication of oiling. If the refractive index of the oil differs significantly from that of the stone, careful manipulation of the light source under magnification may produce an iridescent effect. If the oil has not completely filled the fracture, gaps may be seen in the filling material. In the 1980s, reports began to appear of emeralds that had surface-reaching fractures filled with a plastic substance, possibly introduced in liquid form and then hardened by exposure to light or U.V. radiation. Such plastic-treated fractures might be detectable by a characteristic fluorescent reaction and diagnostic infrared spectrum.

One of the most significant enhancements introduced is the filling of surface-reaching separations in diamonds (commonly called the Yehuda treatment). This was first reported from Japan in 1987, on diamonds imported from Israel. A comprehensive investigation found that this treatment did improve apparent clarity in many stones, but often at the expense of the overall color. Some treated stones have a slightly greasy or oily appearance with a very slight yellowish overtone. The treatment material is not stable to extremely high temperatures.

The last decades saw the introduction of the filling of surface pits and cavities with a glass-like substance to seal open voids, add weight, and improve the overall appearance of rubies and sapphires. Because of the difference in refractive index and hardness between the host corundum and the filling material, large filled cavities may be detected with the unaided eye by a difference in surface luster.

Historically, shellac has been used to seal the growth tubes in cat’s-eye tourmaline. A stone examined in 1984, however, had tubes filled with a plastic. The treatment was detected by the presence of gas bubbles in the filling and by the odor produced when a hot point was applied.

1. What can make that surface-reaching fractures of stone be less noticeable?

2. Will colour of gemstone altered by oiling?

3. What precious stone is exposed oiling more often?

4. What substances have been used for treatment of emerald?

5. May oiled emerald be detected?

6. What negatively represent on treatment materials?

7. What substances are used for the filling cavities of some gemstones?

Diamonds reached Europe around the first century AD but for hundreds of years they were reserved for the richest and most influential monarchs. During the late Renaissance, however, as trade routes between Europe and India opened up, power and wealth began to filter down through the nobility to the great merchant families. By the late 1600s, diamonds were a status symbol among Europe’s wealthy aristocrats and powerful merchants. Cutting techniques improved, and most of the familiar forms of diamond jewelry – rings, pendants, brooches, ear-rings, buckles, buttons, and hat ornaments glittering with diamonds – were developed by the end of the seventeenth century. Owning diamond jewelry became fashionable.

In the eighteenth century Brazil’s diamonds flooded the market, and advances in cutting design unlocked the brilliance and fire that make diamonds first among gems. Imitating France’s Marie Antoinette and Russia’s Catherine the Great, Europe’s wealthy glittered with an ostentatious display of lavish jewelry. In the 1800s, the industrial rich of Victorian England provided a large new market that wanted more variety in the styles and designs of the jewelry. Although jewelry forms were less diverse during this time than in the past, designers produced wave after wave of stunning revival pieces, drawing inspiration from the ancient cultures of Greece end Rome. The end of the century saw the explosion of the art fantasy movement known as Art Nouveau.

Today’s worldwide diamond jewelry market includes a dazzling array of designs in a wide price range. Each year, designers unveil exciting new ideas for both men’s and women’s jewelry. The biggest market is the US, which in 1996 imported more than 10 million carats of rough and cut gem diamonds for domestic use.