Questions about or Corrections to Guides

I read the one about Morganite, it being the most recent.. Most excellent! no errors found to my eyes :)

carriebaby... Thank you for the feedback!

msndrew... Good suggestion. I've edited this entry per your suggestion. I had also intended to put a link to this topic into each guide, but wierd stuff happens since yesterday when I try to do that. I think it has to do with the eBay ID problem. I'll try again later today.

I've made changes to the Guide on Feldspar Gems, including adding an explanation that Perthite is often seen being sold as Amazonite. The title is also changed slightly.

Updates have been made to Guides on Feldspars and Oregon Sunstone. I also put up Reviews for several older films on DVD.

Thanks helloiadoreheliodor (cool ID). There is a lot of confusing info out there, and sellers sometimes mix up the names of the stones. And some misconceptions are becoming ingrained. Still, the whole group is a lot more facinating to collect than something like Diamonds. There are so many polymorphs (subtypes), and even within each of those there are different colors and visual effects. Much more fun, IMO - can you tell I love Feldspars?

PART ONE
Sorry you found the article "dangerous." You are correct in pointing out that members of the Plagioclase group share the same crystal structure. I'll delete that whenever eBay fixes the editing function for its Guides.

However, other than that, your own list of "mistatements" hardly raises the bar for accuracy...

If you re-read the article, you will find that I was giving the range from Albite to Anorthite. This theoretically would range from pure sodium aluminosilicate to pure calcium Aluminosilicate as stated. On down, I included the percentage ranges for the calcium content for Albite and Anorthite.

"Oregon Sunstone" is found in only 2 small deposits. While the light brownish-yellow Labradorite "sunstones" can be found in other places, the colored Labradorite and Andesine that fall under the umbrella title of "Oregon Sunstone" are rare. As to comparing values with Red Andesine, it depends entirely on what quality stones you are comparing, and whether one or the other happens to be the hyped-stone-of-the-month on some jewelry TV show.

One of the more cogent attributions for the name "Amazonite" credits initial descriptions from a 19th century expedition to the upper Amazon. There is debate as to whether or not the stones they discovered were actually Jade, or whether the natives obtained Amazonite through trade from other areas. Whatever they found, and/or however it got to the Amazon basin, the name for the stone we call "Amazonite" came from that incident. Amazonite has been called "California Jade," though I agree that this term is more commonly used for Idocrase/Vesuvianite. I will drop that reference as soon as eBay fixes the editing function for the Guide system. Amazonite is indeed opaque. At very best, it can be weakly transluscent in very thin section. I'm not sure what country you believe produces the most Amazonite - do tell. As for "Virginia" - I merely stated that one of the most desirable varieties comes from there (Amelia Count

Geez.. after reading all these comments...I don't know what to say. I do watch that Jewerly TV and the hype about Andesine-Labradorite and that is why I read your guide. I am not the smartest in regards to gemstones. I have purchased lots of books. BUT I found the most help and knowlege from your guides. They are more informative than some of my books. I think you should write a book.. Id buy it.
LynnE

For your "German Silver and Nickel Silver Types" Guide, you may wish to add a comment differentiating Argentium nickel silver and the trademarked Argentium Sterling Silver.

The 1875 twenty cent piece had a mintage of 36,900. The 1877 20c had a mintage of 510.

Is it possible to harden turquoise at home? I have some very soft stone that we have had for many years. Way to soft to work with. Who does this type service if you cannot do it at home? Your article are very interesting and i enjpy them much. Thanks

Recently Direct Shopping Network introduced blue andesine from Tibet. There is a lot of hype about the red andesine and the 2008 olympics driving all andesine price up. Any truth to this? Supposedly blue andesine with color shift is a single source stone and very rare?

What does MRR with an S under it? Thank you for the other information it is very helpful.

Possible additions to: Birthday Gifts: Birthstone Gems and Jewelry. I read that during the Middle Ages, Carnelian was birthstone to May and Ruby to August. Anyway, who decides this to begin with? Its not that big a deal, considering. It is just fun anyway.

Enjoyed the obsidian guide. I found a soft-ball sized apple-geen piece of, what i believe to be obsidian. Inside, 3 cluster islands of crystals sit, as if captured by a sand globe. Very clear. Grains out like obsidian. Had a knowlagable,educ. in geology say pretty sure to be obsidian.A few tiny bubbles scattered threw-out. What-cha think? And on a experimental note: Do ya think its possible to melt, then Blow, obsidian?? I live in Bend,Oregon. I love it here, its pretty Glassssssy!

The guide on Feldspar Gems should be removed. First, mineral names are NOT capitalized. Plagioclase is not a -general classification for stones which do not seem to fit neatly into other sub-groups,- whatever that means (and they are not stones, they are minerals). The feldspars are a group; the plagioclases are called a solid solution series between albite and anorthite. The use of those intermediate names (andesine, bytownite, etc.) is being retired. The alkali feldspars do NOT share the same chemical makeup, they are a solid solution series between the Na-feldpsars and the K-feldspars. Why do you distinguish between andesine and Oregon sunstone? Some of that is andesine, with copper coloring (read the article in Gems & Gemology by Chris Johnston). Hyalophane can be found in a number of localities. Amazonite is transparent in thin section. Those are just some of the major errors. Please do some research before spreading disinformation. All of this data is easily available from web pages of mineralogy professors posted on the Internet.

Gemstones are still minerals--and you are using the mineral names, which are not capitalized, and neither are gemstone names. The errors pointed out are errors whether or not you are referring to gems; they are minerals before they are gems. The comment about amazonite is in response to what you wrote to kustos2004. I doubt you are going to change, but silence implies consent, and at least some of us have tried to point out the glaring issues.

Not to belabor the point, but mineral and gem names (unless they are registered trade names) are not capitalized, period. I don't know how else to get that point across; they are not proper names, this is defined by the IMA, and it is not a matter of opinion.

As far as translucence, I can see where that is a basis for confusion. In technical terms, diaphaneity is defined by a number of qualitative factors, but the bottom line is that almost all gems are technically either transparent or translucent. However, most folks don't delve into those technical aspects so materials like amazonite would be considered opaque to the general public, I'll grant that.

I have only written these comments because your guide, such as it is, invites readers to come here and offer corrections.

What may be correct usage regarding the names in a mineralogical journal does not carry over into gemstone references the public sees or into usage in materials targeted to a general readership. I'm sure we both could fill shelves with non-technical guidebooks and articles where this is so. And even in the mineralogical world, style and other considerations can and do trump the *guidelines* that are in place (e.g., some mineral shows require labeling specimens using upper-case, upper-case is often used for emphasis, upper-case is used in titles and headings, etc.).

I accept your point of view, although my position remains that going to all lower case would render the article much more difficult to comprehend by average, gem-buying readers. In trying to make the guides more accessible, I conciously used upper case to make the names stand out and be more easily comprehended by the audience here. I had tried using alternatives such as bold and italic to make all occurences of these terms easier to swallow, but that proved unworkable because of ebay's constraint on document length. Hopefully, others who have a problem on this point or who miss the notation will find their way here for the further explanation.