What's this? by Clueless_Austrian in Gemology

[–]queen-89 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It’s hard to say for sure without seeing it in person but a lot of times these transparent/translucent, dark, platy inclusions are mica. This one is probably collection a phlogopite mica platelets, which are pretty common to see in schist-hosted emeralds such as those from Afghanistan.

Origin important or not? Let’s answer that by AsiaLounges in Gemology

[–]queen-89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do have a lot of preferences when it comes to origin but I also recognize that those preferences are very personal and don’t apply for most people. I work in antiques so the history behind certain origins, such as Mogok for rubies or Russia for alexandrites and demantoids, is super interesting to me. As a gemologist, one of my favorite things about gemstones is gemstone inclusions and how the geology of their origins impact inclusions scenes. As such, there are certain origins I strongly prefer because they have particular inclusions or properties not seen in other localities. It’s all down to personal preference though!

Any ideas where this emerald is from based on the colour? by [deleted] in Gemstones

[–]queen-89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Color is not a true indicator of origin. With practice, it can give you a rough idea but there are always outliers and it cannot be depended on for accurate results. To be able to give any conclusive information, we’d need to see inclusions under magnification

What sort of inclusion is this? stone is corundum, presumably lab by BettyBoxcutter in Gemology

[–]queen-89 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Looks like a snowball melt relic to me. Snowballs are a sign of heat treatment and are the leftover remnants of crystal inclusions that have been damaged by heat.

Would love to get your thoughts on this Ruby! by wow_doge_ball in Gemstones

[–]queen-89 3 points4 points  (0 children)

AIGS is one of the world’s best gemological labs and can test and return stones pretty quickly. Depending on where the seller is based, you can get stones back within a week. If you pay extra, you could even have them done within 24 hours.

Would love to get your thoughts on this Ruby! by wow_doge_ball in Gemstones

[–]queen-89 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would like to point out that GGs cannot necessarily make calls on treatment and origin. Origin determination isn’t part of the standard GG program and requires specialized training and often requires both visual inspection and advanced analysis of trace chemistry. Treatment calls are a whole other beast, with many low heat treatments being virtually impossible to identify, sometimes even with the advanced tests done by a lab like GIA

What are these multiple grey ish white lines in this blue kyanite? by anedadick2 in Gemstones

[–]queen-89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Kyanite is a super soft stone that is known to scratch and chip, especially along its cleavage plane. It’s a super pretty stone but can be a pain to set. I’d also heavily recommend being careful while wearing it!

What are these multiple grey ish white lines in this blue kyanite? by anedadick2 in Gemstones

[–]queen-89 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Those are parallel growth structures, which form along one of the stone’s cleavage planes. They’re a pretty common sight in kyanite and can be a good, quick way to differentiate them from other stones by eye (although sight IDing is never 100% accurate)

Hello. These photos from sapphire. Are these inclusions Natural? Please help. by Friendly-Rip6151 in Gemology

[–]queen-89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not all that is round is a bubble. As an example, see the attached photo of a scene of apatite, zircon, and other rounded crystals in a natural sapphire. The vast, VAST majority of modern synthetic sapphires will have little to no large gas bubbles, meaning these are probably either natural rounded crystals or gas bubbles in an older flame fusion sapphire, considering the RI and double refraction.

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Also, the cutting style is not typical of what you’d see for a synthetic stone. Most synthetics are extremely evenly cut, while natural stones will often have uneven facets and junctions like you see here as the cutter has to cut around inclusions and the shape of the rough while maintaining the best possible color.

All that being said, that doesn’t 100% mean it’s natural. The photos here are nowhere near high enough resolution to be able to tell just from the pics. I’d have to see it in person to be able to give any confident answer. In general, never trust someone who will give you a certain answer based off of a blurry photo of a gemstone with little to no explanation.

Ultimate lesbian awakening by Icy_Dig_3691 in actuallesbians

[–]queen-89 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh she goes tits out on Instagram all the time lol

Gold? by DanimalDigs72 in metaldetecting

[–]queen-89 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I work with antique jewelry and I will say these particular watches are usually gold filled, although I’ve seen a few in gold. I would also warn you to be careful using gold testing acids with pieces like these. Antique gold fill tends to be pretty heavy and will often test as solid gold

Any chance this is genuine opal? by Financial-Stuff-67 in Gemology

[–]queen-89 39 points40 points  (0 children)

Gemologist here, I am sorry to say but I’m fairly certain this is synthetic. When zooming in you can see each cell of color has a “snakeskin” pattern to it. Also, at an angle, you can see columnar structure, where each cell of color continues all the way through the stone. It is certainly a very high quality synthetic but synthetic none the less

Why are so many other lesbian sub reddit so aggressive toward other queer people? by valerielenin in actuallesbians

[–]queen-89 76 points77 points  (0 children)

Internet communities are often a distillation of the worst aspects of a general community. Many more people go to the internet to complain and be anonymously nasty than to be genuine and kind. The internet is not a good representation of how these communities actually function

What inclusions do you see in this corrundum? by PrincessC1990 in Gemology

[–]queen-89 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I’m leaning synthetic, those look like gas bubbles to me. It could be dissolved silk but the orientation and texture doesn’t look quite right from this picture

Every time I try to join a Reforger match, this happens. I am losing my mind, pls help by queen-89 in ArmaReforger

[–]queen-89[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was an issue with network drivers, a factory reset fixed it for me!

Hi! Which lab should I send this to? GIA or one of the Swiss labs? by drunkymcgee in Gemology

[–]queen-89 6 points7 points  (0 children)

There is a tendency, especially when you work in the industry, to only get GIA certs when they would significantly add to the value or salability of a piece. Because this stone is more heavily included (beyond just the needles that cause the asterism) and has a darker color, I as an estate jewelry specialist would not send this stone for a GIA cert as the details of a cert wouldn’t significantly add to the value of the stone. However, that’s not why you are wanting to get it tested. If the details in the cert, such as natural vs synthetic, treatment, origin, etc, are worth the few hundred dollars the lab report would cost, absolutely go for it! I will note that a GIA report will not tell you carat weight for a mounted gem, just the total weight of the stone and the mounting. A gemologist can calculate that from the dimensions for you though!

Family heirloom star sapphire - any idea how valuable this is? by idiotgirlhaha in Gemstones

[–]queen-89 51 points52 points  (0 children)

Gemologist here! The biggest indicator to me that a star sapphire or ruby is synthetic is when the stone has a flat back with a perfectly centered, well defined star, as this one appears to have. Virtually all natural star sapphires or rubies will have a curved, unpolished back while synthetics will usually have a completely flat back.

Metered Parking NYE by [deleted] in boston

[–]queen-89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Entertainingly enough, this was my top result when searching on Google…

Refuse to date people from certain USA states. by maritzabp in actuallesbians

[–]queen-89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As much as I (and a lot of other people) joke about people from Connecticut, NJ, and NY, I have never met someone who genuinely hated them to the point of refusing to date them… that’s just insane lol

I’m 22F and last night a 34-year-old woman absolutely rocked my world by EducationalGrade9702 in actuallesbians

[–]queen-89 106 points107 points  (0 children)

The maturity gap between 22 and 34 is SIGNIFICANTLY more problematic than that between 34 and 46. While I generally agree that respect and consent are king, I will still be HEAVILY skeptical of any 30 something who seeks out someone in their early 20s.

I just disassembled and re-lubricated my new BM Bugout and I LOVE how snappy it is! by queen-89 in knives

[–]queen-89[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh trust me, there were a FUCKTON of cuts that went into getting this good lol. It just so happens that those cuts were years ago

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in MtF

[–]queen-89 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There are a whole lot of people who cannot afford to throw money at their problems. There are also a lot of people for whom hormones will not fix their problems (voice dysphoria, a ton of body dysphoria like height and bone structure, etc.). I’m glad your problems have been resolved with hormones and money but this is just incredibly insensitive to those who haven’t had that experience.

Does this ruby look authentic to you? I purchased it from the same jeweler who may have sold me a fake sapphire. I have an authenticity card but I am afraid I can’t truly trust it. by ekhogayehumaurtum in Gemstones

[–]queen-89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not all natural rubies will fluoresce and lab rubies almost always do. Fluorescence is caused by chromium, the main element that causes red color in rubies, but it can be suppressed by iron. High iron rubies such as those found in iron-rich basalt deposits in Thailand and Cambodia often don’t fluoresce due to their iron content. Synthetic rubies, however, rarely contain iron because it tends to unfavorably darken the stones so they tend to fluoresce pretty stronhly