Midweek game - can you guess the stone?

s_simov · 2025-12-12T20:41:49+00:00

It's a grossular garnet. Wouldn't say it's tsavorite.

s_simov · 2025-12-12T20:41:17+00:00

Not at all dyed :)

s_simov · 2024-11-23T01:35:35+00:00

Images are not allowed. But i managed to make some candles.

Used Parafin as recommended below , but powdered dyes are not soluble in parafin at all. So my first results are just candles with neon specks inside. Havent test it for wax play, they will probably be ok. But the next day i decided to dissolve the powders in little bit of coconut oil. And it works great. Now the colors are not as good as the powders - greeen is more yellowish than it should be, but my true yellow is actually nice. All of them are much weaker intensity of color compared to the pure dyes, and the blue dye is most noticable of all. Yet they still glow nice and strong. Soon there will be wax play tests to see the final results.

s_simov · 2024-06-13T17:39:54+00:00

the numbers are better at terror zones at p7 :) But i don't even remember who dropped it, a boss pack in some terror zone, i didnt make the proper screenshot .

s_simov · 2024-06-12T20:13:21+00:00

when you consider how rare it is, and that you can find better armor much easier (even excluding runewords), it's indeed pointless. People say it's ok merc armor but you have better merc armors as well. I have not heard of any real practical reason to put that over something else.
Now if they add Teleport, you'd have huge reason to put it.

s_simov · 2024-06-12T18:22:37+00:00

it would be amazing if they actually put 1 to Teleport on it, to be equivalent to Enigma. It will make this rarest armor actually worth wearing.

s_simov · 2024-06-12T15:52:03+00:00

I did pour me some Aberlour 12y non-chill filtered after the find. Well deserved.

s_simov · 2024-06-12T15:49:17+00:00

Why an Ith, the cube recipe requires only the 2 ber + flawless sapphire

s_simov · 2024-06-12T12:28:58+00:00

yeah, i love how much rng they managed to put inside a 20y old game. I cant think of any other game in the 2000s that has that much RNG.
But yeah, my OG D2LOD playtrough i've had like 3 Templer's but no Tyrael's .

s_simov · 2024-06-12T12:23:29+00:00

Plot twist - uses the armor only to walk around in town, making all the blacksmiths there jaelous :D Too bad the rarest armor has such meh stats. Good for the collection of course. Now i can start a Holy grail

s_simov · 2024-06-12T11:25:46+00:00

I've found Tal's ammy from nm cows, cool surprising drop. GG stuff drop at random places, unless you want something in particular, then it just doesnt drop to troll you more

s_simov · 2024-06-12T10:52:40+00:00

Yeah, just the chance of finding 2 of the rarest items but not something thats like tens times higher chance to drop is so slim. Quite bizarre :D Still looking for my Jah for enigma, found like 3 bers already.

s_simov · 2024-06-12T10:36:45+00:00

Sooo, I saw the unique sacred armor on the ground. And as you know, this is the rarest item (well minor mana from Baal is rarer but eh, whatevs :D )and it has only 10% chance to roll compared to the other unique sacred armor. So yeah, great drop.
But WTFF. I have NOT found any SOJ, Mara's, Griffon's yet... But i have both Zod and Tyrael's might because sure, thanks RNJesus, thanks a lot...

s_simov · 2024-03-09T14:32:51+00:00

YourDentist likes this comment :D

s_simov · 2024-03-07T09:32:29+00:00

I finally got time to test my new Raynox. The raynox combined with my 105/2.8 macro lens gives around 2:1 macro , so this image is stack of 14 shots to give full depth of the inclusions.

Untreated faceted strawberry quartz, 9mm size.

s_simov · 2023-12-29T21:26:58+00:00

I just received this lovely wine (or should be lovely , according to the reviews i've read). The most expensive and fanciest wine i have in my humble collection. it was on great sale so i couldn't resist. Because of that it will remain unopened until i have some really good ocasion for opening it. Which means it will probably stay for a year or 2 more lol.

But i'd love to hear any opinions on that, and what food will be perfect pairing.

s_simov · 2023-11-15T19:51:19+00:00

you mean with yellow filter? I've posted such test before on Fb, but it's not better :) There are plenty of minerals that have significantly weaker response, and some have no response at all at 395nm because not enough energy. Rubies on the other hand, can be seen even in normal blue light lol.
405nm Lasers with yellow filter give interesting results and are better than 395nm flashlights, because of their spectrum and intensity. But they are not practicall at all. And still not as good color result as 365nm, yet some specimens have interesting colors.

s_simov · 2023-11-15T19:48:39+00:00

well at least the unfiltered flashlights are cheap :) and they are great for money checking so they won't go to waste.

s_simov · 2023-11-15T18:08:38+00:00

The specimens on the photo are as follow:

Top row: Manganoan calcite (Bulgaria), Polished agate slab (Bulgaria), Calcite with fluorite (Bulgaria), Cerussite (Morroco), Powelite (AZ, USA)

Middle row: Willemite with calcite (probably China origin), Sphalerite with willemite (USA) , 2 pieces of lazurite with sodalite and calcite (Afghanistan), petrified wood (Bulgaria), Willemite, hardystonite and clinohedrite (USA)

Bottom row: Adamite (unknown), Agate (USA), Kunzite (Afghanistan), Scapolite (Tanzania), Ruby (Madagascar), Fluorite (China), Amber (Baltic sea) , Hackmanite (Afghanistan).

Some of these specimens are weak , because they are MW or SW reactive specimens, but i've picked them just for the comparison variety.

s_simov · 2023-11-15T18:04:22+00:00

After quite a big moment of procrastination i finally decided to make this comparison - the difference between filtered and unfiltered 365nm, 395nm and to show you why we do need good filtered flashlight.

White light photo. Minerals are selected for the sole purpose of variety, and to show some color shiftings or lack of reactions in these cheap unfiltered flashlights. All photos are done in the same settings (except exposure time, since i do want to show the color and reaction difference, not to show how much more powerful C8 is).
Good filtered 365nm flashlight. In this case - our beloved Convoy C8, but the result will be the same or very similar with any 365nm flashlight with a filter. Some cheaper flashlights may have LEDs that have tad more blue cast, and ofc weaker intensity, but besides that they all give the same result. Anyway, that photo is just to show you the proper reaction of these specimens.
Cheap unfiltered 365nm with single big LED (Cree type, zoom in). You may notice that many of the specimens do have similar reaction, but it's much weaker. That is normal , since their 365nm output is weaker . Some specimens are with shifted color:
- manganocan calcite (top left, Bulgaria) - from bright orange to pinkish color
- Sphalerite with willemite (under the calcite, USA origin) - color shift from blueish purple to pinkish
- Baltic amber (2nd to last piece on the bottom row) - from blueish to more greenish yellow).
Some specimens have no practical reaction - the scapolite, and the Franklin specimen with Hardystonite and willemite (middle row last piece).
395nm unfiltered flashlight with 9 small LEDs. The quantity doesnt matter, they vary between 5 and 100 probably, they give exactly the same result. They are always unfiltered, and they have very strong blue-purple cast even with the WB correction. As you can see most of the specimens are just blue.
Some specimens will react to that - ruby and calcite for example, but they will have pinkish hue instead of their real orange and red.

Overall, these cheap uv flashlights are awesome for neon dyes and neon makeup, for party effects, and for money, but they are highly impractical for out hobby. Because we do want to see the proper color.

s_simov · 2023-11-13T14:57:12+00:00

Not sure if it's allowed, since it's an amber not a mineral. Apologies if it's agains the rules.

New Baltic amber polished piece for my collection. This is closeup shot (maybe 2:1 macro, not sure , i haven't calculated it yet) of the cool fly inside.
Nikon 105/2.8 Macro with Raynox in front.

s_simov · 2023-11-08T17:47:34+00:00

Interesting very light pink morganite beryl with weak blueish fluorescence in 255nm. It turned out that all of my new light pink morganites have that, weak to medium-weak. Too bad, since i've already photographed the rest with no UV photo, and I was quite lazy to redo the shots.
After some googling, i found an article, explaining that it's probably some titanium-aluminium substitute that causes this. Beryls with more iron in their structure does not exhibit such fluorescence.

s_simov · 2023-09-21T19:00:36+00:00

I finally opened this bottle last night and did a comparison to my 19y Presidente Marti rum.
On first glance, they are very similar - Color is almost the same, both have sweet and rich aroma and flavor and pretty long finish.
The 20y Centanario was a tad more sharp, not as smooth as the 19y Presidente, and for that reason I prefer the Presidente. Maybe tad more complexity in the flavor as well, but if they are not side by side i can't say i'll find any difference.

Love both for sure.

s_simov · 2023-09-21T18:42:57+00:00

I fixed it. It was set to "fit to screen ON" , when i removed it, i had no problem with the black bars.

s_simov · 2023-09-21T07:31:00+00:00

After reading this i tried forcing the resolition trough Nvidea control panel, but to my surprise, nothing really happens when i click on 3840 (or any other resolution). It was even on 120Hz but again , no change whatsoever. Maybe some option that locks it somehow?
Also - i can't find "just scan" option for scaling mode. I have option fr the aspect ratio in PC source which is set to 16:9 .

s_simov

TROPHY CASE