"LIQUID LEAF" DOES NOT CONTAIN GOLD! IT'S JUST PAINT!!

There is no such thing as "liquid gold leaf"!! 

 I've been making Kintsugi jewelry, and I'll write about the process and the background behind the jewelry in another post.  Basically, Kintsugi (Kintsukuroi) is the Japanese art of mending broken porcelain pottery, and celebrating the breaks with obvious repairs.  The resulting objects, such as plates, tea sets, and other items, are proudly displayed to show that the broken items are still useful and are in fact MORE beautiful with the golden scars.  The broken objects are repaired with a mixture of a type of lacquer/glue with some sort of golden additive, such as mica powder, pearl powder, or brass powder.  These look like gold scars and are beautiful. Kintsukuroi literally means "gold mended."  This has become very popular and people are buying Kintsugi kits to purposely break and then mend plates, etc.!  The kits come with an adhesive and golden powder (mica usually) and basic tools and instructions.

 I decided to make a line of jewelry featuring broken heart-shaped gemstones that are repaired to

23k and 23.5K Gold Leaf, RioGrande.com

celebrate one's "scars" whether visible or internal.  And instead of mixing golden pigments with the glue, I decided to use genuine 23k Gold leaf over the scars.  I think this makes each piece more special, with genuine gold rather than paint or golden powders.  So after I mindfully break each gemstone and then glue the pieces back together, I apply gilder's size (which is a special glue) along the scar, and then apply the genuine gold leaf.  I think the result is quite pretty, and meaningful, and using only precious metal makes it a nicer piece of jewelry.

WHAT IS GOLD LEAF?

Genuine pure gold is mixed with alloys (copper, paladium, silver to make different karats) and is heated, passed through a press or hammered and stretched over and over, until the gold is very thin. The final thickness of a gold leaf is 1/7000 mm.  They're cut into 3"x3" squares. These sheets of gold are placed onto thin sheets of paper to form booklets.  Gold leaf can be found in 24k, 23.5k, 23k, 22k, and so on.  It's pricey, because gold is currently about $1,860 an ounce.

So even though the 23k Gold Leaf that I use is very thin and sometimes requires several layers on my jewelry, it is genuine gold that you see and touch.

WHAT IS GOLD "LIQUID LEAF"?

The product "Liquid Leaf" is a paint made by Plaid--the company that sells glues and paints for arts and crafts.  It is sold at craft stores and on Amazon, etc. for $4 to $8. 

It is paint!  It does NOT contain any real gold!  You'll notice it's not called "gold leaf" because it contains NO gold.  It's made of very toxic Xylene and copper bits!  This means it's a type of "metal leaf" but that metal is not gold.  Then they add pigments (paint) to offer various colors of this Liquid Leaf, such as Antique Gold, Classic Gold, even Silver!  Yes---there's no silver in their Liquid Leaf product!

I see sellers on Etsy and elsewhere who apply this paint and call it "liquid gold leaf".  That is false!!  This is not "gold leaf" in any way, but is just gold paint with some copper flecks mixed in.  

 

 

HERE is a link to the Plaid Company's SDS Materials sheet.  And here's a copy of p.6 that shows what's in each bottle of  Liquid Leaf:

So no matter what a seller claims, there is no such thing as "Liquid Gold Leaf".  They are using a product called "Liquid Leaf" in a gold color, but it contains NO gold.  It is just gold paint!  

Just be aware of what you're getting when you purchase a piece of Kintsugi jewelry.  If you're looking for real gold, I'm the only one offering that!   Visit my Etsy shop HERE, Amazon shop HERE, or my website HERE.

"Silverite" ... Yet Again

I get a lot of emails regarding gemstones ("Is this real?" etc.) or positive comments about a particular blog post, suggestions, and other questions, and it's always nice to hear from people.  I'm always very happy to help if I can!

Occasionally I will get a comment left here on blogger that's really ridiculous, or argumentative, or just plain weird.  These people must have nothing else to do!?  I usually just ignore these types of comments.

I got this comment awhile back:

I have a couple of things to say.

First, it's from an anonymous user so that's red flag #1.

Second, they "spoke with" a supposedly "well known" jeweler "in town" but don't bother to mention who it is, what town, nothing.  Red flag #2.

Third, the idea that mixing "moonstone powder" with powdered sapphire is incredibly... well, dumb!  Moonstone's glow (adularescence) is caused by light scattering between microscopic layers of feldspar.  So crushing it will not give you ANY type of glowing properties!  There's no such thing as "reconstituted moonstone."  And any jeweler would know that.  So that's a big red flag #3.

Fourth, reconstituted stones, which are minerals that are crushed into a powder and then mixed with plastics and dyes, has been around for a long time.  It's not a "new technology".  Sapphires can be re-assembled in a variety of ways (see the link at the bottom).  Reconstituted gemstones are mostly made of plastics and resins plus dyes, and have to be disclosed as such.  Reconstituted turquoise is one example----it's sold in blocks and isn't considered genuine turquoise at all---it's virtually all dyed plastic.  On the right is a chart from a manufacturer of  "block turquoise" which is not genuine turquoise.  So that's red flag #4.

Fifth, I've already written about so-called "Silverite" many times, have spoken with gemologists, sent samples of this material to be analyzed at my expense, and have written about the results.  There is NO sapphire in it, none, zero, nada. It's not a coated sapphire, or topaz, or any other gemstone.  The ones I bought were analyzed as glass, just glass, or sometimes coated glass.  But sometimes this material can be a mineral---sillimanite, that is mined in India and often dyed to represent emeralds, rubies and sapphires, or left natural and sold as "silverite."

Which leads to the final point---I also heard directly from the main distributor of this "silverite" material in India who explained to me that it is, in fact, a mineral called sillimanite and that they sell this to US customers primarily (and Etsy in particular) and have just chosen the name "silverite" to market their beads.  These are mined sillimanite beads which are natural in color.  So if you buy "silverite" you are either getting glass, or mined sillimanite.  Therefore, as far as I'm concerned, case closed on the whole "silverite" thing.  There is NO such gemstone---it's just a trade name that the manufacturer in India gave this sillimanite product.

If you are interested in reading about the history of Reconstituted, Reconstructed, and Recrystalized gemstones like rubies and emeralds, and how they're made, here is a fantastic article:

https://www.jckonline.com/magazine-article/reconstituted-reconstructed-recrystallized-regrown-again/

Siberian Blue Quartz: Natural or Created? Or Something Else?

Synthetic (Lab Grown) Precious Gems

Labs around the world grow synthetic gems (such as synthetic emeralds, sapphires, rubies, and many other gems) and new synthetics appear on the market often.  These created gemstones are plentiful. Russia has a lot of labs where synthetics and simulants are grown.  It's important to note that in the Russian language, the terms "synthetic" and "simulated" aren't differentiated.  This can be a problem because these two terms mean very different things regarding gemstones.  "Synthetic" gemstones are genuine gemstones that are grown in a lab, and possess the exact chemical, physical and optical properties of natural gemstones.  "Simulated" stones are produced to look like another gemstone, but don't have the exact same chemical properties.  A cubic zirconia (CZ) is a simulated diamond, for example.  It's not a synthetic diamond.

Lab Grown Siberian Blue Quartz

Russian labs have been producing "Siberian Blue Quartz" which is said to be lab created quartz that is grown with Cobalt ions which give this quartz a distinctive cobalt-blue color.  The term "Siberian Blue Quartz" is a trade name given to this lab-created stone. It's hard to tell when purchasing a "Siberian Blue" stone online whether it's actual quartz, with the exact physical and chemical properties as quartz, or a quartz simulant (which could be anything from glass crystals to CZ etc.) isn't always guaranteed.  It could even be a created spinel, or other stone (see below).

The GIA (Gemological Institute of America) wrote about this synthetic blue quartz back in 1991:

"...the greater depth of color is due to a different position of the cobalt ion in the quartz structure. Some of this material was rather deceptively advertised as "Siberian Blue Quartz." We saw tens if not hundreds of kilos of this material being offered, perhaps in part because of its alleged metaphysical properties. Other colors of synthetic quartz seen were purple (synthetic amethyst), yellow (synthetic citrine), green (a tourmaline-like color), and a brownish orange reminiscent of dark, heat-treated citrine."

The GIA has a great article, with pictures, discussing synthetic gems and how they're grown HERE.

"Siberian Blue" CZ bracelet

Although there is some lab-created blue quartz, there are also CZs (cubic zirconia) also sold as "Siberian Blue".  There was a line of jewelry sold on HSN featuring CZ stones in Siberian Blue colors back in the 1990s and early 2000s.  There are also faceted crystal stones for jewelry that have been around for a long time that are similar in color, sold as "Montana Blue" and other trade names.  Swarovski has beautiful crystals, sold in many different blue colors, such as Bermuda Blue, Sapphire Blue, and Capri Blue, and all look very much like the "Siberian Blue" color.   More pictures of various simulated crystals and other stones are below.




In the GIA's article above, they mention how synthetic spinel was grown in Russia while trying to produce synthetic sapphire.  Interestingly, the color of the created blue spinel also looks like "Siberian Blue" and is used as a simulant for various gemstones.  Here is their picture and accompanying description:

Synthetic spinels seen here are in crystal form as they appear from the manufacturer. The faceted stones can be found in any color, and are often used to simulate various natural gemstones.

Since at best this is a lab-created quartz that is colored blue, it is NOT a mined gemstone.  Yet there are sellers online who claim this is "Himalayan blue quartz" which was "mined" up in the Himalayas, complete with stories about the hardships of mining this and carrying it down the mountainside.  It's not mined, it's lab created, possibly quartz and possibly not.

Lab-created gemstones are beautiful because they are grown in a controlled environment, which produces flawless gemstones in saturated colors.  Lab-created rubies, and sapphires of all colors, are beautiful and are inexpensive, as well as ethical (since no mining).

Natural Amethyst and quartz (left) and created quartz (right)

Lab-grown quartz is beautiful as well.  There are literally tons of created Amethysts in the marketplace now, in a range of purples, but mostly dark.  Since they have the same chemical composition as their natural counterparts, it's nearly impossible to tell if they're "natural" or "synthetic" Amethysts.  I say "nearly" because there are ways to determine if a gem is natural or created, but a jeweler or gemologist would have to examine it with a microscope.

SUMMARY
Siberian Blue Quartz is not a natural gemstone.  It can be a lab-created quartz that is colored with cobalt ions.  Some of the material sold as "Siberian Blue" is lab-grown Cubic Zirconia, some are Swarovski crystals (or other manufacturers of crystals), and it's hard for a consumer to tell the difference.  A gemologist can test a Siberian Blue stone to see if it's quartz, CZ, glass, or another stone.  Either way, at best, it's created in a lab, and not mined.
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"Capri Blue" Swarovski Crystals

Montana Blue Crystal

Blue crystal from a chandelier

Blue Chandelier Crystals

Swarovski "Siberian Blue Ice" for Suzanne Somers Jewelry

"Gleamy Moonstone" on Ebay---NOT a Gemstone! Just Pressed Glass

Matte "Gleamy" Glass Beads--NOT Moonstones

Thank you to reader Jeri--who sent me a message regarding a "gem" being sold on ebay, called "Gleamy Moonstone."  I did a search on ebay, and got 2600+ results.  ALL of these strands of beads are from China, and NONE of them are actual, natural Moonstones or Rainbow Moonstones, as they claim.  These are just pressed glass beads!  They come in a variety of colors and either in a matte (frosted) finish or polished.  All are round beads.  Some "creative" sellers are marketing these glass beads as being from "Sri Lanka" or other locations.  None of that is true---these are just man-made glass beads from China.

There are a large number of individual shops from China selling these, but all feature the same stock photos.  Here are some examples of these glass beads---which are not gemstones---and range in price from a few cents a strand on auction, to buy-it-now strands from about $4 depending on the diameter of the glass beads:

"WHITE GLEAMY" BEADS:

"White Gleamy" Glass Beads -- NOT Moonstone

Matte "White Gleamy" Glass Beads

"GREY GLEAMY" BEADS:

"Grey Gleamy" Glass Beads

"Grey Gleamy" Glass 

OTHER COLORS

There are a variety of colors of this glass bead---pink, blue, yellow, green, teal, purple, in addition to the grey and white.  These glass beads from China come in either a matte or shiny finish, and are always round, and are very inexpensive. 

Various Colors of Glass Beads

More Colors of Glass Beads

Here's a strand of supposed "Sri Lanka Moonstones" which are Opalite Glass beads:

Glass Opalite Being Sold as Moonstones

There are a couple of sellers on Etsy who are selling strands or jewelry made from these beads, and are describing them accurately as "Gleamy Moonstone glass beads" so that's good. 

BUYER BEWARE---Ebay is full of scams regarding gemstones, and this is yet another.  These are not "natural" or "genuine" gemstones, NOT moonstones, they're not from Sri Lanka or Burma or Madagascar....they are just pressed glass round beads.  They are worth what they're selling them for---a couple of dollars a strand.  If you love the look of these glass beads, they're a great price! But if you THINK you're buying a gemstone, you are not!  Just a heads up.

What Is Angel Aura Opalite? Is It a Gemstone?

I stumbled across pictures of "Angel Aura Opalite" this morning, and the colors really caught my eye---I honestly gasped at how beautiful it is!  But what is it exactly?  Is it a gemstone?  What is "Angel Aura"? 

Angel Aura Opalite Crescent Moons

What is Opalite?
It's not a gemstone or a mineral---it is a type of opalescent glass.  Opalite is always man-made glass.  It is NOT quartz.  

Mystic Coatings
There are different metals, such as gold, silver, platinum, and/or titanium, that are used to coat gemstones, rhinestones, crystals, or CZ, that cause beautiful rainbows of colors.  These look like a soap bubble, or oil on water---a rainbow of blues, greens, teals, many different and always-changing colors. 

Angel Aura Quartz

Angel Aura is a coating that's very popular.  Through a special vapor deposition process, genuine silver and platinum vapor is fused to heated quartz (or other stone) in a vacuum chamber.  This allows the gold atoms to fuse with the outside crystals.   Sometimes this same coating is called "Starlight" on CZ jewelry, for example.

Rainbow Aura Quartz

This same process using other vaporized metals on quartz or glass or on other minerals results in  "Rainbow Aura" (titanium and gold) or golden "Sunset Aura" or  "Flame Aura" (electrostatic-bonded titanium onto unheated quartz) or  "Opal Aura" but the process is the same---vaporized metals are permanently bonded to crystals, often quartz crystals, but sometimes on other gems such as topaz, or CZ or crystals (such as Swarovski crystals).  Although this process is usually permanent, sometimes the coating can get scratched so it's best to be careful when wearing mystic coated jewelry.

Aqua Aura Quartz

When gold is fused to quartz, it's called "Aqua Aura" and leaves a beautiful blue-rainbow coating.


Sadly, there are even fake "aura quartz" stones---these are perhaps just painted or cheaply coated (and it scratches right off), or sometimes "quartz clusters" are just pieces glued together, so beware when buying online.



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These "mystic" coated crystals or gemstones have been around for a long time.  The results are extremely beautiful in a wide range of colors.  Mystic coated quartz is very popular, including mystic coated Amethyst, as well as Mystic Topaz.

Angel Aura Opalite Arrowhead

Angel Aura Opalite is a coated glass, not a gemstone--but is incredibly beautiful and fascinating to look at!  

Is "Monalisa Stone" a Gemstone? Answer: No

Someone asked me about a new stone called "Monalisa" stone, and I've never heard of it until today.  Just googling that reveals that it is a manufactured GLASS stone in India, and sold as a glass stone from Indiamart.com. 

It is NOT a gemstone.

Here is Indiamart's array of colors available for this glass stone:

Offered as "treated gemstone"--NOT!

It's a pretty "cat's eye" effect glass stone that is seen in a lot of costume jewelry.  I've seen it many times but never knew it was called "Monalisa stone" until today.  These glass beads are made with horizontal filaments inside that give it that distinctive "cat's eye" effect.  Please note that there are genuine gemstones that display this cat's eye effect---everything from rubies to quartz.  But these aren't gemstones---these Monalisa stones are manufactured glass, and is clearly stated as glass.  Here's a link to indiamart's website---they are honestly selling these glass "badam" stones (Hindi for "almond"---their shape) and are not trying to sell them as mineral gems. 


Google reveals that this new term, Monalisa Stone, is found pretty much exclusively on Etsy.  Etsy jewelry designers seem to offer these "new gems" probably because the gemstone wholesalers in India heavily market their stones to Etsy sellers who really don't investigate what something is (such as silverite).  But a simple google search, which took me a minute, shows right away that this is GLASS, not a gemstone!

However, there are some sellers who are offering this glass as a "gemstone" which is wrong.  It is not a gemstone, it is a glass stone.

Just glass with embedded filaments

Pretty--not a gemstone though

I'm not begrudging anyone for selling jewelry or trying to "call out" anyone, but as an example, there is a seller who has this Monalisa Stone set in a sterling bangle and although it's very pretty (in various colors and shapes), it's NOT a gemstone and nowhere do they say that this is glass.  They say or imply that it's a natural gemstone like their other jewelry---and that's really not right. 

There are many pieces of jewelry on Etsy with this Monalisa stone, and some sellers say it's glass, some don't say what it is, and some outright claim this is a gemstone.  It's NOT a gemstone---it's definitely glass. 

It's pretty---but buyer beware: it's glass, not a mineral. (Have I said that enough? LOL)

You can see the post through the glass, and fracture features of glass on the side.

Is Any "Hydroquartz" Genuine Synthetic Quartz? What is a Nanogem?

Per the GIA (Gemological Institute of America):

Is there synthetic citrine?

Quartz is grown in laboratories for industrial purposes and to make synthetic amethyst. Some of the material becomes synthetic citrine quartz.

The key word here is "synthetic."  Synthetic gemstones are lab-created gems that have the same chemical and physical properties as natural gems, plus of course the same optical properties. In other words, they look the same but also are chemically identical.


WHAT ABOUT "HYDROQUARTZ"?

There is a difference between "synthetic" and "hydroquartz" stones. Although I've written many times about all of the so-called "Hydroquartz" in many different colors, such as London Blue Quartz, Swiss Blue Quartz, Ruby Quartz, Emerald Quartz, Tanzanite Quartz, and so forth, I will mention again: these are not genuine Quartz at all, but are glass.  This material is sold in blocks and used to be called "Hydroquartz Glass" but the word "glass" has gone missing in recent years.  Also quartz and glass are similar looking ("optical" quality), quartz is a mineral with crystal structures and glass has none (so different physical and chemical properties).

Synthetic, or created, Emerald

Lab-created gemstones are an expensive process.  It's cost-effective to create precious gemstones such as corundum (rubies and sapphires) and other gems.  Amethyst, a semi-precious gem, is the most popular and expensive of the quartz gems. Amethyst, which is purple quartz, is grown in labs because it is the most valuable type of quartz.  In fact, as I've mentioned, it's getting a little more difficult to find natural Amethyst because there is SO much of the synthetic variety---which can range from light pinkish purple to deep purple.  There is no difference, chemically or physically, between synthetic and natural Amethyst.

Golden Citrine--Natural, Heated

Citrine is heated Amethyst.  It can be golden, yellow, or a deeper "fire citrine" orange color. It can occur naturally, but virtually all of the Citrine in jewelry is treated (heated) Amethyst.  Amethyst and Citrine have the same chemical/physical properties, but are different colors. There is no way for a gemologist to tell the difference between "natural" Citrine and heated Amethyst.

Reputable jewelers and wholesalers will identify lab-created stones as "synthetic" including Rio Grande Jewelry.  They offer synthetic gems---emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and Moissanite---but all of their Amethyst offered right now on their site is natural. I don't recall ever seeing synthetic Amethyst there, but I may have missed it. They clearly identify each gem sold as "Natural" or "Synthetic" as well as any treatments.  Their natural Citrine is clearly identified as "Heat-treated".  Rio Grande Jewelry is the most reputable wholesale company that serves the jewelry industry worldwide.  They do NOT offer any kind of "hydroquartz" of course.
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If Amethyst is lab-grown, then it would make sense that Citrine and probably Ametrine are also produced as well. 

However, while synthetic Citrine exists, and described as "synthetic," not ALL Citrine "hydroquartz" is genuine quartz though.  There are also lots of glass stones sold as various colors of "Ametrine" including weird colors such as blues, greens, and bright pink in addition to purple and yellow---obviously NOT Ametrine!

Synthetic gemstones, including lab-created Amethyst and Citrine, would therefore be sold at a higher price than other "hydroquartz" stones, which are inexpensive and sold online.  Please keep in mind that a lot of Citrine "hydroquartz" stones being sold online are not actual quartz--not really synthetic gemstones--but are still just colored glass.  They are non-crystalline.

WHAT IS A "NANOGEM"?

From riogrande.com:

A Nanogem is a man-made, glass-ceramic material with nano-sized crystals of spinel within its matrix. These stones have exceptional physical and optical properties with a more uniform color than CZs, synthetic quartz or synthetic corundum, and a hardness, reflective index and luster that is very close to natural gemstones. 

Purple Nanogems--Not Amethysts!

Rio Grande has  these stones in rings on their website, in colors that look like Amethyst ("purple Nanogems"), and other pieces that are pave-set with these stones in a wide variety of colors.
They offer these Nanogems in a limited variety of styles and colors as they are "new" to the marketplace.




CONCLUSION:
It's impossible to tell online whether Amethyst or Citrine are actually quartz or are glass.  It would have to be examined by a gemologist for crystal structure.

So therefore, it should NOT be assumed that "Amethyst hydroquartz" or "Citrine hydroquartz" are genuine gems.  Lab-grown gems, including Amethyst and Citrine, are referred to as "synthetic" gems.  Personally, I would prefer purchasing "Synthetic Amethyst" (as opposed to anything described as "hydroquartz), and then have it verified.  Since every single piece of hydroquartz that I have purchased and have had examined by a certified gemologist has turned out to be non-crystalline glass,  I do NOT recommend "hydroquartz."