Need help identifying a pink stone found at Nundle.

[Heatho]

No I havn't used a spectroscope Twapster, never used any gemology tools, magnet test won't hurt.

I've never found 1 either Lefty though they are reasonably common in some Sapphire areas of NSW such as the Barrington Tops area. Might get lucky with 1 oneday.

 

[rod]

Wow lovely looking stone nugget. The colour looks very ruby like, have you tried a scratch test on it, abit of sapphire or any corrundum shouldnt be able scratch it if its ruby.
Anyways again lovely stone mate, hopefully theres more in your concentrate.
Rod

 

[rod]

sorry edit to above post corundum will scratch corundum, but if you could try scratching stones upto 9 hardness with the pink stone it might give a clue as to its hardness, if the pink stone cant scratch a corundum test piece it isnt corundum and one can work down to its hardness testing from there.
Rod

 

[Nugget]

I'm yet to do any conclusive testing, but after sifting through some left over material I came across another one (on the right) which is slightly larger than the first.

 

[Wally69]

Cool stone

 

[richo966]

looks a little different from the small one do you think they are the same kind hard to tell from pic

 

[Nugget]

I don't know for sure but they look very similar. The larger one is just slightly darker, but definitely pink/ish in colour.

 

[Heatho]

Nice, very keen to see a pic of these under UV. The small one has that Aussie Ruby/Pink Sapph look about it to me, the bigger one does not though to me. Not saying they are different types of stone, they are a different hue though, which is something that can make identification difficult.

Hopefully both Rubies, well done. Nice looking stones regardless Nugget, hopefully many more to come.

 

[Mr Magoo]

The fluorescence of ruby under UV does not identify a ruby as such or the exact location, but more identify the type of source the ruby came from.

A ruby that fluoresces under UV will contain chromium but have a low iron content. This is indicative that the ruby's came from a metamorphic deposit, marble. Burmese rubys are the main game players in this market.

Rubys that don't fluoresce under UV contain a higher amount of iron. The iron alters the effect of the UV so there fore do not appear to react with the UV in the same way. These rubys are born from the earth by volcanoes - "fire rubys". These are typical of the rubys from places such as Thailand Cambodia etc.

I hope this helps clear up the ruby and UV interaction.

BTW, I'm not a gem guru. I just happened to find the explanation on Gemologyonline shortly after reading this post and thought it rather interesting. It's under the beginners only section. Defiantly worth a read. Perhaps someone could put up the link.

Cheers.
Mr Magoo

 

[Heatho]

No confusion Mr Magoo, just seems that more do than don't, especially a lot from NSW do quite brightly. Just interesting to note whether they do or not.

 

[Mr Magoo]

No confusion Mr Magoo, just seems that more do than don't, especially a lot from NSW do quite brightly. Just interesting to note whether they do or not.

I didn't think there was any confusion. Just thought I'd give an explanation as to why some do or don't.
Someone may find it interesting.

 

[Nikos]

I'm curious..ruby or garnet..scratch test might work ..good luc nugget on the test!

 

[Brumble-Gum]

Nugget

The small one looks similar to the Pink Sapphires I have found leaching out of the deep leads around Gulgong. Unfortunately way too small to cut.

 

[Barra_Mad]

I recently read that there is a push to refer to all pink sapphires as ruby's as the chemical formulas are identical Al2O3, ruby and pinks get the color from from the addition of chromium and iron and the both should glow under UV light so literally they are the same stone with 2 names.

 

[Heatho]

I recently read that there is a push to refer to all pink sapphires as ruby's as the chemical formulas are identical Al2O3, ruby and pinks get the color from from the addition of chromium and iron and the both should glow under UV light so literally they are the same stone with 2 names.

It would certainly make life easier.

 

[Twapster]

I think its more to be able to classify one colour from another sight unseen so I understand the need for a different name just as green apples and red apples are different but same. A rich red Sapphire commands a lot more money even though I think the pink stone is prettier, same as a blood red garnet I think is just as nice as a ruby.

So have we worked out if its a pink sapphire yet?

 

[Nugget]

Sorry guys I haven't done any testing at this stage. I hope to bring them along to the next PA camp and let the pro's take a look, otherwise I don't know exactly what I'm looking for.

 

[Heatho]

I think its more to be able to classify one colour from another sight unseen so I understand the need for a different name just as green apples and red apples are different but same. A rich red Sapphire commands a lot more money even though I think the pink stone is prettier, same as a blood red garnet I think is just as nice as a ruby.

So have we worked out if its a pink sapphire yet?

Actually Twapster I'd say more like looking at 2 different types of Bananas, they are nearly always some shade of Yellow when ripe.

http://www.jewelry-secrets.com/Gemstones/Ruby/Ruby-The-Gemstone-For-July.html

Top Right of the cour chart section matches pretty closely to Brumble-Gums stones.

Nuggets stone is much lighter in saturation though I'm pretty sure will flouresce under UV. The article says Rubies that fouresce are highly prized as they will look richer and brighter in Sunlight due to the UV content of the light.

It seems saturation is more important than the shade of a Ruby, they really are the same though. Maybe Rubies which don't flouresce should be renamed as Red or Pink Sapphire? I'm no expert but they are all Corundum with Chromium.

 

[Mr Magoo]

I recently read that there is a push to refer to all pink sapphires as ruby's as the chemical formulas are identical Al2O3, ruby and pinks get the color from from the addition of chromium and iron and the both should glow under UV light so literally they are the same stone with 2 names.

It's actually a lot more complicated than that. For the pink sapphire or Ruby argument a decision was apparently made (by the international coloured gem association) that pink is a shade of red therefore they could be called a ruby or a pink sapphire. That was in the late 80's, so could of changed since then.
The trouble is due to modern 'cooking' technique's red can also be brought out of the corundum without Chromium.

So should the definition of Ruby be based on it's shade/tone of red or it's Chromium content?
Anybody bought a nice Songea ruby lately? Or a Sunset Ruby (Game of stones). Now it's getting complicated and leads to confusion. :lol: :lol:

Now that is $18K of nastiness. (note the 'Bedif' in the description) (Oooopps drifted off topic again).

Mr Magoo

 

[Twapster]

I think its more to be able to classify one colour from another sight unseen so I understand the need for a different name just as green apples and red apples are different but same. A rich red Sapphire commands a lot more money even though I think the pink stone is prettier, same as a blood red garnet I think is just as nice as a ruby.

So have we worked out if its a pink sapphire yet?

Actually Twapster I'd say more like looking at 2 different types of Bananas, they are nearly always some shade of Yellow when ripe.

http://www.jewelry-secrets.com/Gemstones/Ruby/Ruby-The-Gemstone-For-July.html

Top Right of the cour chart section matches pretty closely to Brumble-Gums stones.

Nuggets stone is much lighter in saturation though I'm pretty sure will flouresce under UV. The article says Rubies that fouresce are highly prized as they will look richer and brighter in Sunlight due to the UV content of the light.

It seems saturation is more important than the shade of a Ruby, they really are the same though. Maybe Rubies which don't flouresce should be renamed as Red or Pink Sapphire? I'm no expert but they are all Corundum with Chromium.

Hey I thought u were calling me a banana for a second! lol