Motor City Stones

A story recently surfaced of a company selling what turns out to be pieces of painted metal.  These pieces were derived from, of all places, from Ford, GM and or Chrysler car plants.  Pieces of scrap that were created in the car painting process in paint booths.  Some of these pieces of jewelry are scraps of bowlong balls.  Some are quite pretty and sure to turn a head or two.  But in the end, they are pretty costume jewelry and definitely one of a kind paint designs.  I prefer the real stuff, gemstones such as that found at http://www.stcanyon.com/.  Indulge and be pretty!

Turquoise is the New Color!

According to Pantone, The color for 2010 is tada - Turquoise.
Actually I was told it was going to be yellow. Bright yellow to reflect the new Democratic administration. A sort of coming out of the darkness of the past 8 wonderful and glorious years. Yellow will be the second color of choice with Turquoise on top. The Natives are getting restless. All of the Turquoise jewelry ready to fly off the store shelves. Sterling Canyon features a large selection of yellow-Citrine and Carnelion jewelry. Check it out.

Rubies from Walmart?

Alright, people.  How many times do I have to explain this to you regarding fake rubies. As reported on MSNBC.com today, Rubies from shady dealers are a no no.  It's soooo simple, my dog has already figured this one out.  Don't buy Rubies, Emeralds or Sapphires from the department store.  And this includes Macy's and Target.  Those two places are like evil step sisters.  These places sell fake or composite gemstones and will not last more than the glue that holds them together.  As shown in the above photos, soaking your purchases in a jewelers solution or wiping with alcohol to remove the oils transfered from your oily fingers will result in a stone like the one on the right.  Stones like these are created mainly in the far or near East like Thailand.  yes they do have Ruby particles in them but they are combined with glass or epoxy to produce what you see here.  Unless you take a jewelers loupe to Walmart and look like a complete dope, don't shop there for jewelry.  In one example cited in the MSNBC article, a woman purchased a ruby necklace and rings from a television jewelry show for $20,000.  Gee, which one could that be?  They turned out to be fake.  If you want pretty's, fine.  Don't pay a lot of money for them and be careful how you wash them.   Sterling Canyon does not deal in artificial stones and to be safe, will not sell Ruby, Sapphire or Emeralds.

DaVinci Does it Again!

Well, it appears that someone have invented a new type of stone.  Actually a new cut of stone.  You may ask well, how many ways can you skin a cat?  Apparently, one more way has been found and it provides quit a light show.  As reported by Barbara Moss, Editor at Colored-Stone.com, at the California Institute of Technology, a stone cut was developed that makes the gem change color by changing the angle of view.  Called the DavinChi cut, it refracts light the same way a compact disc does, providing a rainbow of colors in some instances.  Gemstones used include Amethyst, Blue and White Topaz, Citrine, and even diamonds.  All these are presented at stcanyon.com.  Small rubies or emeralds are then set beneath the culet to create an explosion of light.  Look for them soon at a jeweler and Sterling Canyon soon.

It's Rough Being a Diamond

Over the years there have been many diamond substitutes.  Zircon (Cubic Zirconium), Quartz and glass, even plastic.  But this one, discovered in the 1830's, sure looks pretty good.  It can fool the unaided and untrained eye pretty readily.  The stone is Danburite, discovered in Danbury, Connecticut but mined quite a bit in Mexico.  It's cheap because it comes in large chunks.  It comes in clear or clear yellow and even some pink.  It's only drawback is that it isn't as hard as diamond.  Diamond is the hardest substance on earth at a 10.  Danburite has a hardness of 7.  So go ahead and fool your wives.  Make a sport of it.  Give her a good sized rock of Danburite.  Tell her you've been saving your money for years to buy her this.  She'll love it, at least until she goes to the jewelry store to have it checked.  Good luck!

That Thar Some Nice Pearls

Alright. As I stated yesterday, hear are some points in deciding if your loved one gave you fake pearls. Warning! Do not run the tests in front of your loved one for fear of embarassing him/her. I today's technology strewn society, fake pearls are easy to find and somewhat easy to detect. If you don;t have an x-ray machine in your home, try these perfectly valid tests.

1. Bright sun - Take the strand out into the bright sun. If the tone or colors of the beads are uniform or even, if each bead is the exact same color as the next, it is probably fake. Real pearls are not perfect and will slightly differ in tone.

2. Tooth test - pretty common and pretty accurate. The nacre of the pearl is full of inclusions, bumps and ridges. Remember that a pearl is not perfect. Rub the strand of pearls across your teeth. Your dog's teeth will not work. They should feel rough. If they are smooth, probably not real.

3. Obviously fake pearls will have a ridge incircling each bead. Like two halves glued together. This is caused by the molding process.
4. Good strands will have knots tied inbetween each bead to safe guard against string failure.

Other tests not recommended because destruction of the beads will result. Hitting the beads with a hammer or cutting with a saw are not suitable tests.

Sterling Canyon is an excellent source of high quality pearls at affordable prices. Check them out and see for yourself. My wife did and she could not be more pleased.

Chinese Pearls

Chinese Oysters
Has anybody paid too much for Fresh or Saltwater Pearls lately? Very possibly you have. The Chinese Pearl market was devastated this fall by two tropical storms. For the freshwater Pearls, that means pesticide and herbacide run-off. For the saltwater variety, decreased salinity kills off the oyster crop. 100 million oysters were killed in those two instances. What does that mean to you? It means that the Pearl necklace hanging around your neck is in the short run worth more than you thought. There are several Pearl jewelers in the U.S. who deal mainly in Chinese Pearls. Usually they are easy to obtain and cheap because China provides the majority of the world's farmed Pearls. Now prices have risen and a terrific opportunity to traffic in man made/artificial Pearls has come upon us. Use your smarts folks and wait patiently for the real stuff to return - in a year and a half.

Coral Me Red!

Red Coral, what beauty hanging around your neck.  CITES, the world-wide watchdog group for the ocean's plant life, will meet next March to decide whether to put coral on the endangered species list.  You visit any coastal town anywhere in the world and you'll see red coral in the jewelry shops.  Can't tell if the stuff is plastic, glass or ceramic?  Don't buy it.  If it is real, and you buy it, you're contributing to the demise of the world's coral.   Coral grows at the slow rate of 1/4 inch per year.  But what harm can one little necklace do?  Multiply your indifference by a million people and you have a problem.  Sterling Canyon won't deal in coral.  Neither should you.

Read the Ruby

There are some gemstones in the British crown jewels that are not what they seem.  The Black Prince's Ruby is not a ruby at all but a red spinel.  The stone at right certainly looks like a ruby, but smells of deceipt.  Could it be one of the fine stones from Macy's?  Perhaps. But don't get your salivary glands all up and running.  This stone is not a ruby. It turns out to be Oregon Sunstone.  I won't tell you where they dug this up.  You'll need to figure that out on your own. 

Macy's and the Red Ruby Mystery

An update to our story last week regarding fake or enhanced rubies
being sold at Macy's.  It seems that both ABC Good Morning America
and Macy's are being criticised for there tactics.  It seems that the American
Gemological Institute issued a warning to the buying public two years ago
regarding fake rubies.  Selling fake rubies isn't illegel.  What is fraudulent
is not telling the customer that they are fake.  ABC visited 3 Macy's stores
for the story.  All three sold fake rubies without notifying the customer
what they were buying.  It can be construed that many retailers, not just
Macy's attempts to deceive the customer.  Fake rubies are fairly easy
to detect with a 10x power magnifying glass.  Of course, if you're buying
rubies or emeralds at Macy's or Target, then the dunce hat is waiting for you.  All gemstones, even diamonds are enhanced or treated by heat or fillings.  But you should be told what you're buying and not outright lied to. Even Sterling Canyon nows better.  Geez. photos courtesy AGTA.

Copper, Silver and Gold (Mining) Oh My!

Bingham Canyon Copper Mine


This is the beginning of a series about the Bingham Canyon open pit copper mine outside of Salt Lake City. It is the largest mine in the world at nearly 3/4 of a mile deep. It hopes to be 500 feet deeper by next year, approaching that of the Grand Canyon. It is actually a tourist attraction. But why should we care about this mine? Why is this in the news? Fortune magazine has a spread in their recent issue. Two main reasons my friends. First is the fact that it is the poster child of clean responsible mining. It is tightly controlled and monitored by outside organizations to make sure it keeps with its promise of being as environmentally responsible, green if you will, as possible. Second reason is that Tiffany and Walmart have latched on to this earth friendly mining operation as a terrific opportunity to enhance their public relations efforts. In subsequent postings, we will explore these two facets and explain why this is important to the jewelry buying public.

Fake Gemstones Flood the Market

TOP - Hematite ribbons in natural Indian sunstone.

BOTTOM - Hematite ribbons in red treated feldspar. Photos courtesy of Robert James.

Let's follow-up on the report earlier this week regarding Macy's cheating customers with fake rubies. Most fairly informed people understand that there are fake gemstones in the marketplace. How else can Walmart sell a diamond ring for $195.00. The amount of artificial stones in the market is now staggering. Sterling Canyon knows there are artificial gems to be had and also unscrupulous dealers out there trying to make a buck from uninformed buyers. Sterling Canyon does all it can to verify that the stones it sells are indeed true and first quality. Now it seems that buyers of Labradorite are suing dealers including Jewelry Television over suspect Labradorite. If you recently bought red or green "new-find" Labradorite on screen or on line as a natural-color gemstone, you may be in for a rude awakening. These feldspars may owe their beauty to the gemological equivalent of color implants - or, more crudely, dyeing. Take a look at these pictures above. It doesn't take much magnification to notice the bottom stone is dyed.

July Birthstone-Ruby

 Shame on you, Macy's!  Macy's was reported last week to be selling fake Rubies and not informing the customers. Macy's has been selling composite Rubies, which is essentially red glass with Ruby dust blended in.  The best are found in Burma (Myanmar) which has trade sanctions against in by the West. Otherwise, Rubies you buy at your local jewelers are from Brazil and India. Sterling Canyon chooses not to deal in Rubies because the quality in the world Ruby market is questionable at best. Here is an excerpt from the American Gem Society describing the quintessential Ruby. There’s no better way to demonstrate your love than by giving a ruby in celebration of a July birthday. Rubies arouse the senses, stir the imagination, and are said to guarantee health, wisdom, wealth and success in love. Ruby is a variety of the gems species corundum. It is harder than any natural gemstone except diamond, which means a ruby is durable enough for everyday wear. Fine-quality ruby is extremely rare, and the color of the gem is most important to its value. The most prized color is a medium or medium dark vivid red or slightly purplish red. If the gem is too light or has too much purple or orange, it will be called a fancy-color sapphire.

Vale part 2

Well, here we go with the green story of Vale do Rio Doce. As an environmentally friendly megacorporation with operations throughout the world, Vale has decided that it is in their best interest to be green - at least in home base Brazil. According to the Vale website, they are active in the Vale Florestar program which involves the reclamation or re-forestation of part of the Amazon forest. They advertise the planting of 165 million trees within a 3,000 sq.km. area. That is terrific. However the program is forced on them by the Brazilian government which has adopted the policy of preserving what's left of the rain forests. The photos below demonstrate what Vale is doing to the rain forest. They operate the world's largest iron ore mine. How to reclaim that hole and make it whole again is a mystery - most likely impossible. So they are making amends with the government to tidy up other places not directly affected by Vale. Pieces of rain forest that have been decimated by farmers and ranchers will now be reclaimed by Vale. That sure is nice of them.  Their pink diamonds are nice too. However, how does their stewardship of the land in other countries compare? Depends on the environmental policies of that particular country. I'll examine next how far Vale's volunteer environmental conscience extends.

Pink Diamonds Come and Go.

Pink diamonds from the Argyle mine in Australia are simply spectacular to look at.  The owners of the Argyle, Rio Tinto say the mine will play itself out by 2018.  Meanwhile, the 43 Argyle pink diamonds have been put up for sale and buyers from China and India have been snatching them up with the idea that hard assets are the best investment.  The top stone pictured right is 1.25 carats, the middle oval stone is 1.10 carats and the heart shaped stone is 2.61 carats pictured at the bottom.  The diamonds are pink because of the contaminant, most likely iron.  Unfortunately, this years' lot has been sold.  Better luck next time.

A Vale over Carajas

Just when we thought companies were following the lead of jewelers like Sterling Canyon, along comes a mining operation like Vale do Rio Doce that has good intentions toward the environment they work in, yet screw it up somehow. Take for instance the Amazon Rain forest near Carajas, Brazil. Near there is a Vale iron ore mine. Devastating in most cases to the environment, yet Vale has brought the area back to life.

Not much life but just the same. This picture is the area that used to be a rain forest.  Most likely a good contributor to global warming or cooling.  According to the Vale Environmental Institute, recovery is going well. Their stewardship of the land is incomparable to other concerns. You be the judge. Looks green to me!

Coyote Gold

What a lovely arm pit in the middle of Australia. This is where we get much of our gold for use in jewelry and electronics. This Coyote gold pit is producing tons of gold and the tailings are producing a headache for the Tjurabalan People whose land it sits. The amount of gold gets richer the farther the pit deepens. Would make one heck of a swimming pool when the pit is spent whcih could be many many years from now.

Tanzanite Market is Blue

The cobalt coating of the tanzanite produced an iridescence that can be seen when observing the stone’s surface in reflected light. The rectangular area near the point of this facet also highlights an area on the tanzanite where the coating did not adhere.

The folks at Sterling Canyon continue to see things that boggles our minds. The new item of interest is the report that poor quality Tanzanite is being enhanced by essentially being given a dye job to enhance its natural blue color. The only way of detecting this falsetto is to look at it under a magnifier. If you're just looking to buy something that only impresses the untrained eye, go for it.  But be cautious.  Cheap dye jobs can rub off on clothing, especially if you're sweating.   If you're looking for true blue Tanzanite, stick with Sterling Canyon or other reputable dealers.

Blue-Blue Topaz

It seems that there is fake Topaz circulating amongst the unsuspected. Sterling Canyon doesn't deal with Topaz but plans to soon.  Now the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires all Blue Topaz to be irradiated to test for authenticity. If the Blue Topaz does not have the NRC certification, don't buy it! Actually non-certified Topaz will be illegal to sell in the U.S. This new regulation went into effect November 30, 2007. The retailers have had plenty of time to clean out their stock of artificial Topaz.  However, if you are in the position to buy a blue Topaz necklace or ring, it might be a good idea to ask the jeweler for certification.

Koodoos for the Feds.

Nevada Gold!

There's gold in them thar hills. Actually in them thar desert scrub. Golden Cycle Gold Corp is pursuing rich veins of gold in the Nevada countryside. This mine pictured above cannot be seen from the highway. Don't want to destroy the beautiful Nevada scenery now do we? They also have gold mines in Cripple Creek and the Philippines. Sterling Canyon does not deal in gold jewelry for the reason of price. Looks like the gold industry is doing well as long as the price per ounce remains above $900.00/ounce. Watch out for the cheap jewelry. Gold jewelry should be expensive at these prices. If it's not, it's not real gold.

Grand Canyon being protected from mining....

Efforts to protect the area surrounding the Grand Canyon from uranium mines got a shot in the arm recently with proposed legislation in the U.S. Congress. According to the Arizona Daily Sun newspaper, more than 1 million acres will be made off limits to mining interests in a Bill introduced in the House by U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson. Leave it to the democrats to protect our environment and preserve our natural national treasures. Thousands of claims have been made in the Tusayan National Forest surrounding the Canyon but have yet to be processed. Hopefully this Bill pending in Congress will run these miners out of the area for good. A similar Bill passed protecting a smaller area in New Mexico and is working well. It appears that the Obama administration is keen to the needs of our environment and is all out to protect what Bush and company was out to destroy. Write the congressman and support this Bill. We'll keep you posted on this developing story.

Diamonds are a Girl's...

Diamonds are a girl's best friend but after this weekend that friendship may develop a few cracks in it. It was reported in newspapers today that DeBeers diamond company had lost a class-action lawsuit resulting in a $295 million payout. Anyone who had purchased a diamond from 1994 and 2006 will receive a rebate. Depending on how many people file for claims, that amount could be between a few thousand dollars to 2 bucks. It seems that DeBeers, which controls 40% of the world diamond market is guilty of price fixing and monopoly practices. And it doesn't matter whether you purchased your rock at Van Cleef & Arpels of Beverly Hills or the local Walmart (I didn't know Walmart sold diamonds), if you have a receipt proving the date of purchase and price, and file before May 19th by visiting the website http://www.diamondsclassaction.com/, your rebate can be in hand before the end of the year. It seems that greed propagates greed, but don't despair, your best friend will always be by your side.

Tanzanite Blues

Just a quick note about Tanzanite, the beautiful blue stones are mined only from Tanzania.  

Tanzanite is mined in primative mine shafts, some as deep as 1000 feet. In 1998, flooding rains poured into those shafts and killed 160 miners. Since then, the government has taken safeguards to minimize this from happening again. The full fascinating story is found at www.gemsplusg.com/. Typical mine and typical workers. But boy what beautiful gems.

Gemstones - Greenside

Buying gemstone jewelry from your local jewelry store or online like Stcanyon.com may be a best bet if you're environmentally conscious about the source of the stones. However, National Geographic is reporting that where those gemstones originate makes a big difference for the environment. Think of China with its poor human rights and environmental records. Think of Brazil and their destruction of the rain forests. Now think of countries that are more friendly to the environment; like Kenya, Madagascar, Israel, India, Belgium and South Africa. These countries are not perfect when protecting the environment. But there positive actions are noticed on the world stage. According to N.G. your conscious would fair well buying gemstones that originated from these sources. Check the jewelry store you're buying from. If they can't tell you where the gemstones originated, don't buy them. The store may be ashamed to tell you.  Or worse yet, they may lie.  Case in point - Macy's.

Andean Hematite Mine

Along the southern Pacific coast of Peru, archeologists have discovered a 2,000 year old iron or Hematite mine. The mine sits on the face of a mountain ridge and is in the area where the Nazca peoples lived, pre-dating the Incas. Remember the Nazca, the people who created the carvings on the Nazca Plain made famous by the silly books of Erik Von Daniken? Hematite was used by the Nazca as red pigment dyes on textiles and body paint. According to Kevin J. Vaughn, an anthropologist at Purdue University who reported the find to National Geographic, they did not make tools or spaceships out of the ore. Modern uses of Hematite include everything from spaceships to jewelry, although our spaceships are not used for drawing animal figures on a plain. The mine, named Mina Primavera, also contained other artifacts like corn cobs, pottery shards, and stone tools. These items linked the Nazca peoples to the site.