Oh, shucks. You're too kind. I may actually be able to help you on the star ruby ring. If you send me an email at: thegemshepherd@gmail.com we can talk further about the details.
Thanks Peter, this is one of the best videos I've seen so far. Awesome information and great footage, especially helpful to see the natural star compared with the synthetic star. I'll probably be back to JTC on Wednesday just to check these out!
That's excellent. I was surprised to hear recently that spinel and garnets both can have 6 ray stars. I was under the impression that they only had 4 ray stars because of their crystal structure. There's an article by GIA that I still need to read XD. Cool Treasures you've got, Duck Hunter.
@@GemologyforSchmucks Hello, yes I read that by Billie Hughes before I bought mine a few years ago as I thought it maybe fake as I’d only seen the 4 ones also. It’s only 2.7Ct but did pay a premium for it. You pay your money and take your chance. It’s very interesting however. Cheers Iain
@@duckhunter8203 Thats the thing about the rare: you naturally HAVE to pay a premium to get them. The nice thing is though ~ as long as you dont bash the thing with a hammer etc, then you're able to pass that premium on to another buyer in the future (IF you're willing to sell ;) )
I had a feeling that black tear shape stone was Diopside. I'm stuck assuming it's not a bronzite or hypersthene by your mention of diopside anyway... I do love me some good asterism 👍 Personally, I have a bit of a soft spot for star zircons due to the rays intersecting at 45⁰ & 90⁰. i just like the appearance of an even looking 4 or 8 rayed stone. Aside from zircons, the only other materials I've seen with a 4-rayed star at close to, if not 90⁰ would be kyanite and opal, unfortunately I'm yet to come across a good star opal to add to my collection yet. Either way, to me there's just something so pleasing about the evenness of a good 4-rayed star. A friend of mine has a thing for the 3-rayed rose quartz stars he likes to call them Mercedes stars😉
Mercedes stars, that's fantastic. Im still scouring parcels for a solid spessartine star. I've got some feeble ones, but naturally we all chase the unicorn.
@@GemologyforSchmucks I hadn't heard of any spessartine stars... that does sound like a unicorn. I've got the ordinary almandine stars, a six-ray rhodolite, and, a rather uninspiring mali garnet star, but, spessartine is definitely one to add to the list. Recently I've added a few blue pyrope garnets from Bekily to my collection, but, it seems impossible to get my hands on any rough for cabbing. With the spessartines, are you looking through rough from a particular locality for these elusive star stones?
@@hybridgoth Wow, you've got quite an interesting collection from the sounds of it. I've seen 4 ray rhodolite, but not 6. And the blue garnets are quite difficult to source now. My gemology teacher had a colour change one that he used to baffle us before our gem ID exam. On the spessartine, most of the parcels in Bangkok can be assumed mixed locality after a certain point in the supply chain, but the majority of the material comes from Nigeria, though I don't have mine names to supply. Nice thing is that stars in cabochon are much easier to find than in rough. Hopefully some day I get decent star rough and can show the honey trick.
Thank you for the great video again. Questions as usual. 1) when you heat titanium the temperature is so high in order to form titanium oxide, but when you heat a natural star stone I was told that the needle or the star would weaken.... If that's so how could a titanium 'heating' adds back the star effect? Or does that mean its a different substance that forms a rutile in natural vs the man made effect? 2) being a big fan and a collector of star stones I have always chased after the strongest star. Always felt like a star should be strongest in the center of a hexagon but then the strongest of the stars I have collected was mostly on the edges of the angle itself....do you have any color on where should the star be the strongest at which point of the hexagon? Is it the edge or the center.
Excellent questions as usual ;) 1) You're thought process is correct. Titanium Diffusion (high heating with titanium added ) does melt natural rutile in a natural stone. What happens is that new synthetic rutile (titanium oxide) is allowed to penetrate the top layer of the stone and then it cools down slowly in a controlled environment, allowing tiny needles to form on the top layer of the stone. So a natural star will be destroyed, but if performed correctly you can form a synthetic star in either natural sapphire material, or synthetic star material. 2) To my understanding, the location of the star isnt connected to the visible hexagon growth. There just needs to be enough of a presence of silk in the stone, in relation to where the top dome of the stone is.the colour change Sri Lankan star sapphire used in this episode (and several others) looks transparent until a strong light is shined on it. How the dome is cut (shallow or high) and how much silk and where the silk is located in the cabochon (nearer the base/girdle or higher up etc) typically have more to do with the quality of star to my understanding.
@Gemology for Schmucks Thank you very much for your reply. This does open up more of my understanding on both the topics. Sometimes it gets quite difficult to rank what plays a more important role in order to form a sharp Ray. Is it the clarity of the stone, the arrangement of the rutile or the cut of the stone. While I have seen sharp rayed high dome clear stones, I am still in search of a clearest stones with strongest star... I guess the presence of rutile probably more required than the shape of the dome in order to form a star....i came to this conclusion following an acquisition of a 1mm thin star sapphire with least dome but the star was still very sharp... But again finding a very clear stone with sharp star would make my theory incorrect..or maybe the needle needs to be very fine upto the level not visible via a naked eye... :)
To my understanding, its a balance point in between dome shape and needle quantity and location. I've seen some opaque stones (TONNES of needles) that had incredibly sharp stars and low domes, and i've seen a few gorgeously transparent stones that also had sharp stars, but they're typically a well proportioned dome. Where that particular silk/ needle inclusions are oriented will play a bigger role in that type of stone I suspect. More to learn for me too ^_^
Hey Peter, great videos. I need help identifying my blue stone. I believe it’s a star sapphire, but getting mix opinions from jewelers. It would be greatly appreciated if you could help me out. Thank you
Hi Fran ~ For certainty on your stone, you'll need someone who can see the stone in person. Pictures/video can only take us so far and give us indications to believe that a stone is this or that. There are many appraisers that should be able to direct you further if the jewelers in the area are ignorant of coloured stones or for some reason unwilling to test the stone. Contrary to popular belief, many jewelers don't know much about gemstones, particularly coloured stones.
The treatment to induce a synthetic star happens at an extremely high temperature, which would totally alter the inclusions present in the stone. So yes, it is possible, but not without leaving evidence.
Interesting point ~ Synthetic stars also move around according to the light, because they are formed in a similar way with natural stars. One way to tell the difference is to look for well formed needles with an iridescent surface, as you can see in this picture ;)
If the star sapphire is described as subjected to the diffusion process, does it mean that the star is probably synthetic? One company sells earth-mined, treated sapphires with asterism, but the stars are incredibely sharp...
Thank you for such an informative video. My question is this. I have seen many heart shaped star sapphires as rings set in 10K white gold. The rings are "pre-owned" which is a more attractive way of saying "used". The rings are being sold for $150 - $300. It seems like an over inflated price. I'm not an expert, just a girl who loves star stones. Is the price over inflated for used jewelry?
Hi Brenda ~ my pleasure, and I'm glad that you enjoyed my video. As to the rings - the price of jewelry comes down to a few things. There is no such thing as "used" when we're talking about gold and rare gemstones. Someone may have worn it before, but much of the treasure of the ancient world as in rings and gold cups and plates etc that were repurposed for the new conquering lords or made into something "new" by melting it down. That said: what is the weight? $150-300 sounds very cheap for 10k gold unless they are very thin/ light or plated, simply because of the cost of gold. Heart shape stars are nearly non-existent in natural star sapphires, and the prices of those rings wouldn't even cover the wholesale price of a decent natural star. I'm wondering if they're synthetic simply because of the price. Have you seen my most recent video about stars and their synthetics? (link below) take a look at it and see what you think the rings you saw might be. ruclips.net/video/xQOBMH_uJEg/видео.html
Is it common to find asterisms in moonstone? I have one that I think is a moonstone but I'm being told it may be a star sapphire. could I safely say if it does'nt test as sapphire on a gem tester then it is a moonstone with an asterism? thank you.
Hi Nesslfc, Moonstone can have asterism, but it typically has a different type of star than sapphires. Corundum’s (ruby sapphire) crystal structure/system is fundamentally different and typically has a 6 ray star with 60*/120* angles. The stars ive seen in feldspar (moonstone, labradorite etc) are usually 4 ray stars with a more obtuse/ acute angle intersection than corundum. Also... dont trust pen type testers for something like this. Leave those to diamonds, cz and moissanite ;) cheers
@@GemologyforSchmucks Thank you so much for your help. Mine has a 6 ray asterism, was sold to me as moonstone it does seem a lot less opaque than the star sapphires I've seen online.Thanks again.
Hey Do you know if these gemstones with asterism stars can be cut and turned into glittering jewels or should they only be used in their natural form? if you could choose half a kilo of stone, would you prefer a half kilo ruta ruby gem or a half kilo star ruby?? which one is worth more?
HI Marceli ~ asterated stones can definitely be cut into faceted stones as well, but the inclusions that create the asterism effect pull down the clarity of the stone compared to a cleaner stone. Because of that, these stones are worth more if they are cut as a star (cabochon) compared to if they were cut as a faceted stone. To answer your second question - it really depends on what quality the stones are. I don't really want kilos of anything unless its nice. Kilos of opaque ruby, even if it has a nice star, is still opaque. What I want is whichever is most beautiful, assuming it's natural, because those are the better pleasure to own and to sell. Top quality star rubies are exceedingly rare, and rarer even than faceted rubies. The most expensive stone sold to date was a pigeon's blood faceted ruby. That said.. I don't know that anyone has ever FOUND a star ruby in competitive quality, so we can't really make a comparison on which is truly more valuable.
@@GemologyforSchmucks thanks for the answer if these stones with asterism cannot be cut, why are they worth so much? I saw a vintage blue superstar called Adao's star sold for approximately $200 million. what will this stone yield? what motivation to be worth so much? the question about your preference I made it wrong, I wanted to know if you could choose to find a ruby, would you prefer a half kilo star ruby or a half kilo pigeon blood ruby stone. What's your preference?
Hi Jimmy, I checked my website and it seems to be fully operational. Perhaps double check the spelling on the address? (all "e'" and no "a") www.gemshepherd.com
@@jimmyhat3438 I do indeed - as these are some of my favourite stones. At the moment I have a couple star rubies in hand. I'm hoping to source a larger range of colours, but there is not a strong supply (which makes them more enticing from a collector's perspective). If you're interested in pink-red with a strong star and glassy crystal body, send me an email and we can discuss details. thegemshepherd@gmail.com
It's definitely possible, but we'd be very curious about what the fibers are made out of. There are some circumstances where a synthetic growth sapphire could have something that looks like needles, though with some other features. Best to be careful, until we are certain, rather than guess based on probabilities.
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Well, iv watched about 8 videos in a row, and congratulations. You are the ONLY channel I know that has NO thumbs down! Bam! Pow! Well done💎🌌💎
I felt like I was in the middle of a comic book for a moment there #yasss Glad to be of service Amelia.
"Its magic" ❤️😂 I loved this line😂😂
You explain the basics well👍🏻 thanks
Thank you Abhishek~ I'm glad I could bring some joy XD
You shine like a star! I wear a star ruby ring and I love learning about it. Thank you.
Oh, shucks. You're too kind. I may actually be able to help you on the star ruby ring. If you send me an email at: thegemshepherd@gmail.com we can talk further about the details.
This is your best video yet...super precise and clear.
WoW!~~ fantastic feedback, thank you. Glad you enjoyed it :D
I just got ahold of a sapphire cab with a double asterism. Beautiful
Double asterism is quite rare ~ cool find.
Nice
Thanks Peter, this is one of the best videos I've seen so far. Awesome information and great footage, especially helpful to see the natural star compared with the synthetic star. I'll probably be back to JTC on Wednesday just to check these out!
Star sapphires are some of my favourite gems period. You're always welcome in Nazo Anna.
Thanks again for the deal on the grey BLUE star sapphire. The more I learn, the more I appreciate it. My necklace turned out great.
Im glad to hear that your piece turned out well. My pleasure to serve~
Great video, I have a 6 ray star spinel it’s very cool one of my favourite gems👍
That's excellent. I was surprised to hear recently that spinel and garnets both can have 6 ray stars. I was under the impression that they only had 4 ray stars because of their crystal structure. There's an article by GIA that I still need to read XD. Cool Treasures you've got, Duck Hunter.
@@GemologyforSchmucks
Hello, yes I read that by Billie Hughes before I bought mine a few years ago as I thought it maybe fake as I’d only seen the 4 ones also. It’s only 2.7Ct but did pay a premium for it. You pay your money and take your chance. It’s very interesting however. Cheers Iain
@@duckhunter8203 Thats the thing about the rare: you naturally HAVE to pay a premium to get them. The nice thing is though ~ as long as you dont bash the thing with a hammer etc, then you're able to pass that premium on to another buyer in the future (IF you're willing to sell ;) )
Super informative and concise, thank you!
My pleasure~ Cheers
I had a feeling that black tear shape stone was Diopside. I'm stuck assuming it's not a bronzite or hypersthene by your mention of diopside anyway...
I do love me some good asterism 👍
Personally, I have a bit of a soft spot for star zircons due to the rays intersecting at 45⁰ & 90⁰. i just like the appearance of an even looking 4 or 8 rayed stone.
Aside from zircons, the only other materials I've seen with a 4-rayed star at close to, if not 90⁰ would be kyanite and opal, unfortunately I'm yet to come across a good star opal to add to my collection yet.
Either way, to me there's just something so pleasing about the evenness of a good 4-rayed star.
A friend of mine has a thing for the 3-rayed rose quartz stars he likes to call them Mercedes stars😉
Mercedes stars, that's fantastic. Im still scouring parcels for a solid spessartine star. I've got some feeble ones, but naturally we all chase the unicorn.
@@GemologyforSchmucks I hadn't heard of any spessartine stars... that does sound like a unicorn.
I've got the ordinary almandine stars, a six-ray rhodolite, and, a rather uninspiring mali garnet star, but, spessartine is definitely one to add to the list.
Recently I've added a few blue pyrope garnets from Bekily to my collection, but, it seems impossible to get my hands on any rough for cabbing.
With the spessartines, are you looking through rough from a particular locality for these elusive star stones?
@@hybridgoth Wow, you've got quite an interesting collection from the sounds of it. I've seen 4 ray rhodolite, but not 6. And the blue garnets are quite difficult to source now. My gemology teacher had a colour change one that he used to baffle us before our gem ID exam.
On the spessartine, most of the parcels in Bangkok can be assumed mixed locality after a certain point in the supply chain, but the majority of the material comes from Nigeria, though I don't have mine names to supply. Nice thing is that stars in cabochon are much easier to find than in rough. Hopefully some day I get decent star rough and can show the honey trick.
Amazing as usual 🙏🏽
Thank you Husam~ You're too kind.
So informative I really need to look at my star ruby and sapphire again as I am not sure how natural or synthetic they are… thank you 🙏🏽
I'm glad you enjoyed the video Tehmina~
Thank you for the great video again. Questions as usual.
1) when you heat titanium the temperature is so high in order to form titanium oxide, but when you heat a natural star stone I was told that the needle or the star would weaken.... If that's so how could a titanium 'heating' adds back the star effect? Or does that mean its a different substance that forms a rutile in natural vs the man made effect?
2) being a big fan and a collector of star stones I have always chased after the strongest star. Always felt like a star should be strongest in the center of a hexagon but then the strongest of the stars I have collected was mostly on the edges of the angle itself....do you have any color on where should the star be the strongest at which point of the hexagon? Is it the edge or the center.
Excellent questions as usual ;)
1) You're thought process is correct. Titanium Diffusion (high heating with titanium added ) does melt natural rutile in a natural stone. What happens is that new synthetic rutile (titanium oxide) is allowed to penetrate the top layer of the stone and then it cools down slowly in a controlled environment, allowing tiny needles to form on the top layer of the stone. So a natural star will be destroyed, but if performed correctly you can form a synthetic star in either natural sapphire material, or synthetic star material.
2) To my understanding, the location of the star isnt connected to the visible hexagon growth. There just needs to be enough of a presence of silk in the stone, in relation to where the top dome of the stone is.the colour change Sri Lankan star sapphire used in this episode (and several others) looks transparent until a strong light is shined on it. How the dome is cut (shallow or high) and how much silk and where the silk is located in the cabochon (nearer the base/girdle or higher up etc) typically have more to do with the quality of star to my understanding.
@Gemology for Schmucks Thank you very much for your reply. This does open up more of my understanding on both the topics.
Sometimes it gets quite difficult to rank what plays a more important role in order to form a sharp Ray. Is it the clarity of the stone, the arrangement of the rutile or the cut of the stone. While I have seen sharp rayed high dome clear stones, I am still in search of a clearest stones with strongest star...
I guess the presence of rutile probably more required than the shape of the dome in order to form a star....i came to this conclusion following an acquisition of a 1mm thin star sapphire with least dome but the star was still very sharp... But again finding a very clear stone with sharp star would make my theory incorrect..or maybe the needle needs to be very fine upto the level not visible via a naked eye... :)
To my understanding, its a balance point in between dome shape and needle quantity and location. I've seen some opaque stones (TONNES of needles) that had incredibly sharp stars and low domes, and i've seen a few gorgeously transparent stones that also had sharp stars, but they're typically a well proportioned dome. Where that particular silk/ needle inclusions are oriented will play a bigger role in that type of stone I suspect. More to learn for me too ^_^
Please do a video on diasterism
Star sapphire ❤
Lovely, aren't they?
you are great
Thanks very much~
Hey Peter, great videos. I need help identifying my blue stone. I believe it’s a star sapphire, but getting mix opinions from jewelers. It would be greatly appreciated if you could help me out. Thank you
Hi Fran ~ For certainty on your stone, you'll need someone who can see the stone in person. Pictures/video can only take us so far and give us indications to believe that a stone is this or that. There are many appraisers that should be able to direct you further if the jewelers in the area are ignorant of coloured stones or for some reason unwilling to test the stone. Contrary to popular belief, many jewelers don't know much about gemstones, particularly coloured stones.
know where one could purchase untreated natural black star sapphires?
Thailand has heaps, as they're mined here. If you email me at thegemshepherd@gmail.com we can discuss it further.
👍👍👍👍👍👍 nice nice nice!!!! mwah mwah mwah!!!!!
Now... Could someone take natural origin corundum cabochon, with color zoning, intersecting lines, ect. Then treat it to add a star artificially?
The treatment to induce a synthetic star happens at an extremely high temperature, which would totally alter the inclusions present in the stone. So yes, it is possible, but not without leaving evidence.
@@GemologyforSchmucks this is extremely reassuring to hear.
Are there any kinds of gems you would consider to be "undervalued" or cheaper than it should be?
There are many such gems indeed. The tough part is knowing which ones will catch on next, and buying before they catch mainstream attention.
@@GemologyforSchmucks id be very interested in a video on this someday. Thanks
That is a genuine star gemstone because the asterisk follows the light or moves around the stone.
Interesting point ~ Synthetic stars also move around according to the light, because they are formed in a similar way with natural stars. One way to tell the difference is to look for well formed needles with an iridescent surface, as you can see in this picture ;)
If the star sapphire is described as subjected to the diffusion process, does it mean that the star is probably synthetic? One company sells earth-mined, treated sapphires with asterism, but the stars are incredibely sharp...
There are both earth mined stones with diffused stars, and synthetic stones that are treated to create a star. Treated stars are typically sharp, yes.
Thank you for such an informative video. My question is this. I have seen many heart shaped star sapphires as rings set in 10K white gold. The rings are "pre-owned" which is a more attractive way of saying "used". The rings are being sold for $150 - $300. It seems like an over inflated price. I'm not an expert, just a girl who loves star stones.
Is the price over inflated for used jewelry?
Hi Brenda ~ my pleasure, and I'm glad that you enjoyed my video.
As to the rings - the price of jewelry comes down to a few things. There is no such thing as "used" when we're talking about gold and rare gemstones. Someone may have worn it before, but much of the treasure of the ancient world as in rings and gold cups and plates etc that were repurposed for the new conquering lords or made into something "new" by melting it down. That said: what is the weight? $150-300 sounds very cheap for 10k gold unless they are very thin/ light or plated, simply because of the cost of gold. Heart shape stars are nearly non-existent in natural star sapphires, and the prices of those rings wouldn't even cover the wholesale price of a decent natural star. I'm wondering if they're synthetic simply because of the price.
Have you seen my most recent video about stars and their synthetics? (link below) take a look at it and see what you think the rings you saw might be.
ruclips.net/video/xQOBMH_uJEg/видео.html
@@GemologyforSchmucks ❤
Is it common to find asterisms in moonstone? I have one that I think is a moonstone but I'm being told it may be a star sapphire. could I safely say if it does'nt test as sapphire on a gem tester then it is a moonstone with an asterism? thank you.
Hi Nesslfc,
Moonstone can have asterism, but it typically has a different type of star than sapphires. Corundum’s (ruby sapphire) crystal structure/system is fundamentally different and typically has a 6 ray star with 60*/120* angles. The stars ive seen in feldspar (moonstone, labradorite etc) are usually 4 ray stars with a more obtuse/ acute angle intersection than corundum. Also... dont trust pen type testers for something like this. Leave those to diamonds, cz and moissanite ;) cheers
@@GemologyforSchmucks Thank you so much for your help. Mine has a 6 ray asterism, was sold to me as moonstone it does seem a lot less opaque than the star sapphires I've seen online.Thanks again.
Hey
Do you know if these gemstones with asterism stars can be cut and turned into glittering jewels or should they only be used in their natural form?
if you could choose half a kilo of stone, would you prefer a half kilo ruta ruby gem or a half kilo star ruby?? which one is worth more?
HI Marceli ~ asterated stones can definitely be cut into faceted stones as well, but the inclusions that create the asterism effect pull down the clarity of the stone compared to a cleaner stone. Because of that, these stones are worth more if they are cut as a star (cabochon) compared to if they were cut as a faceted stone.
To answer your second question - it really depends on what quality the stones are. I don't really want kilos of anything unless its nice. Kilos of opaque ruby, even if it has a nice star, is still opaque.
What I want is whichever is most beautiful, assuming it's natural, because those are the better pleasure to own and to sell.
Top quality star rubies are exceedingly rare, and rarer even than faceted rubies. The most expensive stone sold to date was a pigeon's blood faceted ruby. That said.. I don't know that anyone has ever FOUND a star ruby in competitive quality, so we can't really make a comparison on which is truly more valuable.
@@GemologyforSchmucks
thanks for the answer
if these stones with asterism cannot be cut, why are they worth so much?
I saw a vintage blue superstar called Adao's star sold for approximately $200 million.
what will this stone yield? what motivation to be worth so much?
the question about your preference I made it wrong, I wanted to know if you could choose to find a ruby, would you prefer a half kilo star ruby or a half kilo pigeon blood ruby stone. What's your preference?
What happened to your website?
Hi Jimmy,
I checked my website and it seems to be fully operational. Perhaps double check the spelling on the address? (all "e'" and no "a") www.gemshepherd.com
@@GemologyforSchmucks thanks got it, would you sell any star sapphires or have any suggestions on a online source ?
@@jimmyhat3438 I do indeed - as these are some of my favourite stones. At the moment I have a couple star rubies in hand. I'm hoping to source a larger range of colours, but there is not a strong supply (which makes them more enticing from a collector's perspective). If you're interested in pink-red with a strong star and glassy crystal body, send me an email and we can discuss details. thegemshepherd@gmail.com
how about 3 parelel fibers at one end in a saphire, i say is real
It's definitely possible, but we'd be very curious about what the fibers are made out of. There are some circumstances where a synthetic growth sapphire could have something that looks like needles, though with some other features. Best to be careful, until we are certain, rather than guess based on probabilities.
Hi Peter i got few stone it's cat eye. Everyone as say it not cat eye. I don't now what to do
Hi Simmer~
Check out this other video I made on the cat's eye effect, and hopefully that will help you forward on your quest for an answer.
ruclips.net/video/Na5ixYQgPVo/видео.html