Gem Identification with Simple Tools – Summary

Unit 8: Gem Identification with Simple Tools – More Detective Words

More detective tools and tests! These words help us tell real gems from fake ones.

• Imitations – Fake gems made to look like real ones.
• Simulants – Gems that look like others but are made of different materials.
• CZ – Short for cubic zirconia, a fake diamond-like gem.
• GGG – A lab-made gem called gadolinium gallium garnet.
• YAG – A lab-made gem called yttrium aluminum garnet.
• Gem Table – The flat top part of a cut gem.
• Doubly refractive – When a gem splits light into two rays.
• Refraction – How light bends when it goes into a gem, which helps make sparkle.
• Separation planes – Lines where two parts of a fake gem are joined or glued together.

International Gem Society

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