Posted by karenl on December 28, 2011, 10:49 pm, in reply to "Re: Paste vs real"
In addition to crystal jewelry, I have several necklaces of "lab created" sapphires, emerald, ruby that are, indeed, very sparkling also. I agree that my "faux" stone necklaces were not cheap by any means. I would rather go for the lab created gems as the real gems, especially rubies, are becoming more rare from over mining and depletion. --Previous Message-- : : Thank you, Henri, for the wonderful story. : The necklace sounds beautiful. Your story : raised an awfully lot of questions in my : mind. : : I didn't really understand if the rose cut : stones were foiled because you mentioned : "with refraction from the holder". : The rose cut stones are usually more : "watery" in appearence and you can : see through them because their form is dome : shaped and they lack the pavilion. : : If the diamonds were "industrial made : diamonds" it could mean that they are : synthetic diamonds (HPHT high pressure high : temperature). Then they have of course : exactly the same optical and other : properties as natural diamonds. So same : stuff, though man-made, - same impression. : : Isn't it so that usually the term paste : refers to the glass simulants of diamond? : There are many varieties, pāte-de-verre, : rhinestones, Swarovski crystals, strass. : Some of these have foiling under the stone : which makes them more light reflective. And : these are often cut with 8/8 cut or the : faceting is not done as properly and sharply : as in diamonds and that reveales them from : the real thing in the first place. : : Paste stones can be wonderful as new, but : tend to fade when the foiling wears out. : Also small paste stones are not usually set : but glued in the piece of jewellery - so it : can be detected by the missing prongs or : that the prongs don't actually touch the : stone at all. : : So about your question: sometimes it means a : lot to a woman just to know what stuff her : jewelry is made of. For most of us it is : lovely to know that the stones are real. It : disturbs us if the diamond has SI inclusions : or if the colour is an H instead of the : perfect D. For some it measures the amount : of love when one's own engagement ring has a : D/Flawless diamond. : : So all in all, I could probably wear : synthetic diamonds and in some cases paste. : So a synthetic engagement ring for me, yes : please, and some antique paste jewellery for : parties, thank you. :
on December 28, 2011, 10:49 pm, in reply to "