<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 1:32 PM, Michael H. Warfield <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mhw@wittsend.com">mhw@wittsend.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div class="im">On Wed, 2012-01-11 at 12:16 -0500, Jim Kinney wrote:<br>
> On Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 11:59 AM, Scott Castaline <<a href="mailto:skotchman@gmail.com">skotchman@gmail.com</a>>wrote:<br>
><br>
> > If you're my age you probably wouldn't live long enough to do that<br>
> > much laundry & dishwashing. You might have to get her a rock along<br>
> > with all of that, after all diamons are a girl's BF, aren't they?<br>
> ><br>
<br>
> She's a geologist and knows the true value of diamonds (nearly as common as<br>
> sand) so I'm off the hook for that :-)<br>
<br>
</div>No joke. If it wasn't for some crazy monopolies (DeBeers) diamonds<br>
would be about $5 a caret.<br>
<br>
> Emeralds and meteorites, however...<br>
<br>
Rubies are great too. Natural ones have to occur in unnatural<br>
conditions that include moderately rare chromium while excluding much<br>
more common iron from the aluminate base mineral.<br></blockquote><div><br>she has a few rubies from a Georgia dig site. We may do a bit of polish on a few so we can see better inside. some well formed faceted "globs" (I am NOT a geologist) that would look cool with some back lighting. <br>
</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<br>
Even more rare is Alexandrite where some (but not all) of the chromium<br>
is replaced by beryllium. Still fluoresces red under a black light like<br>
any ruby (it's ruby at heart) but is a somber red under incandescent<br>
light while green or blue under indirect sunlight and purple under<br>
direct sunlight (thanks to that fluorescence). Natural stones are<br>
insanely expensive. Some high quality Brazilian stones I was looking at<br>
were $10,000 USD for 0.9 caret stone - LOOSE! The center stone in my<br>
wedding ring was dug out of a lab, not out of the ground and has<br>
outstanding color change to it. :-P<br></blockquote><div><br>all of the fluorescent minerals she _really_ likes require nasty UVB (the high energy stuff that does bad things to corneas and skin) so a shielded glass case is a must before that collection begins.<br>
</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<br>
They call that effect trichroic (three color) or dichroic (referring to<br>
any mineral or mirrors that separate colors). Tanzanite is another<br>
dichroic but its color changes from blue to purple with the angle of the<br>
light hitting it. That's the other two stones in my wedding ring.<br>
That's my only puzzle ring with stones. The other two are just plain<br>
gold.<br></blockquote><div><br>awesome! <br><br>We have a box of raw jade (65+ lbs) that's just begging for me to sit down with a dremel tool...<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div class="im"><br>
> --<br>
> --<br>
> James P. Kinney III<br>
><br>
> As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to<br>
> consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as they<br>
> please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the outcome.<br>
</div>> - *2011 Noam Chomsky<br>
><br>
> <a href="http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/</a><br>
<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5">> *<br>
><br>
<br>
<br>
--<br>
Michael H. Warfield (AI4NB) | <a href="tel:%28770%29%20985-6132" value="+17709856132">(770) 985-6132</a> | mhw@WittsEnd.com<br>
/\/\|=mhw=|\/\/ | <a href="tel:%28678%29%20463-0932" value="+16784630932">(678) 463-0932</a> | <a href="http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/" target="_blank">http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/</a><br>
NIC whois: MHW9 | An optimist believes we live in the best of all<br>
PGP Key: 0x674627FF | possible worlds. A pessimist is sure of it!<br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>-- <br>James P. Kinney III<br><br>As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to
consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as
they please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the
outcome.<br>- <i><i><i><i>2011 Noam Chomsky<br><br><a href="http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/</a><br></i></i></i></i><br>