Gem photos

Dec 15, 2014 • 1:19 PM UTC

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140x Magnification

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GemGirl

I'm a Graduate Gemologist and gemstone cutter. Exploring the world of microscopy in gems - this is the first portable microscope for field use!

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Somehow, I was editing, and lost my text. The above were the first pics of Gems I took with the Foldscope. As a Gemologist, I was curious if this tool would be good for field gem ID, and detecting natural from synthetic. The pink photo shows a liquid inclusion, proving that I was looking at a natural 1mm Ruby. The green photo was a natural Emerald, as evidenced by the black chromite inclusions, liquid inclusions (look like bubbles), and rusty iron deposits. My focusing got better as I got further into my study.

This is the natural Emerald from the above photo (it was on a slide when photographed at low mag). Could not get the Ruby pic to load. The right shows how I prepared slides. I most used 1-3mm tiny gems, and affixed with CA onto a glass slide. For the most part, if the object was translucent/transparent enough for light to pass through, I got good pics. Magnification was great and I could definitely tell natural from synthetic. I also tried some loose stones, held with tweezers in the slide gap, and larger pieces….detailed that in other posts.

Gem photos

GemGirl

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