Garnets (I can't think of a witty title)

Chris
Chrysalis Jewelry Intern 
Facebook Fan Page
Etsy Shop 

Ah, Garnet.  That deep red gemstone that I'm sure some people out there know and love.  Like any gemstone worth talking about, it's pretty to look at and reflects and refracts light in interesting ways when cut.  And like a gemstone that isn't too fragile to actually use in jewelry, garnets range from 6.5 to 7.5.  Wait, garnets.  Plural.  You know what that means, right?

That means there's a whole Garnet family out there just waiting to be explored.  For our exploration today, we'll be looking at three members of the Garnet family.

Tsavorite,
Spessartine,
and Demantoid

 But before any of that silliness, let's cover Garnets in general.  For all you science nerds out there, here's a model of Garnet's chemical structure.

And all the hippies said, "Eewww, chemicals D="

So yeah, when most people think of Garnets, they think of the red ones.  Well guess what peeps, there are actually color changing Garnets out there!  Unfortunately, still images of a color changing Garnet would be kinda boring, so I found you this video instead.  If for some reason you don't like videos, all you have to do is not watch it, and pretend that it's a picture.  Enjoy.

Unfortunately, these fancy things tend to be rare, and therefore expensive.  So if you happen to own one, please get a monocle and top hat, and refer to everyone who doesn't own these things as "peasants" and/or "peons".  The International Society of Humorous Snobbery thanks you for your time.

If, for some reason, you don't have that much money to spend on Garnet(s), there's always Yttrium Aluminum Garnets, or YAGs.  In the synthetic gemstone world, these puppies have been around for a while.  In fact, they were used as fake diamonds until the famous Cubic Zirconia came along.  And for you super-villains out there, YAGs can also be used in laser devices, but only if you add Neodymium a special secret ingredient.

Not Pictured: Death Ray Components

Well, then.  Now that we've got some interesting tidbits about Garnets in general out of the way, it's time to look at three specific varieties in detail.

Tsavorite

 Yep, it's green.

Tsavorite is a Calcium-Aluminum Garnet, with the green color caused by a little bit of Vanadium or Chromium.  To date, this gem has only been found in Tanzania and Madagascar.  Most Tsavorite gems in existence weigh only a few carats.  This one, however, seems to be abnormally large.

Don't ask me how big these are (spoiler alert: probably smaller than they appear on your screen)

Here's one up close

This one must be tiny

Here's an interesting cut

Next Up,

Spessartine

Unlike Tsavorite, you can find this stuff all over the world. Also unlike Tsavorite, it seems like Spessartine doesn't get faceted as often.  If you ask me, though, that isn't really much of a problem.

They still look awesome when cut, of course.

Last, but not least, we have:

Demantoid

As it turns out, Demantoids are a variety of Andratite, which itself is a member of the Garnet family.  Demantoids were first discovered in Russia, and Russian Demantoids often contain inclusions called "Horsetails", which are often sought after as an indication of the gem's natural origin.  In other words, this is the stuff that makes these gems famous:

It's not just that this gem is natural, the inclusions look pretty good too.

An interesting comparison....

That's all for now, I suppose.  Stay Fancy, Chrysalis Fans.
Until Tomorrow
Chris the Intern

Time to Interview Chris the Intern

 Melissa, Owner of Chrysalis Jewelry Interviews









Chris the Intern

After a couple of wonderful gemtastic blogs written by Chris the Intern, I thought it was time for fans to get to know Chris.

Melissa: Chris, would you tell us a little about yourself?
Chris: I like to read random things every now and then.  Sometimes I write too.  I like Mexican food and video games.

Melissa: You recently graduated from college. Where did you matriculate from and what is your degree in?
Chris: I got a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Dallas.  The name is a bit misleading, though, the campus is in Richardson, not Dallas.  Though I guess they might have a hard time fitting it all in Dallas somewhere, so it'll just have to be close enough.

Melissa: I know Chrysalis Jewelry is not your dream job, please tell us what your dream job is.
Chris: I'd like to write code for video games, but just about anything with programming will do, I guess.  I speak computer, y'know.

Melissa: You are a marvelous writer. Do you have any other writing projects you would like to tell my readers about?
Chris: I've been writing a science fiction novel for the past few years, and I'm still not done.  It's about teenagers who go to space and learn things and stuff, so if my made up teenagers inspire real teenagers to learn about science, that would be super cool.  Especially if there's a lot of them and they pay me money.

Melissa: What has surprised you about Chrysalis Jewelry?
Chris: Absolutely nothing.  It is all transpiring as I have foreseen......

Melissa: What kind of techy upgrades can Chrysalis fans expect from you this summer?
Chris: I don't design software, I just figure out how to code things that other people dream up.  So you tell me, what do you want?  And don't ask me for a solution to the halting problem, because that's impossible.

But as for what I've already done(and you've already dreamt up), I linked the Chrysalis facebook page to the website and vice versa, along with the associated etsy and twitter, as well as this very blog.

Thank you Chris for taking a few minutes for this interview. I'm sure my readers want to know the intern behind such clever blogs.

Until Tomorrow
Melissa

Beryl? Who's Beryl?

 Chris
Chrysalis Jewelry Intern 
Facebook Fan Page
Etsy Shop







'Sup.

So apparently Beryl is a mineral.  At first I thought that Beryl was some weird name for a girl, like Sheryl but with a B.  But it's not a name, I guess, it's a mineral.  More specifically, this mineral encompasses an entire family of gemstones.  Who knew?  We do, now, because that's what we're here for.  Learning things.

Now that I think of it, though, I'd name my hypothetical baby girl Beryl, rather than something like Mercedes, or Super Fly.  But still, I'd try real hard to think of a name I like more than Beryl.  I won't do that right now, however.  This is a blog about gemstones, not baby names.  If you're looking for baby names, go to a baby name website, or buy a baby name book, or maybe search for a baby name blog.  They've got to be out there somewhere.

So yeah.  Gemstones.  Beryl.

Can anyone guess what color pure beryl is?  No really.  Guess.

Ok, I'll give you a minute or two.

Did you guess?  Good.

Ok.  If you guessed yellow, or pink, or dark brown, or mauve, or taupe, well, those were good guesses, but unfortunately they're all wrong.  Pure beryl is colorless, it turns out.

Not pretty enough?  Ok, try this.

So apparently this particularly boring variety of Beryl is called Goshenite.  As in, "Oh Gosh, this gemstone looks like fake diamond.  Why can't it be taupe!?!?"

Fun fact: Taupe is the king of colors.

Now, if you remember the beginning of this post (and if you don't, don't bother scrolling back up, I'll rehash it for you in a second), Beryl isn't just one boring gemstone, it's an entire family of less boring gemstones, each of which has a distinctive color due to impurities and such.

Are you noticing a pattern here?

Pure: colorless, boring.
Impure: colorful, not boring.

So anyway, after research and whatnot, I have condensed the many wonderful varieties of Beryl into the most significant four, the "big four", if you will.

Aquamarine

Emerald

Heliodor

Morganite

So, now that we have a nice list of gemstones, let's go through them in order, mmkay?

Aquamarine

(No, not that movie about mermaids)

I'm talking about gemstones here.

And how about one that has been neatly shaped to conform to our aesthetic expectations?

Fun fact: Aquamarine is the March birthstone.

I AM THE ONE WHO KNOCKS.  And tells you about gemstones.

So yeah.  About Aquamarine.  If there's a place where you can find regular (boring) Beryl, there's a good chance you can find this sea-blue variety nearby.  That color, by the way, is blamed on Iron ions somewhere in the crystalline structure of these rocks.  Just because they're not boring doesn't mean they're innocent.  For one thing, they will drain your bank account if you're not careful, just like children and beautiful mermaids.

Emerald

If you don't know what color Emeralds are, then don't go back to facebook just yet.  Let me educate you.

I'll give you a hint.  They're not purple.

It turns out that Emeralds are green.

You know what else is green?  ALIENS!

So yeah, there's my shameless plug for the day.

Anyway, Emerald's greenish color is caused by chromium ions.  Surprising, huh?  Some of the rarest emeralds come from Colombia, like the prized Trapiche Emerald.

Apparently this thing is named after a grinding wheel.  If you ask me, it looks like some kind of fruit.

Heliodor

Next up, we have Heliodor.  What is it, you ask?  Well, feast your eyes on this:

And this....

And these...

And even this!

Like Aquamarine, it's color is caused by Iron ions.  The difference seems to be the exact charge of those ions.  Interesting that such a small difference can make such a huge impact, huh?

Apparently, there is some confusion as to the difference between Golden Beryl and Heliodor.  It turns out that Golden Beryl is more of the golden yellow shade, like this:

While Heliodor has more of a greenish yellow color, like this:

So, look up at the previous four images, and try to figure out which is which.  Post your answers in the comments!  Or don't, if you think it is a silly exercise.

Morganite

Finally, we have Morganite. For those of you out there who like all things pink, prepare yourselves...

In Morganite's case, the color is caused by Manganese ions.  It was first discovered near Madagascar in 1910, and named after J.P. Morgan.  The distinctive pink color of Morganite is often banded together with patches of orange or yellow colors, which can be removed by heat or radiation treatment.  So if your nerd friend wasn't impressed with your gift of Topaz (dedicated to Jupiter, of course), make them a fun little science kit with Morganite and a Geiger Counter.

Well, I guess that's it for now.  Be sure to leave a comment if you are actually named Beryl, and please remember that aliens are definitely cooler than mermaids.

Don't believe me?  Ok, when's the last time that Mermaids built spaceships?

Until Tomorrow
Chris the Intern

Topaz: Let's talk 'bout it

Chris
Chrysalis Jewelry Intern 
Facebook Fan Page
Etsy Shop 






Hello followers, surfers, passers-by, and general audiences.

My name is Chris and I am Chrysalis Jewelry's new Intern. Melissa has asked me to guest blog on her Random Thoughts.

Previously, you have most likely read a post on several varieties of quartz, how common the stuff is, how clever marketing buzzwords can be used to inflate its apparent value, etc.

Today, I will guide you on a wondrous journey of discovery, to see the beauty in the seemingly mundane.

Ladies, Gentlemen, unknown life-forms reading this in the future, I give you....

Topaz.

Doesn't look very exciting, does it?
If you agreed with that inquiry, then you're obviously not a nerd.  Or a geologist.

It's a fluorine aluminum silicate!  It comes in many different colors, like these!

And this!

And even this!

But its pure form is colorless.  Any colors are caused by impurities.

Oh, and sometimes it sits around in quartz veins.  If you're a miner, find those veins and multitask!

It rates an 8 on the Moh's Hardness Scale, by the way.  Kinda impressive actually.

Fun fact: The Romans dedicated topaz to Jupiter.  Probably the Roman god Jupiter, but here's the planet for giggles.

So remember.  The next time you need a gift for a gem geek, nerd or your lady friend, give them Topaz.  Tell them it symbolizes Jupiter or something.  There is a 16.384% chance that your nerd friend will appreciate that.  Trust me, I'm a nerd.

Thank you for your time.  Go out into the world, and use this knowledge to make it better, or at least more interesting.

P.S.  Despite what your crazy hippie neighbors tell you, dolphins do not have magical powers.
Until Tomorrow
Chris

Let's Talk Quartz

As an artisan jeweler I have had to learn about gemstones (and since they are so pretty and sparkly, you can imagine how horrible that has been). I have educated myself on common and not-so-common gemstones, gemstone families (ex: corundum which is sapphire and ruby), the Mohs Hardness Scale (Talc being the softest, diamond the hardest) and a bunch of other technical things I will not bore you with.

Yesterday I received a flier/ catalog from a retail jewelry store. Every girl loves to look at jewelry, so I flipped through it last night. When I got to the colored gemstone section, I became irritated. Let me tell you why. I believe in charging a fair price for my creations (what did I pay for the raw materials+ my time) and I also tell my customer what they are receiving. My irritation was over a $700 "Green Amethyst" ring and my irritation was for two reasons:  One - "Green Amethyst" is actually called Prasiolite and Two - I felt the price tag was well above and beyond the real value. Let me explain further.

Amethyst is the purple variety of quartz. Prasiolite is the green. Citrine is the orange and Smokey Quartz is the brown. You get where this is going? So calling Prasiolite "Green Amethyst" would be like calling Citrine "Orange Amethyst". While most customers would not know what Prasiolite is, telling them it's Green Amethyst isn't educating them either. I know the first part of my irritation may seem petty, but I would rather give my customers a little education into what they are buying than tell them the wrong thing.

The second part of my irritation is this:  Quartz is not rare. In fact, it is the second most abundant mineral in Earth's crust. Since it's not rare, it's not terribly expensive. In fact, you can get a very nice large Prasiolite for under $100 (and by you, I mean someone who pays retail). While the ring was in gold (which drove part of the price) and had some small diamonds (melee diamonds aren't expensive either), it did not warrant the price tag. It wasn't an amazing design. In fact, it was rather common.

So now, lets have a little quartz show and tell!

Faceted Prasiolite

Rough Prasiolite

Quartz with Amethyst Phantom

Faceted Amethyst

Amethyst Rough

Faceted Citrine

Citrine Rough

Crystal Quartz Rough

Quartz with Lepidocrocite

Quartz with Rutile

Rose Quartz Geode

Bolivian Ametrine Rough (Citrine & Amethyst grown together)

Smokey Quartz Rough

Quartz with gilalite inclusions

As you can see, there is a WIDE variety of quartz and it is beautiful! The above pictures are just a small sample of what is out there.

If you love gemstones as much as I do, be sure to follow me on Pinterest. I have an awesome Gemstone board. You can find my artisan jewelry in my Etsy shop. Also be sure to check out my Facebook Fan page where you can get sneak peaks on what I'm working on.

Do you want to learn more about gemstones? What stones would you like me to feature next? Let me know in the comments section.

Until tomorrow - Melissa

A Tale of Woe: Target and the Mobile Coupon

My dear reader, I must share a tale of woe with you. It is a sad tale in that it demonstrates poor customer service and an attitude of not caring sufficiently to correct a mistake. Let me tell you my tale and, no worries, I have visual aids!

Our sad tale begins last night as my husband and I were running errands. We needed to pick up just a couple of things at Target, one of them being sandwich bags. While in the baggie aisle, I saw a shelf sign that said "Text SpringClean1 to 827438 for a coupon to save $10 off household cleaning supplies with a purchase of $40 or more." Who doesn't love to save money? So I fired off a text and here is a copy of what I recieved

 

No where on here (even in the fine print) does it tell you that you need to purchase specific items or brands. So I proceeded to collect cleaning supplies that I knew I needed or could use. When I had all the items I needed, my husband and I proceeded to check out.

At checkout I handed my phone to the cashier to scan. It would not take the coupon. Not knowing what to do, the cashier called his supervisor over. His supervisor then pulled out a folder with this week's ad in it, showing it had to be specific items & brands. She then asked if we wanted to return some items. Wanting to get home I said "No."

When I arrived home, I re-read the coupon thinking maybe I missed some fine print. I even had my husband review the coupon. He could not find any brand exclusions or even a reference to see the ad for more details. Next I reviewed my reciept.

Did I not have $40 worth of cleaning supplies? Well, figuring what is cleaning supplies is EASY on this receipt. They are all grouped together and total $60.52. So it would appear from the coupon I was sent and this receipt I acted in good faith to satisfy the terms of the coupon.

What should I do next? I went to the website and using the Contact Us link, wrote a message describing my problem. At 1:39AM I received a response from Sheena, basically telling me she was sorry about my experience and that she would pass the information on to the ad executives.  There was nothing about correcting the mistake or making it right for me, the customer.  I responded with scans of the coupon and receipt (as seen above) and explained I may need to reconsider where I get my prescriptions filled and where I do my mass market shopping.  At 4:06AM I received another response from Sheena to call their 800 number to get a resolution to my problem.

So this afternoon I called. I explained my problem to a gentleman and he put me on hold. About nine minutes later he either hung up on me or the system disconnected me. I called back. I again explained my problem, to a lady this time. Then I got transferred to a supervisor. At the end of 30 minutes, all I got was an apology from the supervisor. As I explained to the supervisor, all I was looking for was for Target to honor their coupon. I understand now that it is brand specific, but there are no such disclaimers in the coupon they sent to my phone. I said a simple line of "See our weekly ad for further restrictions" would have cleared up a lot of the issue.  Again, there is no such disclaimer.

So what is a customer to do? I tried to satisfy the requirements of the coupon as they were stated on said coupon. I tried to call attention to the problem, both at the store and corporate level. All I get from Target is an "I'm sorry" (with an implied shoulder shrug). Meanwhile, Target got a $60 sale that they would not have gotten without a deceptive (be it intentional or not - I do not really know) coupon that they did not honor.

After this experience, I now know my shopping dollar is not valued at Target. I guess I can take my business elsewhere. I wonder if Wal-Mart, CVS, or Walgreens would like me to shop with them instead. Maybe they still know what customer service is.  All I know as a small business owner is if I treated my customers like this, I would be out of business quick.

Shame on you Target. You made a mistake and refused to fix it. 

Readers - what do you think I should do? Please leave your comments below.

Until Tomorrow

Melissa