From mid-2021, newsletter articles are no longer posted separately here. Interested readers should scan through the newsletter headings under the ‘Newsletters’ tab.

FACETIPS – A GEM CUTTER’S NOTEBOOK

by
Duncan Miller


The faceting articles published over the past few years in the Mineral Chatter have been compiled into a single 128 page document, available for download for those interested in saving all the articles together. To download the pdf file click here.

A 29,18 ct cuprite from Onganja, Namibia, cut by Duncan Miller and now in a private collection in Germany.


Browsing Archive: March, 2013

The Colours of Quartz

Posted by Site Moderator Webmaster on Saturday, March 23, 2013, In : Mineral of the Month 
The latest issue of The Journal of Gemmology has an excellent article by Ulrich Henn and Rainer Schultz-Güttler called ‘Review of some current coloured quartz varieties’. For those who don’t have access to this journal, published by the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, this is a short summary to help you distinguish the different varieties.


Uncut amethyst crystal, prasiolite (11,5 ct), rock crystal (20,5 ct), amethyst (2,5 ct), citrine (natural?) (8 ct), citrine and rose quar...

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Jaspers - part 2

Posted by Site Moderator Webmaster on Saturday, March 23, 2013, In : Mineral of the Month 
Nebula stone. To quote from the Nebula Stone website: “There are companies that are trying to capitalize on the popularity of our stone’s name (Nebula Stone) because they have learned it has become very popular around the World. Some unethical companies have intentionally sold Kambaba/Kambamba/Kabamba Jasper/Crocodile rock/Galaxyite from Madagascar and South Africa falsely calling them Nebula Stone. Kambaba Jasper is not Nebula Stone. Nebula Stone is an igneous stone (from within the Eart...
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Jaspers Galore

Posted by Site Moderator Webmaster on Saturday, March 23, 2013, In : Mineral of the Month 
JASPER – THE HISTORY

The name jasper means "spotted or speckled stone", and is derived via Old French jaspre (variant of Anglo-Norman  jaspe) and Latin iaspidem (nom. iaspis)) from Greek ἴασπις iaspis, (feminine noun) from a Semitic language (cf. Hebrew יושפה yushphah, Akkadian yashupu).

Green jasper was used to make bow drills in Mehrgarh between 4th and 5th millennium BC. Jasper is known to have been a favourite gem in the ancient world; its name can be traced back in Arabic, P...
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