The Gem Monarchy’s collection spans decades worth of gemstones in both faceted and rough material. And within this collection are countless gemstones which we have reaped the rewards of investment, especially in regards to jewellery quality/eye clean near loupe clean quality. However, there are other gemstones which in the eyes of the 4C’s are not of high quality or of regard. For our first gemstone I thought, why not take one of these stones which have multiple inclusions in them and trial it under the new laboratory microscope. The stone which I chose was a tourmaline from one of our miners in Africa. Those which were eye clean near loupe clean in the same parcel, being separated and placed in our “quality approved” stock. This is the largest inclusion/cluster of inclusions which I discovered inside the tourmaline with the main inclusion being a fluid inclusion.
Fluid Inclusion Characteristics
The underlying question in every inclusion is: “why and how do we know what this inclusion is.” In this inclusion there are a few key features which make this inclusion a “fluid” one rather than anything else. The secret is the shape itself and the margins. The main body of the inclusion is very similar to a splash of water in its shape. Similarly the margins are relatively smooth. If it was a crystal inclusion the edges would be more straight, angular and jagged. Interestingly, you’d find that if the inclusion was air/gas then it would have been a much clearer inclusion. Looking into the centre, it looks to be a thin film layer, almost as if it was layer of fluid. This is highlighted by the gold arrow in the annotated diagram below.
What we most find beautiful about this fluid inclusion is the way the light behaves, when it hits the liquid. When light travels in-between mediums, it bends, creating a sparkle. You can see the sparkle of light in this when light travels from the solid stone to the liquid inclusion.
Some Other Characteristics
Another unique feature on this inclusion/stone is that there are another couple of things to spot. The first being an accompanying fingerprint inclusion which can be seen highlighted with the blue circles. Fingerprints are tiny liquid particles within the stone which orientate in a way which looks like a fingerprint.
The purple arrow in the diagram points to another type of inclusion known as capillary tubes. In one they are a mere interesting feature. But in plenty can also be responsible for the star effect or “chatoyancy” of some tourmalines.
Hope you enjoyed our journal entry! Until next time. Au Revoir!
