Collecting Minerals: Where to start? Part 1

So, you would like to start a mineral collection. Where do you start? I often think back to when I started collecting in 1989. The first time I entered a mineral shop, and on many times after, It felt like I was on a bungee cord attached to the middle of the shop. I would be looking in one cabinet drooling over some specimens and suddenly get snapped back on the cord to the other side to drool over something else. Its a huge subject with many areas to cover.

Do you start collecting in a systematic way? Do you collect gem species or different types of one mineral? Do you collect specimens that are local to you, or in your country or even a specific country? How about from a particular type of rock, a particular habit or smaller niche? Its enough to make your head spin. Then you have to think about sizes of specimens,micromounts, thumbnails, miniatures,small cabinets, cabinets and museum sizes. Would you be happy to have a mixture of sizes?

My collection was one of the most random I have ever known with a large assortment of sizes, types and qualities. It was more a case of "I haven't got one of those, I'll have it" rather than does that work or fit. After about five years I cleared out most of my collection and started again. Working with jewellery, it made sense to look at gem materials. Being in the Southwest of England there is a great range of local minerals from copper bearing to barites and due to clay quarries, I had access to some simple Pseudomorphs. Et voila! The backbone of my collection was born! The sizes were a bit chaotic to start with, but always think of your collection as mobile and fluid. If you find a better specimen buy it and sell the old one.

Most of my collection is now in the thumbnail size category, which means they should fit into a 25mm (1") cube. I also have a few miniatures ( up to 40mm cubed) and small cabinet (up to 60mm cubed) and even some up to museum (over 100mm cubed). Most of my gem collection are thumbnails due to cost of fine examples whereas the pseudomorphs are all sorts of sizes because you collect what you can, when you can and the choice is more limited.

You need to pick an area to start, here are a few suggestions;

Metallic: Pure metals: gold, silver etc. Combined metals: Electrum etc.

Crystal system: e.g. Isometric: Diamonds, Garnets etc.

Unique properties: Fluorescent or phosphorescent species.

Group of category: Silicates e.g. Quartz.

Subcategories:e.g. Zeolites subcategory of silicates.

Specific species:e.g. The many forms of Calcite.

What to buy, tough one. The best examples you can afford with as much detail as possible. Ideally you want to know what it is with any subcategories, where its from (country, state/province, mine etc.) and if its from the collection of another collector. If crystals are present, make sure they aren't damaged or have the most minute amount of damage. Quality and provenance are very important. If your collection is going to be on display you may be more interested in aesthetics than a collector that will place pieces in a system of drawers. A nicely formed, text book, bright red spinel crystal on a white marble matrix may look better than a misaligned twinned crystal on grey marble, although the twin may be more interesting.

If you can find a mentor to help you, do. Someone with experience can help you avoid expensive mistakes. Find a collection or collector that you would like to emmulate. One collector I admire is Ralph Clark who was featured in The Mineralogical Record vol. 33 no. 2. He has a wonderful collection, some of this is shown in an article available to view at www.minrec.org/pdfs/TheMineralogicalRecord_CollectorsProfile.pdf talk about fussy, but then again, how cool is his collection?

I hope to create more blogs to follow this hence"Part 1" when I can, please keep reading and let me know of any questions you would like answered or suggestions.

Good luck for now, its a long journey that you will never complete, but its great fun!

Trade Alert: Diffusion Treated Corundum

A quick alert. The U.K. jewellery trade has recently been targeted by unscrupulous gem dealers passing of lattice diffused corundums, particularly blue sapphires. This is the perfect example of manufacturers buyers getting too comfortable. Keep alert. Diffusion treatments produce colours that are too good to be true. When was the last time you had your pick of fine colour sapphires? They are still hard to come by. If you employ gemmologists or people with gemmological training, get them earning their pay and saving you from costly litigation. These treatments are usually easy to spot with a microscope, methelene iodide immersion liquid, darkfield lighting and patience. This treatment penetrates to a maximum depth of 0.5mm, usually alot less, as this would mean a longer treatment and more money is spent. Look out for lighter colour facet junctions and pitted girdles. Because the treatment is shallow, it needs to be perform on pre-cut stones. The excessive heat, effectively melts the surface, meaning it has to be repolished. Facet junctions receive more polishing, therefore the treatment is removed from there first. Most lapidaries working on these treated stones are too lazy to polish girdles again, leaving behind the altered surface. If you need further information there are plenty of sources. In particular I would refer you to www.ruby-sapphire.com where the great Richard Hughes has a an article titled "Vampire Blues". Please take note, as he suggests this is not new, just recycled. Take care Damian

Buyer Beware!

As the weather is starting to lift(?) thoughts for many are turning to holidays in foreign climates. And why not? Its nice to get a break and get caught up in the atmosphere and romance of somewhere exotic. But please, please don't get caught out with that "bargain" piece of jewellery, that "cost a fraction of the over-inflated U.K. price.

I work for a jewellery retailer in the South West of England. I am forever having to break bad news to people that have purchased abroad. Don't get me wrong, some pieces have been bought well, for reasonable prices, but an awful lot have been poorly made, adjusted incorrectly, stones have been treated in ways that should be disclosed and some stones have even been totally different to what they should have been.

I have had to tell people that Rubies they have purchased are actually Garnets, although they have paid prices way above Garnet. A Synthetic (man made) Emerald ring was brought in where someone had paid £1000 for it, great colour but sadly the customer thought they were buying a natural Emerald, I would have paid £70 retail for the stone! Very recently I was shown a ring with ten perfectly matching Blue Diamonds set in it. Now, Natural Blue Diamonds are relatively rare, so finding ten perfectly matching ones is a VERY difficult task. Remarkably they had found these and managed to sell the ring with a free Diamond set wedding ring for £1,600.The conclusion was that these were treated by irradiation, a treatment that customers would definately be told in the U.K. Some of these were simple misunderstandings through language barriers and some were obvious attemps to con holiday makers that weren't likely to be back the folowing week.

In the U.K. consumer protection is taken very seriously, whether it's hallmarking, disclosure of treatments or use of correct descriptions. The U.K. jewellery trade make training a very high priority. In fact, in 2005 I was told that one particular eastern European country had fewer trained gemmologists than we have on our staff!

Occasionally an honest mistake will be made in the U.K. trade, but the stakes are too high here. If you repeatedly make these mistakes it is taken as deliberate and you would be alienated by most of the trade.

As a couple of last notes on this topic, if you do buy, don't forget to declare it at customs, otherwise technically it's smuggling. Be prepared for bad news unless your an expert, even I would be nervous and I know alot!

Take Care and enjoy your holidays.