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Fakes & FraudsMoldavite David Star

5th Mar 2013 21:35 UTCElmer Leee

Is the moldavite real or not?

Moldavite Website

5th Mar 2013 21:54 UTCOwen Lewis

Hmmm... The 'star of David' is an artefact (cutting) for sure. FWIW (and - from the pic) I doubt that the material that has been cut and polished is moldavite. All that seems about right is the colour (on my monitor). Natural 'Stars of David' are a twinned and 180 deg reversed pairs of triangular crystals found in occasionally in species of the cubic crystal system, diamond and spinel in particular.

5th Mar 2013 23:15 UTCElmer Leee

If the Moldavite has no air bubbles in it, can we say that it is fake? Is there a way to test for real Moldavite i.e. magnetism?

6th Mar 2013 00:24 UTCTomasz Praszkier Manager

For sure inclusions and isotopes will give answer, but than you have to destroy part of it. I am sure that there are also micro-structures which will help to distinguish them. Moldavite is not so expensive is form is not great so i would guess that this is real.

6th Mar 2013 00:49 UTCOwen Lewis

Tomazs is right in saying that there are typical inclusions for Moldavite that, in a cut and polished specimen like this could be identified though a microscope without damaging it - but you'd have to buy it first. Sorry, but there is nothing in the pics that would want to make me buy this piece.

6th Mar 2013 16:01 UTCElmer Leee

Can a Moldavite specimen without bubbles in it be real?

6th Mar 2013 16:24 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

More important than the presence or absence of bubbles is to look for the vermiform lechatelierite inclusions. When you backlight it and look with a microscope or loupe, you should see tiny twisting, worm-shaped inclusions of colourless lechatelierite (silica glass) in real moldavite. They are quite easy to recognize after you see them once.

6th Mar 2013 17:27 UTCElmer Leee

Can you see any in the picture?

6th Mar 2013 17:33 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

Sorry, Elmer, it would need a larger image and less glare. Try putting a sheet of white paper between your light and the stone.

6th Mar 2013 18:11 UTCElmer Leee

Here are another 2 pictures. For the daylight pic, it's in the link of first post. There's no bubbles and swirl pattern but straight line pattern through the Moldavite. Do you think it's real?

6th Mar 2013 18:23 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

It could be real, but can't really say for sure just from looking at a picture; and you shouldn't trust anyone else who says they're sure after just looking at a picture.

6th Mar 2013 18:35 UTCElmer Leee

Since Moldavite has high iron content, is it possible to do a magnetic test like: Testing Stones?

Moldavite Properties

Btw, how does lechatelierite inclusion look like?

6th Mar 2013 19:19 UTCElmer Leee

Do anyone have any other method of testing?

6th Mar 2013 20:19 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

The amount of iron needed to give a nice green colour to glass is really quite small, whether that glass is a natural moldavite or comes from a beer bottle, so I was expecting no response to a strong magnet. However I just checked a real moldavite, and there is indeed a weak (very weak) response to a strong magnet, although in order to detect it you have to hang the moldavite on a thread. I expect synthetic green glass will be the same, but you've given me a reason to go buy a bottle of beer so I can confirm that by experiment. :)-D

6th Mar 2013 20:19 UTCElmer Leee

Update, i did the magnetic testing again and this time it responds to the magnet! Can this testing method confirms that it is real?

6th Mar 2013 20:35 UTCElmer Leee

Let me know your results, Alfredo after you test the beer bottle. For your info, this piece of Moldavite is 3.5cm in diameter.

12th Mar 2013 15:02 UTCOwen Lewis

An excellent source of information on Moldavite is here http://www.geology.cz/app/bulletin/fulltext/04trnkafinal.pdf.

FWIW, I've just completed a first examination of what looks like a splash-form piece, reputedly from Tyn nad Vltavou. The SG was 2.26.

12th Mar 2013 15:52 UTCUwe Kolitsch Manager

Owen: thanks, moldavite page updated with this review.

12th Mar 2013 16:04 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

Incidentally, I once visited the then foremost researcher of moldavites, Dr. V. Bouška, in Prague to see his amazing moldavite collection, which included several truly weird ones. He has since passed away, and I'm wondering what happened to his extraordinary collection; anyone heard of it since?

Bouška studied natural glasses in general, not just moldavites, and he infected me with his passion for these objects, although some mineralogists disparage them as being outside the boundaries of true mineralogy.

4th May 2014 20:02 UTCMeliPers

Hello,

I bought a moldavite aout 2 years ago, it had a gorgeous green look and its energy was fantastic, it still is, I have been wearing it everyday and placing it under my pillow at nights. but recently I noticed it became completely black and I can now barely see its transparency under direct light. WHY? does anyone have any idea? I though that perhaps sweat from the skin and heat could have damaged it, but this is a billion's year old stone supposedly created by high heat and impact in earth, it should have withstand all temperaatures...I am sooo confused, I don't know what to think about it becoming soo black.

5th May 2014 08:41 UTCRock Currier Expert

Well...it may simply have become dirty? Of if not that, what are the chances that you did not buy a real moldavite?

5th May 2014 11:08 UTCJeffrey Shallit

MeliPers - I wonder if your moldavite is actually the mineral Vivianite. Vivianite can turn black upon exposure to light. Maybe you can post a picture.

5th May 2014 17:52 UTCDoug Daniels

And, a moldavite shouldn't be a billion years old....most glasses would recrystallize in that time. Sounds like a good cleaning would help.

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