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Fakes & FraudsLab Grown Quartz - blue tip edition

28th Jan 2019 17:23 UTCAli Unwala

Hey guys wanted to let you know I saw this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lab-Grown-Pale-Blue-Quartz-over-Natural-Quartz-Cluster-463g/401696306532?hash=item5d86f73564:g:U~gAAOSwOURbo-3x:rk:6:pf:0

So just one more lab quartz variety to be aware of.

28th Jan 2019 17:26 UTCAli Unwala

Also just a general question for anyone here that might know.

Is it possible to ID the lab quartz specimens from the substrate they are grown on? (Assuming they "grow" just normal white crystals)

29th Jan 2019 19:13 UTCScott Rider

AI, looks like an honest seller at least, as it's revealed that the specimen is lab created... I've seen many sellers try to list similar lab grown specimens as real.

I don't think you could find indicators showing specimens come from specific labs. I could be wrong, but I feel autoclaves are very similar in construction. Maybe the really high quality pieces can be distinguished. A lab in Cleveland Ohio makes exceptionally clean and good looking lab created crystals, they probably could be differentiated to the stuff coming from China. But on standard specimens I doubt there's a way to say a specimen came from Lab X in China vs a lab Y in the US...

29th Jan 2019 22:51 UTCAli Unwala

Thanks Scott. Makes sense that its basically impossible to tell if something is lab grown (buying online at least). I was hoping that something about the pressure in the autoclave would cause an indicator because the pressure would deform the base substrate.

I wanted to post this as informative incase other sellers are not so "honest" and someone runs into blue tipped quartz specimens. I am fine with lab created as long as they are labeled as such.

30th Jan 2019 00:04 UTCScott Rider

I think I misunderstood your question. I thought you meant can you tell which lab the quartz came from, which is a very difficult thing to ascertain. But from you latest post, I think I misconstrued something, it came be easy to tell fakes. But, sometimes, especially on new lab creations, is not so clear...

The biggest tell of a fake are the autoclave indentations you can get on the base of the clusters. You can actually see a bar shaped line on the base of some specimens, where you can clearly see that the cluster was resting on anthropological object.

Another way to tell is the vertical vs. horizontal striations... Vertical striations (and hopefully I am not remembering via dyslexia which I am prone too unfortunately) are the indicator that it is a fake. I'm not sure if this is still true today, but it was a few years ago when I notice lots of fakes on the market.

Another way to tell, and it can be harder to see in some cases, are the terminations. Lab grown quartz is leagues faster growth than natural quartz, and the terminations can have funky shapes, not quite pyramidal, more like a wizards cap or distorted pyramid shapes... I don't have images to show you, but once you see what I am talking about you will know that some specimens are obvious fakes.

However, many of the "labs" out there are getting much better at growing quartz, so the terminations (maybe even striations) are starting to look more natural on some of the latest specimens I've seen (saw quite a few in 2018 Denver Gem show).

Check this link out, it'll help you (and me to...) explain things: https://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,55,372663,451037#msg-451037.

30th Jan 2019 23:30 UTCAli Unwala

Again thank you Scott. That helped answer my question quite a bit better. I was really trying to figure how to not get "tricked" by less than reputable sellers.

30th Jan 2019 23:42 UTCScott Rider

Indeed a few bad apples are out there trying to take your money. However, I have found a lot of the "frauds" are more ignorance of the sellers. I think your best defense is to continue studying and learn about minerals and what they look like, and you'll have a barrier against bad and ignorant sellers.

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