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Spring 2005, Volume 41, Issue 1
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Featured Gem News International: Manufactured Gold, Silver-in-Quartz
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A new process is being used to introduce gold and silver into smoky, milky, and colorless quartz for jewelry use. The largest piece shown here measures 7.5 × 10.1 cm. Courtesy of Eureka Gems LLC; photo © Jeff Scovil.
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At this year’s Tucson gem shows, James Taylor (Eureka Gems LLC, Fountain Hills, Ariz.) had some slabs and cabochons of quartz containing “veins” of gold or silver that were manufactured by a new process in a partnership with Onnik Arakelian, Todd Allen, and Gnel Gevorkyan. Several varieties were available, using gold alloys in 14K or 20K, as well as fine silver. According to Taylor, smoky quartz from Brazil is used to make “Grizzly Gold” and “Grizzly Silver,” whereas rock crystal from Arizona, or milky quartz from Nova Scotia, is employed in the “Glacier Gold” and “Silver Lightning” lines (see figure). The material is sold in slabs that are at least 2.5 mm thick, and as finished cabochons. Opticon is used to stabilize the thin slabs and cabochons.At the time of the Tucson show, 15 kg of each variety was being produced each month. Taylor anticipated that the production would increase to 50 kg/month by April–May 2005. The material is produced in Mesa, Ariz., using a proprietary, patent-pending process developed by Gevorkyan. He reported that the gold or silver is mobilized into fractures within the host quartz under heat and pressure; if necessary, the quartz is fractured before the metal is introduced.
The manufactured products can usually be separated from natural gold-in-quartz by the typical fracture-aligned or spiderweb-like texture of the gold, which is distinct from the blebs and irregular pods of gold that occur in natural quartz. However, Taylor indicated that some of the manufactured gold-in-quartz looks so natural that it cannot be separated by visual means. In that case, chemical analysis of the metal alloy could be used to identify it. Distinguishing the manufactured silver-in-quartz from natural material (which is quite rare in jewelry quality) is straightforward, due to the distinctive texture and the use of fine silver in the man-made product.
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