The moonstone, or as it is otherwise called encyclopedia - adular, attracts magical and healing power, as well as beauty. Before buying this mineral, many are concerned about how to distinguish a natural moonstone from a fake.
Appearance of natural mineral
On the gem, as a rule, there is no pattern, it is colorless or light gray with a pronounced milky, mauve or blue tint, for which it is called lunar. However, there are also unique specimens with a pattern in the form of stars, with the effect of "cat's eye", or pale yellow.
Stone features:
- has a pearly luster;
- getting into the room with artificial lighting, begins to flicker with light from the inside;
- if a magnifying glass is aimed at it, then small cracks, inclusions, inhomogeneous structure in the form of plates and air bubbles will open to the eye;
- the moonstone is fragile or has an average degree of hardness - 6-6.5 points on the Mohs scale.
Gem properties
It is believed that the natural moonstone has magical and healing properties.
Magical
Many nations consider moonstone to be sacred, and they put it above gold in value. Mages use a mineral to look into the future. In addition, the gem gives the opportunity to find harmony with nature and the world around it, struggles with stress and depression, resolves conflicts, makes a person more compassionate, tolerant and filled with love.
It is often chosen as an ornament and worn on the right hand by people born under the signs of the elements of Water: Crayfish, Scorpios, Pisces. For emotional and creative personalities, he is the best talisman. The use of a mineral in meditation can activate creative potential, to awaken the imagination.
Magical rituals, as usual, perform at full moon when the stone is saturated with enormous power.
There are hundreds of legends about the moonstone. For example, people believe that a white speck appears on it, which increases in size as the moon grows. At this time, the stone is very cold and sparkles especially brightly, radiating a powerful force of magic. As time approaches the full moon, the intensity of the shine of the mineral decreases. In the old days it was believed that the original moonstone is in any mineral, but not all of them are turned into jewels.
For the transformation it is required that the gem lay in the same place for a long time, absorbing the light of a large number of full moons. Thanks to a similar procedure, it begins to shine like the moon, besides, under the influence of light, its surface becomes smooth and smooth, like pebbles. A person who finds such a stone gets the ability to predict the future.
There is a belief that the moonstone is an indispensable assistant in a difficult situation, directs to the right decision. To do this, you need to wait until the moon rises, and hold a pebble under her hands. The necessary thought itself comes to mind.
Healing
Moonstone has a great healing effect. With it, for hundreds of years, liver diseases, kidney problems, epilepsy, and sleepwalking have been treated. Gem has a beneficial effect on the urogenital system, heart, pituitary, intestines, facilitates childbirth and cleans the lymph. In Europe, during the Middle Ages, they were convinced that the mineral, “dropping tears” on a moonlit night, leaves moisture healing the fever.
In addition, the moonstone is a good helper for women with weight loss, as well as in the fight against cancer, inflammation and swelling.
Causes and types of fakes
Moonstone in recent times often forged. This happens for a number of reasons:
- mineral depletion;
- considerable physical and monetary investment in the extraction of gem;
- high price of adulyara;
- difficulties in processing the moonstone, lack of professionals;
- huge demand for mineral jewelry.
Raw materials and technologies for the production of fakes are used different. There are several types of imitations.
- Simulated Synthesized Stone. Made of plastic or muddy glass. Pre-material is covered with paint that repeats the natural color of the gem.
- Belomorit. This natural pebble looks like adular. Its deposit is located in the White Sea region.
- Peristerite or albite. A variety of mineral from the category of silicates.
- Jewelery from pressed moonstone crumbs. It happens that it is replaced by olycoglazed chips, using low grade silicate minerals.
A large number of fakes are brought from India, and most often there no one tries to hide that the moonstone is artificial. Therefore, these products (mainly jewelry) were attributed to a separate category of products.
How to distinguish the script?
It is important to reduce the difference between natural moonstone.
From fake
Determining the authenticity can often not only a specialist, but also the man in the street. For this there are a number of ways.
- Dip in the water. The color of this pebble becomes much more saturated, and the glow from the inside is distinguished by additional highlights, which you will not see in a fake. A fake mineral, unlike a natural one, will retain its original appearance; it can only become cleaner.
- Watch for thermal conductivity. Artificial gem, compressed in hand, immediately becomes warm, but the original will still be cold. In order to heat a natural pebble, it takes a lot of time.
- Consider the color. Identify counterfeit and real scale and color saturation. Since the structure of the mineral is heterogeneous, the color will also be uneven. Artificially grown mineral is visible to the naked eye through too bright color.
- Check the ability to reflect light. Artificial gems reflect light from all sides evenly, authentic only at an angle of 10-15 degrees.
- Evaluate the smoothness of the surface. When you touch a natural adlyar felt silky.
- Natural mineral often framed with silverand fake stones are made of cheap metal alloys.
- Pay attention to the cost. A real moonstone, unlike a fake one, is expensive. The price of an adulera in a frame of silver is at least 5-7 thousand rubles.
From imitations
This task is much more difficult, because they are very similar, and requires the intervention of an expert, laboratory research.
There are several signs that help distinguish moonstone from white marble.
- Density. At the moonstone, it is equal to 2.56-2.62, which is slightly lower than the rate of ceramics.
- Coloring. The tone of the natural gem is less bright.
- Transparency. The moon pebble is more transparent than white marble.
Better imitation of moonstone - peristerite. When comparing minerals, jewelers point to several distinctive features:
- moonstone is more fragile than peristerite;
- adular density is slightly lower than in its imitation;
- The refractive index of the light of a moonstone is lower than that of peristerite;
- different ability to split - monoclinic in adular, perfect in its imitation.
Expert advice
Before buying a stone, use simple tips.
- Natural adulyar impossible to meet in the jewelry store, so you have to go to a special salon.They are required to provide information on where the gem was mined, show a certificate of quality, and a professional jeweler will determine the authenticity of the mineral.
- Acquire the stone should only have a reliable seller.
See the next video for the amazing properties of the moonstone.