Every shining gem is not real

FORMER HEAD of the Geology Department of MS University of Baroda Prof RV Karanth? a leading expert on gems and gemmology? says that majority of precious stones being sold as 'real' in the country are man-made and artificial. He says that it is time that people become aware of this fact and start to get the stones scientifically checked before investing their hard-earned money in them.

FORMER HEAD of the Geology Department of MS University of Baroda Prof RV Karanth— a leading expert on gems and gemmology— says that majority of precious stones being sold as 'real' in the country are man-made and artificial.

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He says that it is time that people become aware of this fact and start to get the stones scientifically checked before investing their hard-earned money in them.

In the city to conduct a short course on gemmology being organised by the Allahabad University's (AU) department of Earth and Planetary Sciences from October 9 to October 14, Prof Karanth said that thanks to technological advances and the invention of latest gadgets like gemmological microscope, refractometres and spectroscopes, recognising a fake from a real as well as getting to know the flaws of any stone and its correct price has become quite easy.

"The common man needs to remember that every blue stone is not 'Neelam' and every yellow stone is not a 'Pukhraj'. With the help of the latest technological advances, getting to know if a stone is true yellow sapphire or a real blue sapphire is not only possible but also quite simple and easy," he said.

Citing a historical fact, Prof Karanth said that it was not only the common man who got duped in recognising a gem stone, "Mughal Emperor Shahjahan wore a huge pink stone for years believing it to be a rare ruby. However, now it has been established that it was nothing but a spenal, a semi-precious stone resembling a Ruby. Most people are taken for a ride because they believe that a huge stone automatically means high cost. However, the fact remains that most precious gems are actually small in sizes," he said.

During the short-course, Prof Karanth will teach people with no background in gemmology about stone cutting, recognising real gems, tricks used by some people to sell off artificial or treated stones as real gems and much more.

AU's department of Earth and Planetary Sciences has procured many an imported instruments like a gemmological microscope, a refractometre and a spectroscope to take up research work on gems in the days to come.