To follow up on a post the Chinese refractometer thread, there are indeed two "flavors" of contact liquid out there, even from Cargille's.
I spoke to their chemist and he informed me that their "Gem Refractometer Liquid" is the same formulation that have sold for a long time namely methylene iodide, sulfur and a third ingredient I think acetylene tetrabromide. It sells for $57 for a seven gram bottle.
But there is also another formulation they (they being Cargilles) have which has methylene iodide and tin iodide. This sells for $47 (and Jeff Wildman sells it for $40) It is cheaper and has more coloration than the more expensive stuff. It is quite yellowish. Its RI is also slightly lower than the "real" formulation. But not as low as the stuff that came with Tim's refractometer.
I believe the British Gemmological Association also sold the tin iodide version.
There are also other vendors in the market place such as the stuff that came with Tim's $77 refractometer. At that price it is not surprising that they don't give you a $40 to $60 bottle of liquid. Along with far east made refractometers there is far east , no name refractometer liquid.
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