Hello, I see cheap tourmalines online described as made of "fused raw ore powder". I emailed the vendor asking if it is as hard as real tourmalines and if the color doesn't change. He replied that it was "nearly as hard". Here is a link to illustrate: https://www.etsy.com/listing/470871418/green-tourmaline-square-faceted-gemstone What do you think? Have any of you come across these? Thank you
"Fused raw ore powder" is just a nonsense phrase. My guess is it is normal glass they are trying to imply is made from tourmaline. If so the title calling it tourmaline would be fraudulent, yes, though one would need to examine a stone and establish its identity to be sure. I would just avoid it, nobody uses a phrase like that for a good reason.
Post subject: Re: "fused raw ore powder" tourmalines?
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 10:15 am
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Joined: Thu May 12, 2016 2:18 am Posts: 1542
The phrase is actually worse that Stephen describes. It contains the word "Natural".
"natural tourmaline raw ore powder"
"The term Natural refers to a gemstone that is found growing/produced in the natural world without the influence of human activity. These would be gemstones mined from the earth as well as those discovered naturally occurring in the water (such as pearls and coral)."
Post subject: Re: "fused raw ore powder" tourmalines?
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 10:24 am
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Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2013 2:15 pm Posts: 19
1bwana1 wrote:
Why would someone do business with a company that starts their relationship with you by using a blatant lie in their product description?
If they do, they deserve what they get.
What I thought they meant was that is was a lab-created gem made by fusing natural tourmaline powder, which I imagined might be a by-product of mining or polishing. I didn't imagine that the term natural referred to the final product.
Are some tourmalines lab-created or lab-grown (don't know what the term is)? Or is it not worth the cost?
Tourmaline is chemically complicated and a poor candidate for synthetic production. Very small crystals have been grown for research but that's it. So anyone selling "synthetic tourmaline" is fraudulently misrepresenting their product, though it does happen. Nobody is melting tourmaline powder to make glass. Even if they did it would not likely result in a beautiful product--glass composition has to be tuned carefully to get beautiful colors and high clarity.
Post subject: Re: "fused raw ore powder" tourmalines?
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 11:30 am
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Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2013 2:15 pm Posts: 19
Stephen Challener wrote:
Tourmaline is chemically complicated and a poor candidate for synthetic production. Very small crystals have been grown for research but that's it. So anyone selling "synthetic tourmaline" is fraudulently misrepresenting their product, though it does happen.
Post subject: Re: "fused raw ore powder" tourmalines?
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 12:37 pm
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Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:44 pm Posts: 1079 Location: Washington State
I do believe that "fused raw ore powder" is the same as saying "glass". Same sort of deal when several companies were adding a pinch of Mount Saint Helens ash to a vat of colored glass and calling it "Helenite".
Post subject: Re: "fused raw ore powder" tourmalines?
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 8:08 pm
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Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2020 8:16 pm Posts: 34
This sort of reminds me of a "natural spinel powder" used to make Nano or nanosital "gemstones". Mr. Google is only too happy to give many suppliers for it in the usual colours. https://www.gemsngems.com/product-categ ... ourmaline/
I find their explanations to be also ambiguous. When they give it the name Green Tourmaline, they're just talking about the color, I suppose? This Nanosital has nothing to do with "synthetic" tourmaline, does it?
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