4 years, 9 months ago-
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@Hi,
I was referred to the Morion Company for synthetic rough by John Franke of the Facet Shoppe a few years ago. I’d been meaning to pick up some of their imitation diamond rough and hydrothermal beryl but never got around to it. However, now that I visit their website today, it’s no longer working and their phone number appears to be incorrect.Does anyone know anything about this company and if they are still in business? How about alternative sources for hydrothermal beryls and imitation diamond rough?
Thanks,
AndreaThat’s strange. I was on their website recently. The phone number I have is (617) 787-2133, which reports ‘out of service’. Anyone else know anything?
The only other likely source that I’ve dealt with is Facet Shoppe, and I can’t get to their website at the moment. I hope their servers aren’t in SE Texas!As for imitation diamond, what are you looking for? CZ is easy to find, but many other materials have been used to simulate diamond.
@Thanks for the reply. Morion Co. had several imitation diamond options. I forget the names now but the one I was interested in was something similar to lithium niobate. Maybe it was strontium titanate? They had a colorless variety with a hardness of around 5-6. I don’t like to cut CZ because I feel like it wears out my laps. Perhaps I’m paranoid? I was curious to cut some of the original diamond synthetics before CZ and Moissanite took over so I could see how they all compare, and to have it just because 🙂 I shouldn’t have thought about it so long and just bought some when I could. Lesson learned!
Oh, and I just remembered Creative Gems for anyone else reading this thread. They have hydrothermal quartz. I bought some quartz from them in the past and was a bit disappointed and had to return it (the seed wasn’t cut out and they sent the wrong colors). However, they don’t bill up front so return is easy. They ship it to you and then you pay for what you keep and return what you don’t want (you pay shipping).
Many materials have been use as diamond simulants, including strontium titanate. Wikipedia has an interesting list at Diamond_simulant
I don’t understand your concern about CZ. It cuts very easily. A cutting lap is a combination of metal and diamond. The metals used are softer than most all gem materials, and diamond is a thousand or so times harder than CZ. What’s going to wear out? Even corundum is much harder than CZ.
Of course, I wouldn’t worry about it anyway – for cutting, I usually use 325 or 600 grit on BATT laps, which aren’t going to wear out in my lifetime 🙂
I like CZ. The only reason it’s not considered a wonderful material for gems is that it’s too cheap.
Oh, and I just remembered Creative Gems for anyone else reading this thread.
I checked their 2016 catalog, and they don’t have any beryls listed, but they’ve always been a great source for other synthetics. I’ve never had an issue of any kind, but I haven’t ordered anything from them since Grady passed away.
Here is a site I just found tonight, all colors of hydrothermal quartz at 7 cents a carat, hydrothermal emerald at $15 gram, all kinds and colors of synthetic corundum, spinel, etc.
http://www.gemsngems.com
@Thank you so much for all the good information.
The quest for other diamond simulants is still on but I learned some great info!
Thank you
RUSGEMS has hydrothermal and flame fusion and almost every other synthetic though Im not sure about synthetic diamonds. I buy from them regularly and they are great and the material is great too.
@Thanks! I’ve admired Rusgem’s man-made emerald for quite a while. Good to have some positive feedback for them!
abrugger i have something you might like to try. it’s laser yag, its a pink that can deepen or go to clear or even purplish and blue depending on the source light that hits it. its made in my state (wa.). i just cut a 206.95 carat stone out of their material and displayed it at county fair where it took breaths away, them sent it to the company growing them. i did a special but simple 57 facet cut on it my design. if you read this and interested contact me and i can send you a piece to cut a stone out of and a sheet with the cut i did on it. also have green yag and ruby rods.
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