Autumn
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Post by Autumn on Jul 21, 2014 19:36:51 GMT -5
I bought some obsidian and onyx chips a couple years ago, back before I knew about how (not) honest companies were regarding stone treatments and natural/fabricated stones. I'm sure I mixed some of the stones at one point, because not all of my "onyx" chips are translucent. Then again, some of my Golden Sheen Obsidian chips are translucent. The "crimson" and "grey" onyx came out of the same strand. Golden Sheen Obsidian (Crimson) Onyx (Grey) Onyx Onyx or Obsidian? Onyx or Obsidian?
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Post by snowmom on Jul 22, 2014 5:59:07 GMT -5
watching with interest!
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Post by kap on Jul 22, 2014 9:58:36 GMT -5
I did not know Onyx could be translucent?
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Jul 22, 2014 23:38:23 GMT -5
Doesn't look like obsidian....
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Autumn
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Post by Autumn on Jul 23, 2014 20:07:04 GMT -5
Kap, my tumbled Onxy is translucent. Fossilman, I'm thinking it's Onyx at this point. But the opaque nature is what's throwing me.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2014 15:26:00 GMT -5
Image 1: Smokey Quartz Image 2: Garnet or a very dark Amethyst, maybe even Ruby Image 3: Could be Obsidian Image 4: Jet chips Image 5: Inconclusive
Note: Onyx is dense non translucent by nature where are Obsidian can appear dense as well but the smaller chips one broken off or tumbled can offer slight translucency.. thou very hard to tumble obsidian with rounded edges as in the above images.
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Autumn
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Post by Autumn on Jul 28, 2014 19:28:08 GMT -5
Thanks for the input!
Image One: The Golden Sheen Obsidian was sold as such to me by a trusted vendor. I can see how it would be viewed as Smokey Quartz, however. Maybe a probing email is in order...
Other images: I agree that the crimson chips may be Garnet. I could be wrong on these four, and you may be right. The difficult thing about the internet is that it's all words and images...no physical evidence. I bought the "Onyx" chips in early 2012 from a local chain craft store. The company (specific to that store) which branded their gemstone beads wasn't always very open about treatments on packaging. I may be able to contact them to confirm about the strand sold, but as I no longer have the packaging with the lot and SKU numbers, I'm not holding my breath.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2014 22:17:18 GMT -5
they all look like untumbled apache tears to me.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 1:21:04 GMT -5
Autumn here is what happen this morning.. another member of a different site is asking that I help her identify a solid geode which contains a nice out ring of crystals and very dense or solid black center.. I suggest that this could be "Black Agate" and if cut correctly it would be hard to tell if it was Agate, onyx or the obsidian.. Here is her image: So pinpointing something without actually testing the stones hardness etc.. would be like stabbing in the dark and all possible suggestion could be viewed as correct answers.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 10:16:07 GMT -5
For this discussion we need to define "onyx".
The classical "onyx" is black agate.
Today "onyx" is a name given also to layered calcium carbonate. A kind of sedimentary limestone.
Lastly, as obsidian is glass I doubt it happens that there is obsidian inside a quartz crystal geode. Now, I need someone with more knowledge to prove me wrong! That always happens.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 12:11:54 GMT -5
Excellent Shotgun
and I doubt anyone would attempt to prove you wrong.. thou the obsidian is glass.. its a form of lava type glass.. as you've stated above "Apache tears" and it only comes in two colors; Black or the glassy dark Smokey quartz appearance or the mahogany chocolate brown color. (naturally) while any other colors green, blue etc the simi obsidian would be just considered glass blowers glass.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 14:37:10 GMT -5
Your point of dark smokey quartz is just that quartz. Not obsidian. Quartz being crystalline is harder. And quartz comes in many colors. Green/Blue/Purple/Yellow/smokey, clear... I think even red is seen in mercury bearing quartz. You would be surprised at the vast array of obsidian and other natural glass colors. Here is a non man-made version of glass found in the sahara. Libyan glass
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 16:00:46 GMT -5
I was merely suggesting that the Smokey quartz is a bit lighter color than the obsidian but not by much and your image of these other glasses are amazing.
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transcendental
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Post by transcendental on Jul 29, 2014 16:19:14 GMT -5
Your point of dark smokey quartz is just that quartz. Not obsidian. Quartz being crystalline is harder. And quartz comes in many colors. Green/Blue/Purple/Yellow/smokey, clear... I think even red is seen in mercury bearing quartz. You would be surprised at the vast array of obsidian and other natural glass colors. Here is a non man-made version of glass found in the sahara. Libyan glass Totally off topic but had to say, I had seen a discovery special about meteor impacts across the planet and a portion of that show talked about this glass you show. It was formed when an meteor exploded above the Sahara desert and the heat from the blast melted the sand to form this glass. The ancient Egyptian used it as a royal gemstone. Interesting stuff!
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Autumn
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Post by Autumn on Jul 29, 2014 19:35:24 GMT -5
Wow, I didn't realize it would turn into all this. They're tumbled gemstone bead chips. I'll be contacting the company to make sure they meant real Onyx and not glass. Could there possibly be a few pieces of Obsidian mixed in? Sure, since it's possible I did in fact mix the two together by mistake once. I found cat's eye glass beads in the same box, so at some point I'd made a mistake.
At the end of the day, I do have to give the company some measure of trust. I'm selling the jewelry as honestly as I can, with the knowledge I have.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 21:38:15 GMT -5
Wow, I didn't realize it would turn into all this. They're tumbled gemstone bead chips. I'll be contacting the company to make sure they meant real Onyx and not glass. Could there possibly be a few pieces of Obsidian mixed in? Sure, since it's possible I did in fact mix the two together by mistake once. I found cat's eye glass beads in the same box, so at some point I'd made a mistake. At the end of the day, I do have to give the company some measure of trust. I'm selling the jewelry as honestly as I can, with the knowledge I have. They all have some various translucency to them. I still say they are apache tears. Which form of onyx are you hoping for?
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Autumn
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Post by Autumn on Jul 31, 2014 19:45:33 GMT -5
I don't care what form of Onyx they are. I just want to know they are Onyx. The more I look at them, the more convinced I become. I think they're Onyx...
I just sent the company an email asking about the item. Since their recipients only reflect departments and not actual items, I can only go by my records which say "Onyx"...and considering I would have gotten that off the packaging itself, and that the store in question doesn't sell Obsidian chips, I think my records are correct. Wow, that was a sentence.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2014 12:09:44 GMT -5
I don't care what form of Onyx they are. I just want to know they are Onyx. The more I look at them, the more convinced I become. I think they're Onyx... That is like saying I don't care what kind of steak it is. I just want steak. But it could be horse or beef The calcium carbonate stones calledonyx do not match what you have That said the black chalcedony form of onyx doesn't match either. So if your only query is are these stones onyx of any kind then I am comfortable saying "no". To test for obsidians try to scratch them with a known jasper or agate if it scratches then I could be right about obsidians. If not then at least you know they aren't obsidian.
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Autumn
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Post by Autumn on Aug 4, 2014 20:23:18 GMT -5
It's actually not as flippant as it sounds. Is the type of Onyx important? Yes. But I have no problem saying "Onyx mix" or "Obsidian mix".
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Autumn
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Post by Autumn on Aug 13, 2014 21:00:39 GMT -5
I heard back from the supplier. Here is their response. In my emails, I did not mention variations in translucence. I merely inquired if the strand in question was indeed pure Onyx, not glass, and if it had been treated.
Thank you for your patience. We have heard back from the manufacturer of the Onyx chips and they stated the following. "The item has not treated or dyed in any way, however; they stated that the item may contain traces of obsidian at times. " Black Obsidian is non-transparent. However, Black Onyx is semitransparent. So I believe this may account for any variation that you might have noticed.
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