Contents

Table 1 :

Stones are listed with increasing refractive index, using the lowest refractive index value, indicated in red, as a reference.

The extremely wide refractive index range of glass would result in a confusing and unnecessary repeating of this substance all trought the list. The gemmologist should refer to "Table 6" for further identification.

Table 2 :

Stones are grouped following their most encountered colours and listed following increasing refractive index.

Table 3 :

Stones are situated in density groups, increasing with 0.01 density steps. Stones belonging to a particular density group, are listed following optic character and further following refractive index.

Table 4 :

Stones are listed in alphabetical order.

Table 5 :

Stones are listed in alphabetical order.  Supplementary information (colour, chemical composition, hardness, crystal system, cleavage, lustre, origin, mineral group, magnetic susceptibility, ...) although not immediately related to the identification, provides a possible confirmation of an obtained result.

Table 6 :

Glass being the most encountered imitation material, its gemmological properties cover a wide range of values.  The relationship between refractive index and density is shown in a graph. The other charts (glass-ceramics, garnet group, enstatite group, feldspath group and emerald) can be helpful for a fast identification.

Table 7 :

The garnet group represents several commercially important gemstones.  Correct identification may be difficult but is usually possible with the right combination of refractive index, density, spectrum and colour.

Table 8 :

Diamond imitations with refractive index above 1.81 are separated in optically isotropic and anisotropic groups and further listed with increasing density.

Table 9 :

Many stones are in the market sold with incorrect names.  Sometimes it is very confusing for gemstone buyers. Table 9 listed more than 1300 incorrect names used in the gemstone market.

Table 10 :

Tips & tricks who can help for an easier identification of some stones.

Bibliography