Thursday, August 02, 2007
Napoleon Bonaparte
Clearly, the pleasures wines afford are transitory – but so are those of the ballet, or of a musical performance. Wine is inspiring and adds greatly to the joy of living.
Colorless Coatings And Impregnations
A number of essentially colorless substances have been used to coat the surface of gemstones; the primary purpose being to improve the apparent polish by masking small scratches, a grainy texture, or other surface irregularities. Coatings are also used to protect underlying dye treatments. Such treatments are primarily used on aggregate gem materials and those consisting of more than one material.
Aggregates like jadeite and nephrite have a tendency to have small crystals pulled from their surfaces during polishing. Other gem materials like lapis lazuli may show similar characteristics because they contain minerals of different hardness, resulting in the stone not polishing to an even surface. Other gem materials that may be coated include amazonite feldspar, alabaster, marble, rhodochrosite, serpentine, soapstone, and turquoise.
Among the most commonly used colorless coating materials are waxes and paraffin. Under magnification the application of a needle probe may reveal wax by removing some of it, while the application of a heated needle may cause the coating to liquefy and flow. Drill holes on beads are a good area to check as such surface coatings tend to concentrate in these.
Plastics are a class of somewhat more durable substances used to surface-coat gem materials. These too may be detected under magnification by the ability to scratch them with a needle probe. A needle may also be used to remove a small amount of a plastic coating, which then might be heated to reveal a characteristic acrid odor. A relatively thick plastic coating might be detected on the refractometer, where a reading for the plastic, or both the plastic and underlying gem material, could be seen.
Colorless impregnations are used on gem materials for a number of reasons. They are used to stabilize porous stones like turquoise by preventing skin oils from producing undesirable color changes. Some materials, because of their porous surface have a whitish chalky appearance due to the scattering effects these surface have on incident light; this can be minimized by a colorless impregnation. Such treatment is used on low quality turquoise, producing an improvement in color; it is also used on some porous, chalky opal from Brazil that does not reveal its play of color without such treatment.
Aggregates like jadeite and nephrite have a tendency to have small crystals pulled from their surfaces during polishing. Other gem materials like lapis lazuli may show similar characteristics because they contain minerals of different hardness, resulting in the stone not polishing to an even surface. Other gem materials that may be coated include amazonite feldspar, alabaster, marble, rhodochrosite, serpentine, soapstone, and turquoise.
Among the most commonly used colorless coating materials are waxes and paraffin. Under magnification the application of a needle probe may reveal wax by removing some of it, while the application of a heated needle may cause the coating to liquefy and flow. Drill holes on beads are a good area to check as such surface coatings tend to concentrate in these.
Plastics are a class of somewhat more durable substances used to surface-coat gem materials. These too may be detected under magnification by the ability to scratch them with a needle probe. A needle may also be used to remove a small amount of a plastic coating, which then might be heated to reveal a characteristic acrid odor. A relatively thick plastic coating might be detected on the refractometer, where a reading for the plastic, or both the plastic and underlying gem material, could be seen.
Colorless impregnations are used on gem materials for a number of reasons. They are used to stabilize porous stones like turquoise by preventing skin oils from producing undesirable color changes. Some materials, because of their porous surface have a whitish chalky appearance due to the scattering effects these surface have on incident light; this can be minimized by a colorless impregnation. Such treatment is used on low quality turquoise, producing an improvement in color; it is also used on some porous, chalky opal from Brazil that does not reveal its play of color without such treatment.
In Spite Of The Gods
Good Books: (via Emergic) Here is a brief about the book from Random House:
India remains a mystery to many Americans, even as it is poised to become the world’s third largest economy within a generation, outstripping Japan. It will surpass China in population by 2032 and will have more English speakers than the United States by 2050. In In Spite of the Gods, Edward Luce, a journalist who covered India for many years, makes brilliant sense of India and its rise to global power. Already a number-one bestseller in India, his book is sure to be acknowledged for years as the definitive introduction to modern India.
In Spite of the Gods illuminates a land of many contradictions. The booming tech sector we read so much about in the West, Luce points out, employs no more than one million of India’s 1.1 billion people. Only 35 million people, in fact, have formal enough jobs to pay taxes, while three-quarters of the country lives in extreme deprivation in India’s 600,000 villages. Yet amid all these extremes exists the world’s largest experiment in representative democracy and a largely successful one, despite bureaucracies riddled with horrifying corruption.
Luce shows that India is an economic rival to the U.S. in an entirely different sense than China is. There is nothing in India like the manufacturing capacity of China, despite the huge potential labor force. An inept system of public education leaves most Indians illiterate and unskilled. Yet at the other extreme, the middle class produces ten times as many engineering students a year as the United States. Notwithstanding its future as a major competitor in a globalized economy, American leaders have been encouraging India’s rise, even welcoming it into the nuclear energy club, hoping to balance China’s influence in Asia.
The Guardian reviewed Edward Luce’s book in August:
Several recent books have examined the savage inequalities between the country's burgeoning, educated, urban elite and the shockingly poor who live in the vast hinterlands. Luce's thoughtful and thorough book - 'an unsentimental evaluation of contemporary India against the backdrop of its widely expected ascent to great power status in the 21st century' - fits right into this category. He suggests the dichotomy of India in the book's subtitle and later calls India's rise 'strange' because, while becoming an important political and economic force, it has remained 'an intensely religious, spiritual and, in some ways, superstitious society'.
It is always difficult to structure a book like this one, but Luce manages well by breaking up the narrative into neat chapters, each dealing with a different theme and each capable of standing on its own feet. We are offered accounts of India's 'schizophrenic' flourishing economy; its state machinery; its caste conflicts; the rise of Hindu nationalism; the dynastic nature of its politics; its relationship with Pakistan and its Muslim minority; its relationship with the US and China; the country's experience of grappling with modernity and urbanization.
The Hindu Business Line had a detailed review of Luce’s book:
The book concludes with a discussion of India's huge opportunities and challenges in the twenty-first century. Judging by the living conditions of ordinary Indians, rather than by the drama of national events, Luce is of the view that the country is moving forward on a remarkably stable trajectory. And, as opposed to China, India has given a higher priority to stability than it has to efficiency.
'India is like a lorry with twelve wheels. If one or two puncture, it doesn't go into the ditch,' is a quote of Myron Weiner that he cites. That way, China may have fewer wheels so it can travel faster, but 'people far beyond China's borders worry about what would happen if a wheel came off,' notes Luce, extending Weiner's analogy.
Though investors are deterred by the babus, institutional advantages such as an independent judiciary and a free media' may make India the proverbial tortoise that can overtake the Chinese hare, postulates the author. India can also draw on a deep well of intellectual capital.
Yet, for those closer home, a word of caution is not to take our economic strengths for granted. As the joke goes, 'India never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity'. It is also suffering from a premature spirit of triumphalism, alerts Luce.
I think Luce's book is about the new but morphing India. It's an insightful book about India, and Luce brings an outsider's perspective.
India remains a mystery to many Americans, even as it is poised to become the world’s third largest economy within a generation, outstripping Japan. It will surpass China in population by 2032 and will have more English speakers than the United States by 2050. In In Spite of the Gods, Edward Luce, a journalist who covered India for many years, makes brilliant sense of India and its rise to global power. Already a number-one bestseller in India, his book is sure to be acknowledged for years as the definitive introduction to modern India.
In Spite of the Gods illuminates a land of many contradictions. The booming tech sector we read so much about in the West, Luce points out, employs no more than one million of India’s 1.1 billion people. Only 35 million people, in fact, have formal enough jobs to pay taxes, while three-quarters of the country lives in extreme deprivation in India’s 600,000 villages. Yet amid all these extremes exists the world’s largest experiment in representative democracy and a largely successful one, despite bureaucracies riddled with horrifying corruption.
Luce shows that India is an economic rival to the U.S. in an entirely different sense than China is. There is nothing in India like the manufacturing capacity of China, despite the huge potential labor force. An inept system of public education leaves most Indians illiterate and unskilled. Yet at the other extreme, the middle class produces ten times as many engineering students a year as the United States. Notwithstanding its future as a major competitor in a globalized economy, American leaders have been encouraging India’s rise, even welcoming it into the nuclear energy club, hoping to balance China’s influence in Asia.
The Guardian reviewed Edward Luce’s book in August:
Several recent books have examined the savage inequalities between the country's burgeoning, educated, urban elite and the shockingly poor who live in the vast hinterlands. Luce's thoughtful and thorough book - 'an unsentimental evaluation of contemporary India against the backdrop of its widely expected ascent to great power status in the 21st century' - fits right into this category. He suggests the dichotomy of India in the book's subtitle and later calls India's rise 'strange' because, while becoming an important political and economic force, it has remained 'an intensely religious, spiritual and, in some ways, superstitious society'.
It is always difficult to structure a book like this one, but Luce manages well by breaking up the narrative into neat chapters, each dealing with a different theme and each capable of standing on its own feet. We are offered accounts of India's 'schizophrenic' flourishing economy; its state machinery; its caste conflicts; the rise of Hindu nationalism; the dynastic nature of its politics; its relationship with Pakistan and its Muslim minority; its relationship with the US and China; the country's experience of grappling with modernity and urbanization.
The Hindu Business Line had a detailed review of Luce’s book:
The book concludes with a discussion of India's huge opportunities and challenges in the twenty-first century. Judging by the living conditions of ordinary Indians, rather than by the drama of national events, Luce is of the view that the country is moving forward on a remarkably stable trajectory. And, as opposed to China, India has given a higher priority to stability than it has to efficiency.
'India is like a lorry with twelve wheels. If one or two puncture, it doesn't go into the ditch,' is a quote of Myron Weiner that he cites. That way, China may have fewer wheels so it can travel faster, but 'people far beyond China's borders worry about what would happen if a wheel came off,' notes Luce, extending Weiner's analogy.
Though investors are deterred by the babus, institutional advantages such as an independent judiciary and a free media' may make India the proverbial tortoise that can overtake the Chinese hare, postulates the author. India can also draw on a deep well of intellectual capital.
Yet, for those closer home, a word of caution is not to take our economic strengths for granted. As the joke goes, 'India never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity'. It is also suffering from a premature spirit of triumphalism, alerts Luce.
I think Luce's book is about the new but morphing India. It's an insightful book about India, and Luce brings an outsider's perspective.
Top Ten Trends In Contemporary Art
Robin Cembalest writes about trends among trends + the themes behind their work + complexity and richness of their performances @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=2002
The Beholder
The Economist writes about Charles Saatchi, Britain’s most prominent collector of contemporary art, but also, possibly, the world’s + his ability to identify talent in students newly hatched into the art world + other viewpoints @ http://www.economist.com/daily/columns/artview/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9567058
GIA: Paying Money For Nothing
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about the basis of legal action (the case is now closed) involving a member of the Saudi Arabian Royal Family, Max Pincione vs. Vivid Collections, Moty Spector, Ali Khazane, and the GIA + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=25597
Red Carpet-Worthy Diamonds
Hitha Prabhakar writes about jeweler Neil Lane, who has quietly created a reputation as the go-to guy for accessorizing Hollywood starlets + other viewpoints @ http://www.forbes.com/2007/02/17/diamond-stars-oscars-forbeslife-cx_hp_0220luxeforlessdiamonds.html
Prehnite
Chemistry: Hydrated calcium aluminum silicate.
Crystal system: Orthorhombic; in nodular masses with radiating crystalline structure; distinct crystals rare.
Color: Semi-transparent to translucent; brownish yellow, yellowish green, light green, colorless; phenomena: chatoyant.
Hardness: 6 – 6.5
Cleavage: Distinct: 1 direction, basal; fracture: brittle, uneven.
Specific gravity: 2.88 – 2.94 (gem)
Refractive index: 1.61 – 1.64; 1.63 mean; Biaxial positive; 0.03
Luster: Vitreous.
Dispersion: -
Dichroism: -
Occurrence: Deposited in cavities in igneous and serpentine rocks; Australia, China, South Africa, Pakistan, USA.
Notes
Common mineral; may look like emerald, jade; faceted, cabochon, slab.
Crystal system: Orthorhombic; in nodular masses with radiating crystalline structure; distinct crystals rare.
Color: Semi-transparent to translucent; brownish yellow, yellowish green, light green, colorless; phenomena: chatoyant.
Hardness: 6 – 6.5
Cleavage: Distinct: 1 direction, basal; fracture: brittle, uneven.
Specific gravity: 2.88 – 2.94 (gem)
Refractive index: 1.61 – 1.64; 1.63 mean; Biaxial positive; 0.03
Luster: Vitreous.
Dispersion: -
Dichroism: -
Occurrence: Deposited in cavities in igneous and serpentine rocks; Australia, China, South Africa, Pakistan, USA.
Notes
Common mineral; may look like emerald, jade; faceted, cabochon, slab.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Life Of Brian
Memorable quotes from the movie:
Ex-Leper (Michael Palin): Okay, sir, my final offer: half a shekel for an old ex-leper?
Brian (Graham Chapman): Did you say ex-leper?
Ex-Leper (Michael Palin): That's right, sir, 16 years behind a veil and proud of it, sir.
Brian (Graham Chapman): Well, what happened?
Ex-Leper (Michael Palin): Oh, cured, sir.
Brian (Graham Chapman): Cured?
Ex-Leper (Michael Palin): Yes sir, bloody miracle, sir. Bless you!
Brian (Graham Chapman): Who cured you?
Ex-Leper (Michael Palin): Jesus did, sir. I was hopping along, minding my own business, all of a sudden, up he comes, cures me! One minute I'm a leper with a trade, next minute my livelihood's gone. Not so much as a by-your-leave! 'You're cured, mate.' Bloody do-gooder.
Ex-Leper (Michael Palin): Okay, sir, my final offer: half a shekel for an old ex-leper?
Brian (Graham Chapman): Did you say ex-leper?
Ex-Leper (Michael Palin): That's right, sir, 16 years behind a veil and proud of it, sir.
Brian (Graham Chapman): Well, what happened?
Ex-Leper (Michael Palin): Oh, cured, sir.
Brian (Graham Chapman): Cured?
Ex-Leper (Michael Palin): Yes sir, bloody miracle, sir. Bless you!
Brian (Graham Chapman): Who cured you?
Ex-Leper (Michael Palin): Jesus did, sir. I was hopping along, minding my own business, all of a sudden, up he comes, cures me! One minute I'm a leper with a trade, next minute my livelihood's gone. Not so much as a by-your-leave! 'You're cured, mate.' Bloody do-gooder.
Duke Ellington
'I like any and all of my associations with music - writing, playing, and listening. We write and play from our perspective, and the audience listens from its perspective. If and when we agree, I am lucky.'
The War Of The World
Good Books: (via Emergic) Amazon.com has a review from Booklist:
Ferguson's broadest work to date, this sprawling book folds the author's previous theories of empire and economics into an international history of twentieth-century violence. What went wrong with modernity, he asks, such that the Fifty Years War from 1904 to 1953 could be the bloodiest in history, and why did so much violence happen at particular times (such as the early 1940s) and particular places (such as eastern Europe). To the common answers of ethnic conflict and economic volatility, Ferguson adds, perhaps unsurprisingly, the decline of empires. Consistent with Empire and Colossus, the problem was frequently that the empires of the twentieth century were too strong not to fight, but that they were too weak, as illustrated by an analysis of Britain's reluctance to intervene in Germany before 1939. Coupled with ubiquitous and persistent notions of racial superiority and the ill-fitting contours of nation-states, the borderlands of empires--Manchuria, Poland, the Balkans--became the killing fields of the twentieth century. In chronicling what he labels the "descent of the West," Ferguson challenges many scholars on many fronts, and deploys a broad spectrum of sources--from war novels to population data to his perennial attention to the bond markets. His ultimate conclusion--that the War of the World was the suicide of the West--is tinged with regret about what might have been, and perhaps even a Gibbon-esque anxiety about the coming Asian century.
The Guardian wrote in a review:
According to Ferguson, the 20th-century bloodbath was down to the dreadful concatenation of ethnic conflict, economic volatility and empires in decline. Despite genetic advances that revealed man's essential biological similarities, the 1900s saw wave upon wave of ethnic strife thanks (pace Richard Dawkins) to a race "meme" entering public discourse. Across the world, the idea of biologically distinct races took hold of the 20th century mindset to deadly effect.
Tensions along increasingly conscious ethnic faultlines (in regions such as the eastern edges of Germany) frequently spilt over into conflict during periods of economic volatility. For extremities of wealth and poverty proved far more incendiary than the steady, immiserating effects of economic depression. When ethnicity and financial turbulence then occurred in the context of retreating or expanding empires - British, German, or Soviet - the capacity for bloodshed proved even greater. And, as a final thought, the 20th century witnessed not the triumph of the west, but its inexorable descent.
The Boston Globe interviewed Ferguson and had this to say in its introduction:
Ferguson maintains that the United States is unquestionably an imperial power, but because Americans don't like to think so, the US often fails to fulfill its imperial responsibilities. One crucial case in point for Ferguson is Iraq, where, in his view, an imperial power less in denial about itself would have known that such an invasion required forethought, vast resources, and the willingness to stick around for a very long time.
The theme of empire is central to the new book, as well. Ferguson believes the real problem with an empire shows up when it declines, at which time genocidal hatred is liable to break out among the ethnic groups it had governed. That's what happened, he argues, in the extraordinarily-often inter-ethnically-violent 20th century, and what he worries may be underway in the Middle-East.
Here is a quote by Ferguson: 'The really troubling thing is that all the things that happened in Central and Eastern Europe in the 1930s and 40s could happen in the Middle East now. The ingredients are there: You've got ethnic and religious hatred, economic volatility, and an empire- the American empire-declining and losing control. Not a great scenario.'
The past is often a guide to the future. Ferguson's analysis of conflict in the previous century holds a lot of clues for what can happen next.
I think The War of The World is a fascinating book because you learn a lot from the past and understand the future given the conflicts that we continue to face today.
Ferguson's broadest work to date, this sprawling book folds the author's previous theories of empire and economics into an international history of twentieth-century violence. What went wrong with modernity, he asks, such that the Fifty Years War from 1904 to 1953 could be the bloodiest in history, and why did so much violence happen at particular times (such as the early 1940s) and particular places (such as eastern Europe). To the common answers of ethnic conflict and economic volatility, Ferguson adds, perhaps unsurprisingly, the decline of empires. Consistent with Empire and Colossus, the problem was frequently that the empires of the twentieth century were too strong not to fight, but that they were too weak, as illustrated by an analysis of Britain's reluctance to intervene in Germany before 1939. Coupled with ubiquitous and persistent notions of racial superiority and the ill-fitting contours of nation-states, the borderlands of empires--Manchuria, Poland, the Balkans--became the killing fields of the twentieth century. In chronicling what he labels the "descent of the West," Ferguson challenges many scholars on many fronts, and deploys a broad spectrum of sources--from war novels to population data to his perennial attention to the bond markets. His ultimate conclusion--that the War of the World was the suicide of the West--is tinged with regret about what might have been, and perhaps even a Gibbon-esque anxiety about the coming Asian century.
The Guardian wrote in a review:
According to Ferguson, the 20th-century bloodbath was down to the dreadful concatenation of ethnic conflict, economic volatility and empires in decline. Despite genetic advances that revealed man's essential biological similarities, the 1900s saw wave upon wave of ethnic strife thanks (pace Richard Dawkins) to a race "meme" entering public discourse. Across the world, the idea of biologically distinct races took hold of the 20th century mindset to deadly effect.
Tensions along increasingly conscious ethnic faultlines (in regions such as the eastern edges of Germany) frequently spilt over into conflict during periods of economic volatility. For extremities of wealth and poverty proved far more incendiary than the steady, immiserating effects of economic depression. When ethnicity and financial turbulence then occurred in the context of retreating or expanding empires - British, German, or Soviet - the capacity for bloodshed proved even greater. And, as a final thought, the 20th century witnessed not the triumph of the west, but its inexorable descent.
The Boston Globe interviewed Ferguson and had this to say in its introduction:
Ferguson maintains that the United States is unquestionably an imperial power, but because Americans don't like to think so, the US often fails to fulfill its imperial responsibilities. One crucial case in point for Ferguson is Iraq, where, in his view, an imperial power less in denial about itself would have known that such an invasion required forethought, vast resources, and the willingness to stick around for a very long time.
The theme of empire is central to the new book, as well. Ferguson believes the real problem with an empire shows up when it declines, at which time genocidal hatred is liable to break out among the ethnic groups it had governed. That's what happened, he argues, in the extraordinarily-often inter-ethnically-violent 20th century, and what he worries may be underway in the Middle-East.
Here is a quote by Ferguson: 'The really troubling thing is that all the things that happened in Central and Eastern Europe in the 1930s and 40s could happen in the Middle East now. The ingredients are there: You've got ethnic and religious hatred, economic volatility, and an empire- the American empire-declining and losing control. Not a great scenario.'
The past is often a guide to the future. Ferguson's analysis of conflict in the previous century holds a lot of clues for what can happen next.
I think The War of The World is a fascinating book because you learn a lot from the past and understand the future given the conflicts that we continue to face today.
The Scandal Sweeping Russia’s Art Market
Konstantin Akinsha writes about Russian faker's incredible talent + experts inability to authenticate genuine paintings despite their years of experience + the skills required to survive as an art dealer in Russia @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1975
This reminds me of the 'origin craze' among gemstone collectors, especially Burmese rubies, Kashmir blue sapphires, Colombian emeralds, Golconda diamonds + lately with treated vs. untreated stones. Despite technological advances in gem identification and detection of treatments, famous gem testing laboratories still make spectacular mistakes. Many won't admit it, but that's the truth.
This reminds me of the 'origin craze' among gemstone collectors, especially Burmese rubies, Kashmir blue sapphires, Colombian emeralds, Golconda diamonds + lately with treated vs. untreated stones. Despite technological advances in gem identification and detection of treatments, famous gem testing laboratories still make spectacular mistakes. Many won't admit it, but that's the truth.
The Most Eye-Popping Celebrity Bling
Lea Goldman writes about the most buzzed-about bling in Hollywood + the hip-hop industry's affinity for bling (a term coined in the early '90s by New Orleans rappers the Cash Money Millionaires) + competition among the world's famous jewelers for the red carpet spotlight + other viewpoints @ http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/26/celebrities-bling-hollywood-biz-cz_lg_0726celebbling.html
Further Franchising The Name De Beers And Changing The De Beers LV Business Model
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about De Beers LV business model + sub-sub-sub franchising concept + a new definition for distribution system + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=25636
Composite vs Assembled Opal
Composite opal
These stones are partly made up of opal and partly of the rock which the opal was found in. The rock may be ironstone, quartzite, sandstone or another matrix. This type also includes pseudomorphs in which the opal has replaced another substance. Composite opal consists of a single mass and should not be confused with assembled stones.
Assembled stones normally consist of two parts (doublets) or three parts (triplets) cemented or fused together for providing a better wearing surface; to obtain a large stone from two smaller pieces of natural material; to produce a stone of apparently better color and appearance; for the purpose of supplying a rigid backing or support for fragile materials.
Doublet
Opal doublets consist of a thin slice of precious opal cemented onto a plastic, black onyx, glass or potch (common opal) back. To lower the cost, the top surface is normally flat. Better (and more expensive) doublets are made with thicker pieces of opal, and the surface is domed. Black cement is used to give a dark background for the translucent opal. This gives the appearance of an expensive black opal. Crystal opal makes the best doublets and gray opal the worst. The identification of doublets is not normally difficult, but one must be careful of opal doublets with a potch backing because some solid opals also have a potch backing.
Triplet
As the name implies, opal triplets consist of three parts. The middle section is a thin slice of precious opal, the back is the same as on a doublet, and the top is usually made of rock crystal quartz or another transparent colorless material. This top piece gives the stone greater durability and also magnifies the play of color, thus increasing the beauty. In general, triplets are worth more than doublets. Clear resin is used to cement the quartz top to the opal, and dark resin to cement the opal to the back. Synthetic opal (Gilson) has also been used in place of natural opal for making opal doublets and triplets.
Opal doublets and triplets are easily identified. Unlike other assembled stones, they are not intended to deceive the buyer. They are produced in order to make use or otherwise useless material, and provide the beauty of a fine solid opal at a fraction of the price.
These stones are partly made up of opal and partly of the rock which the opal was found in. The rock may be ironstone, quartzite, sandstone or another matrix. This type also includes pseudomorphs in which the opal has replaced another substance. Composite opal consists of a single mass and should not be confused with assembled stones.
Assembled stones normally consist of two parts (doublets) or three parts (triplets) cemented or fused together for providing a better wearing surface; to obtain a large stone from two smaller pieces of natural material; to produce a stone of apparently better color and appearance; for the purpose of supplying a rigid backing or support for fragile materials.
Doublet
Opal doublets consist of a thin slice of precious opal cemented onto a plastic, black onyx, glass or potch (common opal) back. To lower the cost, the top surface is normally flat. Better (and more expensive) doublets are made with thicker pieces of opal, and the surface is domed. Black cement is used to give a dark background for the translucent opal. This gives the appearance of an expensive black opal. Crystal opal makes the best doublets and gray opal the worst. The identification of doublets is not normally difficult, but one must be careful of opal doublets with a potch backing because some solid opals also have a potch backing.
Triplet
As the name implies, opal triplets consist of three parts. The middle section is a thin slice of precious opal, the back is the same as on a doublet, and the top is usually made of rock crystal quartz or another transparent colorless material. This top piece gives the stone greater durability and also magnifies the play of color, thus increasing the beauty. In general, triplets are worth more than doublets. Clear resin is used to cement the quartz top to the opal, and dark resin to cement the opal to the back. Synthetic opal (Gilson) has also been used in place of natural opal for making opal doublets and triplets.
Opal doublets and triplets are easily identified. Unlike other assembled stones, they are not intended to deceive the buyer. They are produced in order to make use or otherwise useless material, and provide the beauty of a fine solid opal at a fraction of the price.
Phenakite
Chemistry: Beryllium silicate.
Crystal system: Trigonal; short prismatic crystals; seldom large.
Color: Transparent; colorless, light yellow, pink, greenish blue (rare).
Hardness: 7.5
Cleavage: Indistinct: prismatic; fracture: conchoidal.
Specific gravity: 2.95
Refractive index: 1.65 – 1.67; Uniaxial positive; 0.016
Luster: Vitreous.
Dispersion: -
Dichroism: -
Occurrence: Africa, Brazil, Russia.
Notes
From the Greek word meaning to cheat or deceive; confused for quartz; rarely used in jewelry; one of the few crystal inclusions found in synthetic emerald; doubling; faceted.
Crystal system: Trigonal; short prismatic crystals; seldom large.
Color: Transparent; colorless, light yellow, pink, greenish blue (rare).
Hardness: 7.5
Cleavage: Indistinct: prismatic; fracture: conchoidal.
Specific gravity: 2.95
Refractive index: 1.65 – 1.67; Uniaxial positive; 0.016
Luster: Vitreous.
Dispersion: -
Dichroism: -
Occurrence: Africa, Brazil, Russia.
Notes
From the Greek word meaning to cheat or deceive; confused for quartz; rarely used in jewelry; one of the few crystal inclusions found in synthetic emerald; doubling; faceted.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Sjunde inseglet, Det (The Seventh Seal)
Memorable quotes from the movie:
Antonius Block (Max von Sydow): I want knowledge! Not faith, not assumptions, but knowledge. I want God to stretch out his hand, uncover his face and speak to me.
Death (Bengt Ekerot): But he remains silent.
Antonius Block (Max von Sydow): I call out to him in the darkness. But it's as if no one was there.
Death (Bengt Ekerot): Perhaps there isn't anyone.
Antonius Block (Max von Sydow): Then life is a preposterous horror. No man can live faced with death, knowing everything's nothingness.
Death (Bengt Ekerot): Most people think neither of death nor nothingness.
Antonius Block (Max von Sydow): But one day you stand at the edge of life and face darkness.
Death (Bengt Ekerot): That day.
Antonius Block (Max von Sydow): I understand what you mean.
Antonius Block (Max von Sydow): I want knowledge! Not faith, not assumptions, but knowledge. I want God to stretch out his hand, uncover his face and speak to me.
Death (Bengt Ekerot): But he remains silent.
Antonius Block (Max von Sydow): I call out to him in the darkness. But it's as if no one was there.
Death (Bengt Ekerot): Perhaps there isn't anyone.
Antonius Block (Max von Sydow): Then life is a preposterous horror. No man can live faced with death, knowing everything's nothingness.
Death (Bengt Ekerot): Most people think neither of death nor nothingness.
Antonius Block (Max von Sydow): But one day you stand at the edge of life and face darkness.
Death (Bengt Ekerot): That day.
Antonius Block (Max von Sydow): I understand what you mean.
Opal Origin
Some experts believe trace element analysis + their ratios by Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (LA-ICP-MS) could pinpoint opal source (s).
No Two Alike
Good Books: (via Emergic) Here is how Publisher's Weekly (via Amazon.com) summarizes the book, No Two Alike:
Why do identical twins who grow up together differ in personality? Harris attempts to solve that mystery. Her initial thesis in The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do is replaced here with a stronger, more detailed one based on evolutionary psychology. Reading this book is akin to working your way through a mystery novel complete with periodic references to Sherlock Holmes. And Harris has a knack for interspersing scientific and research-laden text with personal anecdotes. Initially, she refutes five red herring theories of personality differences, including differences in environment and gene-environment interactions. Eventually, Harris presents her own theory, starting from modular notions of the brain (as Steven Pinker puts it, "the mind is not a single organ but a system of organs"). Harris offers a three-systems theory of personality: there's the relationship system, the socialization system and the status system. And while she admits her theory of personality isn't simple, it is thought provoking. Harris ties up the loose ends of the new theory, showing how the development of the three systems creates personality.
This is what Scientific American wrote (via Amazon.com):
Where does adult personality come from? Why are we all different? These are the questions energizing Judith Rich Harris's new book. Harris then develops a complex scheme based on "the modular mind," a framework set forth by Harvard University evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker and others. (Harris herself has no doctorate and is housebound by systemic sclerosis and lupus, two autoimmune disorders.) She describes three modules: the relationship system, the socialization system and the status system, and explains how each contributes its part to making us who we are. The relationship system starts in the cradle as infants study and learn the faces and voices of the people around them, collecting information that helps form personality. The socialization system adapts people to their culture. The status system takes all the information collected during childhood and adolescence and shapes and modifies our personalities in accord with our environments.
Harris's last chapter lays out her theory in tabular form, explaining how each module interacts with the others to produce our distinct personalities. It is lavishly footnoted, like the rest of the book, shoring up her strategy of pointing out the failings of other models and then proposing her own. Her goal, she writes, is to explain the variations in personality that cannot be attributed to variations in people's genes.
It's amazing when you try to understand the link between human nature and individuality + the complex mental infrastructure + the distinguishing characteristics. No Two Alike is a fascinating book because it's a story about us and the people around us.
Why do identical twins who grow up together differ in personality? Harris attempts to solve that mystery. Her initial thesis in The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do is replaced here with a stronger, more detailed one based on evolutionary psychology. Reading this book is akin to working your way through a mystery novel complete with periodic references to Sherlock Holmes. And Harris has a knack for interspersing scientific and research-laden text with personal anecdotes. Initially, she refutes five red herring theories of personality differences, including differences in environment and gene-environment interactions. Eventually, Harris presents her own theory, starting from modular notions of the brain (as Steven Pinker puts it, "the mind is not a single organ but a system of organs"). Harris offers a three-systems theory of personality: there's the relationship system, the socialization system and the status system. And while she admits her theory of personality isn't simple, it is thought provoking. Harris ties up the loose ends of the new theory, showing how the development of the three systems creates personality.
This is what Scientific American wrote (via Amazon.com):
Where does adult personality come from? Why are we all different? These are the questions energizing Judith Rich Harris's new book. Harris then develops a complex scheme based on "the modular mind," a framework set forth by Harvard University evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker and others. (Harris herself has no doctorate and is housebound by systemic sclerosis and lupus, two autoimmune disorders.) She describes three modules: the relationship system, the socialization system and the status system, and explains how each contributes its part to making us who we are. The relationship system starts in the cradle as infants study and learn the faces and voices of the people around them, collecting information that helps form personality. The socialization system adapts people to their culture. The status system takes all the information collected during childhood and adolescence and shapes and modifies our personalities in accord with our environments.
Harris's last chapter lays out her theory in tabular form, explaining how each module interacts with the others to produce our distinct personalities. It is lavishly footnoted, like the rest of the book, shoring up her strategy of pointing out the failings of other models and then proposing her own. Her goal, she writes, is to explain the variations in personality that cannot be attributed to variations in people's genes.
It's amazing when you try to understand the link between human nature and individuality + the complex mental infrastructure + the distinguishing characteristics. No Two Alike is a fascinating book because it's a story about us and the people around us.
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