(via Wikipedia) A fortified wine is a wine to which additional alcohol has been added, the most common additive being brandy (a spirit distilled from wine).
The original reason for fortification was to preserve wines, as the higher alcohol level and additional sweetness help to preserve the wine (when supplemental alcohol is added before fermentation finishes, it kills the yeast and leaves residual sugar). Even though other preservation methods exist, the fortification process survives, as consumers have developed tastes for wines preserved this way.
Common fortified wines include:
Sherry
Port
Marsala
Madeira
Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise and other vins doux naturels
Fortified wines must be distinguished from spirits made from wine. While both have increased alcohol content, spirits are the result of a process of distillation, while fortified wines have spirits added to them. Fortified wines generally have an alcohol content between that of wines and spirits.
Fortified wines are legally called dessert wines in the U.S. but are called liqueur wines in Europe. In UK legislation they are called fortified wines except where the EU insists on the use of "liqueur wine".
A friend of mine who works in the gem and jewelry + wine industry had an interesting point: why not describe (old) heat treated rubies and sapphires as fortified rubies and sapphires. I had never thought about it. Not a bad idea. Then I thought about the consequences. The industry is contaminated with radioactive egomaniacs + endlessly complicated characters. Who has the guts to communicate with them? If the concept were put forward for discussion I wouldn't be surprised if there were shooting contest (s) between the wine industry, gem industry, the lab experts + the dysfunctional trade associations, but you may never know. Watch out for fortified + advanced fortified rubies and sapphires!
Friday, July 13, 2007
In Your Face
Pernilla Holmes writes about the concept of portraiture + personal identity + issues of politics, social inequity + our obsession with celebrity + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=2292
Think of the gem and jewelry: the unique characters and their perceptions + our obsession with celebrity + the swarm theory + the concept of jewelerture........
Think of the gem and jewelry: the unique characters and their perceptions + our obsession with celebrity + the swarm theory + the concept of jewelerture........
The Golden Years Of The Baby Boomers
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about the future of baby boomers in the U.S + GAO (General Accounting Office) analysis of national survey + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=26072
China Close To Becoming Third Largest Economy
(via Economic Times) China's sizzling economy grew even faster in 2006 than previously reported, bringing it closer to overtaking Germany as the world's third-biggest, and its export-fueled foreign reserves have risen to a new high of $1.33 trillion, according to new government data.
The figures released Wednesday reflect China's stunning economic success but could fuel fears of overheating and prompt Beijing to boost interest rates or tighten regulatory controls to cool the boom. The National Bureau of Statistics raised its estimate of China's 2006 growth rate from 10.7 per cent to 11.1 per cent. It nudged up its estimate of total output to 21.1 trillion yuan ($2.705 trillion; euro 2.048 trillion), bringing China closer to overtaking Germany as the world's No. 3 economy after the United States and Japan.
The statistics agency routinely issues such revisions to economic growth rates. But the latest report could receive special attention from Chinese leaders, who are trying to rein in a boom that they worry could ignite a financial crisis.
Chinese leaders want to maintain fast growth to reduce poverty but are trying to slow investment in auto manufacturing, real estate and other areas where supply outstrips demand. They worry that runaway spending could ignite inflation or leave banks and borrowers with dangerously high debt levels.
The central bank's research bureau said last month the economy was expected to expand by 10.8 per cent this year. That was in line with projections by the World Bank and other economists, and would be China's fifth straight year of growth in excess of 10 per cent. China's trade surplus soared to a new monthly high of $26.9 billion (euro 19.8 billion) in June, the government reported Tuesday. The flood of export revenues has forced the central bank to drain billions of dollars a month from the economy through bond sales to reduce pressure for prices to rise, piling up the money in US Treasury’s and other foreign securities and helping to finance Washington's budget deficit.
The reserves, already the world's largest, rose to US$1.33 trillion (euro 965 billion) at the end of June, a 41.6 per cent increase over the same time last year, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing the central bank. The reserves soared by $266.3 billion (euro 193 billion) in the first six months of this year, more than in all of 2006, the bank said. Beijing is creating a company to make more profitable use of the reserves through commercial investments abroad. Plans call for the company to receive an initial injection of $200 billion (euro 160 billion) in government money.
The figures released Wednesday reflect China's stunning economic success but could fuel fears of overheating and prompt Beijing to boost interest rates or tighten regulatory controls to cool the boom. The National Bureau of Statistics raised its estimate of China's 2006 growth rate from 10.7 per cent to 11.1 per cent. It nudged up its estimate of total output to 21.1 trillion yuan ($2.705 trillion; euro 2.048 trillion), bringing China closer to overtaking Germany as the world's No. 3 economy after the United States and Japan.
The statistics agency routinely issues such revisions to economic growth rates. But the latest report could receive special attention from Chinese leaders, who are trying to rein in a boom that they worry could ignite a financial crisis.
Chinese leaders want to maintain fast growth to reduce poverty but are trying to slow investment in auto manufacturing, real estate and other areas where supply outstrips demand. They worry that runaway spending could ignite inflation or leave banks and borrowers with dangerously high debt levels.
The central bank's research bureau said last month the economy was expected to expand by 10.8 per cent this year. That was in line with projections by the World Bank and other economists, and would be China's fifth straight year of growth in excess of 10 per cent. China's trade surplus soared to a new monthly high of $26.9 billion (euro 19.8 billion) in June, the government reported Tuesday. The flood of export revenues has forced the central bank to drain billions of dollars a month from the economy through bond sales to reduce pressure for prices to rise, piling up the money in US Treasury’s and other foreign securities and helping to finance Washington's budget deficit.
The reserves, already the world's largest, rose to US$1.33 trillion (euro 965 billion) at the end of June, a 41.6 per cent increase over the same time last year, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing the central bank. The reserves soared by $266.3 billion (euro 193 billion) in the first six months of this year, more than in all of 2006, the bank said. Beijing is creating a company to make more profitable use of the reserves through commercial investments abroad. Plans call for the company to receive an initial injection of $200 billion (euro 160 billion) in government money.
Toxic Trinkets
(via Harvard's World Health News) An investigation by Florida's Tampa Tribune finds unsafe amounts of lead in inexpensive jewelry marketed to children.
"They're an irresistible buy: cheap children's jewelry and toy trinkets, lining the shelves of some of the nation's best-known retailers. And though consumers snap up these adorable items by the millions, retailers love them even more. They cost little to make overseas and can be highly profitable. But such trinkets are exposing America's children to potentially lethal levels of lead, a cheap bonding agent. The Tampa Tribune conducted an investigation of stores and federal regulations aimed at protecting consumers from such hazardous products. It found: One in three children's trinkets bought randomly in Bay area stores last month contained a level of lead considered a serious health risk to children younger than 6. Two pieces were purchased after in-house or national recalls of the toxic products had been issued, but items remained on local store shelves. Health officials, government regulators and retailers say there's no foolproof system to keep lead-tainted products out of stores, given inconsistent and lax quality controls at overseas factories. About 9 million pieces of children's jewelry have been recalled since 2006, but an understaffed and underfunded U.S. consumer regulatory agency has failed to fine a U.S. retailer or distributor for selling jewelry containing toxic levels. Blame the flood of potential danger on an expanding global marketplace."
"They're an irresistible buy: cheap children's jewelry and toy trinkets, lining the shelves of some of the nation's best-known retailers. And though consumers snap up these adorable items by the millions, retailers love them even more. They cost little to make overseas and can be highly profitable. But such trinkets are exposing America's children to potentially lethal levels of lead, a cheap bonding agent. The Tampa Tribune conducted an investigation of stores and federal regulations aimed at protecting consumers from such hazardous products. It found: One in three children's trinkets bought randomly in Bay area stores last month contained a level of lead considered a serious health risk to children younger than 6. Two pieces were purchased after in-house or national recalls of the toxic products had been issued, but items remained on local store shelves. Health officials, government regulators and retailers say there's no foolproof system to keep lead-tainted products out of stores, given inconsistent and lax quality controls at overseas factories. About 9 million pieces of children's jewelry have been recalled since 2006, but an understaffed and underfunded U.S. consumer regulatory agency has failed to fine a U.S. retailer or distributor for selling jewelry containing toxic levels. Blame the flood of potential danger on an expanding global marketplace."
The Pleasures Of Discovery
2007: A real treat from a gemological genius. Good tips for students of gemology, lab gemologists, gem dealers, jewelers and those who love colored stones.
(via The Journal of Gemmology, Vol.XIV, No.3, July 1974) B W Anderson writes:
(being the substance of a talk given to the Gemmological Association of Great Britain at Goldsmith’s Hall on 29th October, 1973)
In the talk I gave in January I described our early struggles in the Precious Stone Laboratory from 1925 onwards, first in learning our main job of pearl testing and later in improving and extending the techniques for testing gemstones of all kinds. Tonight, in continuing the inside story of the Laboratory I am proposing to stick pretty closely to one main theme rather than risk getting lost in recalling a host of little incidents: the theme being the story of discoveries of new gem varieties and new gem minerals in which we were lucky enough to be involved to a major or minor extent.
At present time there are some 2500 separate mineral species known to science. Each year a number of new names are added, but most of them are not only very rare but quite insignificant in form. One sometimes feels rather sorry for some worthy scientist whose name is given by its discoverer as compliment to some very indifferent mineral! The small importance of most of these in indicated by the fact that in a standard textbook such as the 1971 edition of Dana’s Manual of Mineralogy only some 200 species were considered worthy of description.
But the discovery of a new gem mineral is a rare event, for it implies that the specimens found are at least large enough to be cut as stones suitable for jewelry, and usually that they are transparent and pleasingly colored. From the trade point of view the recovery of new varieties of an already known mineral may be much more important. One has only to think of demantoid (1878), kunzite (1902), and tanzanite (1967) as instances of this.
Gahnospinel
Our first investigation into stones which had not previously been described concerned certain blue spinels from Ceylon which had a normal appearance but which were found to have a refractive index, and particularly a density, which was far higher than any quoted in the literature. C J Payne and I had already noted several such anomalous stones, but the real challenge came in 1935 when T W Oliver, who was then a gemology student at Chelsea Polytechnic, showed me a blue spinel which puzzled him in having a refractive index of over 1.74 instead of customary 1.715 or 1.72 of a spinel with so pale a lavender blue. In the laboratory we found the actual figures to be 1.7432 for the refractive index (using the minimum deviation method), and the density to be 3.947, which was even more startling.
The hunt was now on: we set to work in earnest to search for comparable stones, working through parcels of Ceylon stones borrowed from the rich stock of E Hahn & Sons, who were in those happy days established in 26, Hatton Garden. We also segregated by means of Clerici solution high density blue spinels from samples of the Ceylon gem gravels. The rarity of these anomalous stones is indicated by the fact that of over 300 spinels examined, only four had densities above 3.85.
Eventually we had in our hands a graduated range of blue spinels ranging from No.1 specimen, which was a pebble polished as a prism by Mathews Lapidaries, which gave us the measured figures of 1.7469 for refractive index and 3.981 for density, down to No.22, which had the normal values of 1.7153 and 3.584 respectively.
We realized that the replacing element causing these enhanced figures had to be one known to form a ‘spinel’ on its own and one which would have no influence on the color. Our guess that this element was zinc soon proved to be correct. We prepared a graph on which we plotted the density and refractive index of pure magnesium spinel and the corresponding figures (4.625 and 1.805) for a man-made zinc spinel, known in nature as the mineral gahnite. The zinc-rich spinels of our newly discovered series found to fit satisfactorily along the line between the two points and were well away from the line leading from the plot for magnesium spinel to that for the iron spinel, hercynite. Our ‘gahnospinels’, as we christened them, varied in color from pale to dark blue, according to their content of ferrous iron, but this had very little influence on their properties. Any considerable influx of iron causes spinel to become black and opaque and fit only for mourning jewelry. Ceylonite and pleonaste are variety names which have been used for such stones, typical values for which are 3.8 for density and 1.78 for refractive index.
We also used a small grating spectrograph made for us by Bellingham and Stanley to record the emission spectrum of small samples of stones selected from our series, fusing them in a purified carbon arc for the purpose. The spectra not only showed the expected increase in the strength of the zinc emission lines in the higher density samples, but also revealed the unexpected fact that all blue spinels from Ceylon contain at least a trace of zinc.
Dr Max Hey, the highly skilled analyst in the Mineral Department of the Natural History Museum, kindly carried out a quantitative analysis of one our ‘top’ stones and found it to contain 18.21% zinc oxide, 16.78% magnesium oxide, and 1.93% ferrous oxide—to which last the color and absorption spectrum were due. We then had enough data to justify a paper on these stones, which was published in the Mineralogical Magazine—this being the Journal of the Mineralogical Society, which is the accepted vehicle for contributions to mineralogy in this country.
This whole investigation was ideal for our first serious incursion into mineralogy. In those far-off days specimens for our purpose were readily and cheaply obtainable (Ceylon, it may be remembered, was still under the British rule); we had recently acquired a Beck table spectrometer, which enabled us, with suitably cut stones, to measure refractive indices and dispersions to four decimal places, and we were able to make accurate density determinations even on small specimens by suspension in Clerici solution followed by measurement of the R.I of the solution to our places of decimals in a hollow prism and working from a graph we had prepared showing the connexion of the density and R.I of this solution. It also gave us practice in an essential part of all research work—the art of ‘consulting the literature’ to ensure that our findings had not been already written by other workers.
A brief word on this last process may be of help to beginners in this fascinating business called research. Looking round the shelves laden with scientific journals in a big science library, such as the one in Southampton Buildings off Chancery Lane, which was formerly the Patent Office Library and is now the Science Library of the British Museum (proximity to which was not the least of our blessings), one might despair of making a thorough search. But it is not so difficult as it seems. For the past few decades at least, Mineral Abstracts have existed and a rapid search through the indexes of their more recent volumes under ‘spinel’, say, will lead you to papers on the subject that interests you. Consulting the latest of these will provide you with all the necessary references up to that time: the author will have done that work for you. A knowledge of German may be helpful, but copying facilities are provided by the library, and in ten minutes you can be provided with a photocopy which you can brood over at your leisure.
Before leaving the subject of gahnospinel I might mention that the highest figures yet encountered were in blue spinel sent for a routine test in 1964. This had density 4.06 and refractive index 1.7542. It is hardly likely that even so extreme a case might be confused with sapphire, but it is not uncommon for stones containing only a small proportion of zinc to have refractive indices around the 1.728 mark—a value associated in the mind with synthetic spinel.
The Pleasure Of Discovery (continued)
(via The Journal of Gemmology, Vol.XIV, No.3, July 1974) B W Anderson writes:
(being the substance of a talk given to the Gemmological Association of Great Britain at Goldsmith’s Hall on 29th October, 1973)
In the talk I gave in January I described our early struggles in the Precious Stone Laboratory from 1925 onwards, first in learning our main job of pearl testing and later in improving and extending the techniques for testing gemstones of all kinds. Tonight, in continuing the inside story of the Laboratory I am proposing to stick pretty closely to one main theme rather than risk getting lost in recalling a host of little incidents: the theme being the story of discoveries of new gem varieties and new gem minerals in which we were lucky enough to be involved to a major or minor extent.
At present time there are some 2500 separate mineral species known to science. Each year a number of new names are added, but most of them are not only very rare but quite insignificant in form. One sometimes feels rather sorry for some worthy scientist whose name is given by its discoverer as compliment to some very indifferent mineral! The small importance of most of these in indicated by the fact that in a standard textbook such as the 1971 edition of Dana’s Manual of Mineralogy only some 200 species were considered worthy of description.
But the discovery of a new gem mineral is a rare event, for it implies that the specimens found are at least large enough to be cut as stones suitable for jewelry, and usually that they are transparent and pleasingly colored. From the trade point of view the recovery of new varieties of an already known mineral may be much more important. One has only to think of demantoid (1878), kunzite (1902), and tanzanite (1967) as instances of this.
Gahnospinel
Our first investigation into stones which had not previously been described concerned certain blue spinels from Ceylon which had a normal appearance but which were found to have a refractive index, and particularly a density, which was far higher than any quoted in the literature. C J Payne and I had already noted several such anomalous stones, but the real challenge came in 1935 when T W Oliver, who was then a gemology student at Chelsea Polytechnic, showed me a blue spinel which puzzled him in having a refractive index of over 1.74 instead of customary 1.715 or 1.72 of a spinel with so pale a lavender blue. In the laboratory we found the actual figures to be 1.7432 for the refractive index (using the minimum deviation method), and the density to be 3.947, which was even more startling.
The hunt was now on: we set to work in earnest to search for comparable stones, working through parcels of Ceylon stones borrowed from the rich stock of E Hahn & Sons, who were in those happy days established in 26, Hatton Garden. We also segregated by means of Clerici solution high density blue spinels from samples of the Ceylon gem gravels. The rarity of these anomalous stones is indicated by the fact that of over 300 spinels examined, only four had densities above 3.85.
Eventually we had in our hands a graduated range of blue spinels ranging from No.1 specimen, which was a pebble polished as a prism by Mathews Lapidaries, which gave us the measured figures of 1.7469 for refractive index and 3.981 for density, down to No.22, which had the normal values of 1.7153 and 3.584 respectively.
We realized that the replacing element causing these enhanced figures had to be one known to form a ‘spinel’ on its own and one which would have no influence on the color. Our guess that this element was zinc soon proved to be correct. We prepared a graph on which we plotted the density and refractive index of pure magnesium spinel and the corresponding figures (4.625 and 1.805) for a man-made zinc spinel, known in nature as the mineral gahnite. The zinc-rich spinels of our newly discovered series found to fit satisfactorily along the line between the two points and were well away from the line leading from the plot for magnesium spinel to that for the iron spinel, hercynite. Our ‘gahnospinels’, as we christened them, varied in color from pale to dark blue, according to their content of ferrous iron, but this had very little influence on their properties. Any considerable influx of iron causes spinel to become black and opaque and fit only for mourning jewelry. Ceylonite and pleonaste are variety names which have been used for such stones, typical values for which are 3.8 for density and 1.78 for refractive index.
We also used a small grating spectrograph made for us by Bellingham and Stanley to record the emission spectrum of small samples of stones selected from our series, fusing them in a purified carbon arc for the purpose. The spectra not only showed the expected increase in the strength of the zinc emission lines in the higher density samples, but also revealed the unexpected fact that all blue spinels from Ceylon contain at least a trace of zinc.
Dr Max Hey, the highly skilled analyst in the Mineral Department of the Natural History Museum, kindly carried out a quantitative analysis of one our ‘top’ stones and found it to contain 18.21% zinc oxide, 16.78% magnesium oxide, and 1.93% ferrous oxide—to which last the color and absorption spectrum were due. We then had enough data to justify a paper on these stones, which was published in the Mineralogical Magazine—this being the Journal of the Mineralogical Society, which is the accepted vehicle for contributions to mineralogy in this country.
This whole investigation was ideal for our first serious incursion into mineralogy. In those far-off days specimens for our purpose were readily and cheaply obtainable (Ceylon, it may be remembered, was still under the British rule); we had recently acquired a Beck table spectrometer, which enabled us, with suitably cut stones, to measure refractive indices and dispersions to four decimal places, and we were able to make accurate density determinations even on small specimens by suspension in Clerici solution followed by measurement of the R.I of the solution to our places of decimals in a hollow prism and working from a graph we had prepared showing the connexion of the density and R.I of this solution. It also gave us practice in an essential part of all research work—the art of ‘consulting the literature’ to ensure that our findings had not been already written by other workers.
A brief word on this last process may be of help to beginners in this fascinating business called research. Looking round the shelves laden with scientific journals in a big science library, such as the one in Southampton Buildings off Chancery Lane, which was formerly the Patent Office Library and is now the Science Library of the British Museum (proximity to which was not the least of our blessings), one might despair of making a thorough search. But it is not so difficult as it seems. For the past few decades at least, Mineral Abstracts have existed and a rapid search through the indexes of their more recent volumes under ‘spinel’, say, will lead you to papers on the subject that interests you. Consulting the latest of these will provide you with all the necessary references up to that time: the author will have done that work for you. A knowledge of German may be helpful, but copying facilities are provided by the library, and in ten minutes you can be provided with a photocopy which you can brood over at your leisure.
Before leaving the subject of gahnospinel I might mention that the highest figures yet encountered were in blue spinel sent for a routine test in 1964. This had density 4.06 and refractive index 1.7542. It is hardly likely that even so extreme a case might be confused with sapphire, but it is not uncommon for stones containing only a small proportion of zinc to have refractive indices around the 1.728 mark—a value associated in the mind with synthetic spinel.
The Pleasure Of Discovery (continued)
Danburite
Chemistry: Calcium boro-silicate
Crystal system: Orthorhombic; striated prisms of diamond-shaped cross section, terminated by domes; distinctive chisel-shape appearance; habits similar to topaz.
Color: Transparent; yellow and colorless; rarely pink.
Hardness: 7
Cleavage: None; Fracture: sub-conchoidal.
Specific gravity: 3.0
Refractive index: 1.63 – 1.64; Biaxial positive/negative; 0.006
Luster: Vitreous.
Dispersion: Low
Dichroism: -
Occurrence: Burma, Madagascar, Mexico, Australia.
Notes
Collector’s stone; distinguished from topaz (S.G = 3.53) by lower S.G; Apatite (D.R: 0.003) by higher D.R and Tourmaline (D.R: 0.018) by lower D.R; may show rare earth spectrum; usually faceted.
Crystal system: Orthorhombic; striated prisms of diamond-shaped cross section, terminated by domes; distinctive chisel-shape appearance; habits similar to topaz.
Color: Transparent; yellow and colorless; rarely pink.
Hardness: 7
Cleavage: None; Fracture: sub-conchoidal.
Specific gravity: 3.0
Refractive index: 1.63 – 1.64; Biaxial positive/negative; 0.006
Luster: Vitreous.
Dispersion: Low
Dichroism: -
Occurrence: Burma, Madagascar, Mexico, Australia.
Notes
Collector’s stone; distinguished from topaz (S.G = 3.53) by lower S.G; Apatite (D.R: 0.003) by higher D.R and Tourmaline (D.R: 0.018) by lower D.R; may show rare earth spectrum; usually faceted.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
The Culture Of The GIA Synthetic Certificate Debate
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about the issues discussed at the GIA Symposium in San Diego + consumer confidence issues + FTC vs. industry governing bodies + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=26152
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