SC - Chicken soup?

[david friedman]

At 1:55 PM +0000 10/5/00, Erika Thomenius wrote:

>Also, you can get lab-grown stones a lot of places.  (ex. 
>www.thaigem.com).. Would that be cheating?  :)

I don't know--it depends whether synthetics have the same virtues as 
natural. Clearly you have to do some research. I suggest going 
through one of the medieval lapidaries to find out what virtues each 
stone has, then constructing suitable tests. I don't think you can 
get synthetic amethyst, so the "does it protect me from getting 
drunk" test, however entertaining, may not be an option. And some of 
the others might be a bit hazardous. Be selective.

A further consideration is that something labelled "synthetic X" may 
actually be "synthetic Y in a color that looks like X." Many 
synthetic gemstones are either corundum or spinel, colored to match 
whatever they are supposed to be.
- -- 
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/