Gemology

The science of dealing with or testing natural and artificial materials relies on accurately testing the physical properties of gemstones, gold, and heavy minerals. Natural mined gemstones are a valuable commodity when they are accurately qualified as authentic, classified correctly, characterized by geographical origin, and their quality is properly demonstrated. However, gaining the measurements required for these insights can be challenging due to sometimes small sample sizes of 1mm or 2mm, their multifaceted surfaces and high refractive index, there are often difficulties in positioning small samples accurately for observing and testing, and the samples cannot be damaged during testing.

Due to urbanization and growing middle class populations in countries like Brazil and China, consumer demand for colored gemstones has increased, which has driven a surge in synthetic gemstone production. Synthetic gemstones are created in a laboratory to serve as purposeful counterfeits or to be marketed for their beauty versus naturally created characteristics. Since synthetic stones share some of the beauty and desirable characteristics of their natural counterparts, non-destructive gem testing is important to verify authenticity. Discover PerkinElmer’s analytical solutions to gain valuable measurements and insights into the quality and nature of the gemstones you need to study.