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Took my niece's 'crystal' from the mall to a local rock shop
Honestly, the guy there compared it to a piece of real quartz from his case and the difference was crazy. The mall one was just colored glass that chipped when he tapped it with a steel pick. Anyone know a good spot for real mineral IDs near Phoenix?
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xenaw255mo ago
My buddy got a "turquoise" ring from a vendor downtown last year. He took it to the gem and mineral show at the fairgrounds, and one of the dealers there just laughed. It was dyed howlite, basically chalk, and it started flaking apart in his hand. For Phoenix, I'd check if the Arizona Mineralogical Society does public ID days. Some of those members are crazy good at spotting fakes.
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angelab625mo ago
That "crazy good" skill comes from years of getting tricked themselves, honestly.
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valgibson4mo ago
Yeah I used to be one of those people who thought even the cheap mall stuff had some kind of "energy" so it didn't matter if it was real or not. But after my aunt brought home this huge clear "quartz" tower from a gift shop and I dropped it on the tile floor and it just shattered like a glass cup I started questioning everything. That's when I finally admitted to myself that real stones just feel different in your hand, they have weight and heft and coolness that glass can't fake. I've heard the Mineralogical Society puts on that show every year at the fairgrounds too, do you just walk up to any dealer there or do they have a special table for checking stuff?
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