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Mar. 18th, 2004 09:26 pmSymmetry. Dude.
Okay. You have a paper clip. Normal, nothing special, one inch long paper clip. Only it's about a quarter of the size.
You have a microscope.
You have to look through the scope and determine if the bends are actually perfect bends or if maybe there are kinks in it. Then you have to see if the sides are actually completely parallel or if maybe they pull in or out a bit, and if they do, by how much. Than you have to look at it flat, from three or four different angles, and figure out if it really is flat, or if parts of it are jutting out just a bit. Then you have to see if the amount of space between the outer and inner bends is exactly the same, or if there is more space in some sections than others.
And you should be able to do all of this, accurately, in about thirty seconds.
That would be the jist of symmetry. Only with diamonds. And 57 facets. And facet junctions. And off-center tables and culets and crown angles and wavy girdles and open mains and misshapen bezels and blah blah blah blah blah, not to mention the polish and graining and pits and chips vs. indented naturals vs. cavities and is it really a crystal or a very compact cloud and maybe it's actually a knot and if I tilt the stone this way will I be able to see a break in the surface and does it have a mirror reflection or is it a prism in which case is it shallow to the window and can you see it face up at 10x and is it callable and that looks like an extra facet but are those polish lines, or maybe growth marks, and is the natural indented and this is so close to the girdle so I can't see if it mirrors and does it break the pavilion and the crown or is it just really deep and I still have eight more weeks of learning that we have yet to cover.
It's exhausting.
I love my job.
Today I registered to start working on my G.G (Graduate Gemologist degree). Woo Hoo!
I must sleep now.
Okay. You have a paper clip. Normal, nothing special, one inch long paper clip. Only it's about a quarter of the size.
You have a microscope.
You have to look through the scope and determine if the bends are actually perfect bends or if maybe there are kinks in it. Then you have to see if the sides are actually completely parallel or if maybe they pull in or out a bit, and if they do, by how much. Than you have to look at it flat, from three or four different angles, and figure out if it really is flat, or if parts of it are jutting out just a bit. Then you have to see if the amount of space between the outer and inner bends is exactly the same, or if there is more space in some sections than others.
And you should be able to do all of this, accurately, in about thirty seconds.
That would be the jist of symmetry. Only with diamonds. And 57 facets. And facet junctions. And off-center tables and culets and crown angles and wavy girdles and open mains and misshapen bezels and blah blah blah blah blah, not to mention the polish and graining and pits and chips vs. indented naturals vs. cavities and is it really a crystal or a very compact cloud and maybe it's actually a knot and if I tilt the stone this way will I be able to see a break in the surface and does it have a mirror reflection or is it a prism in which case is it shallow to the window and can you see it face up at 10x and is it callable and that looks like an extra facet but are those polish lines, or maybe growth marks, and is the natural indented and this is so close to the girdle so I can't see if it mirrors and does it break the pavilion and the crown or is it just really deep and I still have eight more weeks of learning that we have yet to cover.
It's exhausting.
I love my job.
Today I registered to start working on my G.G (Graduate Gemologist degree). Woo Hoo!
I must sleep now.
