Posted in Candle Holders & Accessories on 02/02/2004 01:33 pm by admin

How can you tell the difference between glass and a real crystal?
My kids bought a rose quartz crystal necklace and a large clear/white crystal from a specialty shop. Their friends are insisting the crystals aren't "real." I've heard some shops sell glass under the guise of being real crystals, but how do you tell?
One way to tell would be through how it is faceted. Minerals have defined crystalline structures that can only be cut into a gem/"crystal" form along certain fracture planes. Obviously, you can't really look at that, and neither can I. There are very few transparent minerals similar to glass enough to be mistaken (especially if you know how they fracture). Even fewer of these minerals are common enough to encounter in a normal crystal shop - as minerals that are being swapped for. To compare the possible glass against possible crystal, you'd need a sample of each, to see which one scratched (Mohs hardness) than the other.
Basically, if you aren't familiar with identifying real minerals and their crystals, and all that you have is one crystal of something, there is very little that you can do. The only really possible way to try would be to take the Mohs scratch test to your crystals. Most of these possibly transparent crystals are softer than glass, and would scratch - but then you'd have a scratched crystal.
I would recommend accepting the 99.9% chance that is is just glass, and enjoy it anyway.
SET OF 6 RED BOUQUET FLOWERS
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Introducing Waterford Wishes - enhancing each toast you make at every special occasion. With cuts designed to represent the bubbles in champagne, these flutes are perfect for any celebratory occasion. Birthdays, weddings or everday, you will enjoy toasting the happy celebrants with the brilliance and refinement reflected in your Waterford Crystal toasting flutes...
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Pure
List Price: $18.98
Sale Price: $9.94
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Comparisons with Charlotte Church are inevitable, yet 16-year-old New Zealand singer Hayley Westenra has her own distinctive sound. She has impeccably clear diction coupled with a gorgeous voice with a very wide range: her high notes in the Kate Bush hit "Wuthering Heights" are especially striking, and like Bush she is also a dancer, having performed with the Royal New Zealand Ballet...
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Having sung before royalty and performed with the Irish super-group Celtic Woman, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, and Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel, the very young and remarkably beautiful singer is back with a tribute to her Celtic ancestry...
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The LUNE color changing LED mood light brings brilliant colors to every facet of life.
The LUNE incorporates Dense Matrix LED technology, user-friendly controls and a sleek body to bring vibrant colors to every occasion...
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Beautiful Vintage Styled Glass Flower Shaped Cabinet/ Drawer Knob. 1 1/4 in diameter. Comes with 1inch steel screw for installation.
The photo makes the knob look blue but it is not. It is crystal clear glass...
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Jim Henson's fantasy epic The Dark Crystal doesn't take place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but like Star Wars it takes the audience to a place that exists only in the imagination and, for an hour and a half, on the screen...
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