[meteorite-list] New type of fake moldavite coming soon?

From: cdtucson at cox.net <cdtucson_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2011 14:30:48 -0400
Message-ID: <20110801143048.M34JY.1400805.imail_at_fed1rmwml35>

MikeG, list,
As a man who has earned much of his living in the art and collectible resale business.
This is actually much worse news than people may realize.
If these things are actually made of real glass then the testing of them for H2O will be difficult because all of the water was removed during the faking (melting) manufacturing process.
If these are indeed fake. This could mean the end of Moldavites as a collectible.
Once fakes get this good nobody wants them anymore.
This happened to "Roseville" pottery.
A Chinese firm purchased the actual vintage molds that were used to make "Roseville Pottery" and the Chinese figured out how to match the glaze colors. So, there went the "Roseville collecting industry. It became virtually impossible to tell the old from the new. The risk of buying a fake is too great.
Thermoluminesence can tell them apart but that it both destructive and costly.
This is very very sad news.

--
                                                             
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote". 
  
 
---- Michael Gilmer <meteoritemike at gmail.com> wrote: 
> Thanks Yinan for the heads-up.  I frequent the Vug, but haven't been
> there in a while and missed this article.  :)
> 
> Yes, that is an impressive forgery.  If they can fake such a large
> piece, then they can also fake a much smaller piece.  Their greed and
> ambition betray them, because such large pieces are fantastically
> rare, especially in perfect condition.  Most of us will never have
> access to such a large and impressive Moldavite specimen, and it would
> cost a king's ransom to acquire and would surely come with museum or
> institution provenance.
> 
> Buyer beware.
> 
> The same thing has been happening with amber.  There is a ton of fake
> and misrepresented amber on eBay that has frogs, big spiders,
> scorpions, even bats in it.  Many of these are fakes, but some of them
> are well-done and can be tricky to spot.  They might look real, but
> the red flag is rarity.  Invertebrates like large frogs are
> astronomically rare and cost a fortune if they can be acquired at all.
>  Seeing such a piece for sale on eBay for less than wheel-barrow full
> of money is suspect at best to begin with.
> 
> The same would hold true for large spectacular moldavites.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> MikeG
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Galactic Stone & Ironworks - Meteorites & Amber (Michael Gilmer)
> 
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> 
> On 8/1/11, Yinan Wang <veomega at gmail.com> wrote:
> > My buddy Justin at The-Vug just put out a new article on
> > Fakeminerals.com about a new type of fake moldavite that has been
> > recently spotted in China:
> >
> > http://www.fakeminerals.com/?p=146
> >
> > I'm not sure if this is the material people are already familiar with,
> > or if it is indeed a new type, but it's impressive looking.
> >
> > - Yinan
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Received on Mon 01 Aug 2011 02:30:48 PM PDT