Feature
Gems & Gemology, Fall 1987, Vol. 23, No. 3
Man-Made Jewelry Malachite
V. S. Balitsky, T. M. Bublikova, S. L. Sorolzjna, L. V. Balitskaya, and A. S. Shteinberg
Jewelry-quality synthetic malachite is now being manufactured in the USSR. The texture, structure, and physical and physico-chemical properties of this synthetic malachite are reported. Three textural types have been identified: banded, silky, and budlike. The malachite is composed of closely adjacent spherulitic aggregates, the generation and growth of which are controlled by the crystallization conditions. In chemistry, color, density, hardness, optical properties, and X-ray diffraction, the synthetic malachite proved virtually identical to the natural material. Only in the thermograms were significant differences noted. Therefore, the manmade malachite holds much promise for use in stone cutting and the jewelry trade.
