The very first gemmological tool was the eye. In combination with the magnifying aid of a microscope and years of experience, visual examination is still an extremely sensitive, powerful and versatile analytical method. A large proportion of the questions we are confronted with today can still be answered by means of careful microscopic observation. Scrutiny of the gemstone by eye is a method that is very much old school yet at the same time cutting edge.
Other traditional gemmological analyses and tools focus on the basic physical properties of the mineral, typically by determining a material constant, or by providing some initial chemical or structural information on a gemstone. These data are usually of qualitative nature only sufficient to determine the identity of the material, i.e. the mineral species. Traditional gemmological methods are still used in today’s gemmological labs, but they can neither provide answers to the questions posed by advanced methods of gemstone treatment and synthesis, nor can they meet the challenges of origin determination. They remain, however, useful complements to the sophisticated analytical instruments that dominate modern gem labs.
