Product Description

Calcite Dichroscope is a tool that lets you view the different colors of a dichroic piece of rough. It shows whether or not a stone is dichroic (reflects 2 colors). This can be helpful in differentiating stones of the same color from one another. Dichroscopes can be useful with identifying gemstones that are still in the rough and when stones are set and difficult to get to with other instruments. Light entering the dichroscope is broken into two polarized rays that have vibrational directions at right angles to each other. The two images in the dichroscope represent the polarized light and the pleochroic colors signifies doubly refractive stones except if the stone is viewed thru the optic axis. Single color in the dichroscope represents singly refractive stones. There are several different types of Dichroscopes, but the most common type is one made with Calcite. It is used by most people for identifying whether a piece of rough is ***** advantage of the dichroscope is that the two pleochroic colors that may be characteristic of a given direction in a doubly-refractive gem are seen side by side. If no dichroism is identified in the first assessment, the stone can be turned and viewed in other directions. Trichroic stones like Andalusite will show all three, just two at a time while you rotate the rough, you will see three colors. Trichroic gems can also be distinguish and will reveal three colors if the stone is viewed in three directions perpendicular to each ***** is an ideal tool for getting a good idea of how the color(s) on a piece of rough are going to look in a finished gemstone.