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Sapphire

One finds sapphires that one calls de
treille, because they are pierced and it is said that a
certain king had made from these a certain ornament in the
shape of a trellis, that would be thus named the
Screen of Charlemagne in the
treasure of Saint Denis, in which the gemstones are
mounted without leaf, so as to have the enjoyment of the light on one
side & the other, &to show their naivete. I have a white one
that seems to be rough & pierced, and is spotted all over with blue
blemishes. I am of the opinion that these are artificial & that they
are of taffre or very clear esmail azuré
melted entirely on the sapphire. The file bites it
as on the beryl.


Saffron

It is counterfeited & augmented with marigold leaves
half-dried, & twisted like a thread, & put in the
hottest sun to dry, & is mixed, & the aforesaid
marigold even gives some color.


Sapphire

Stone cutters sometimes choose old pieces of antique
glass in church windows, which are much thicker than
those of today & are of more lively colors. If it is for
soufsapphire, they choose beautiful blue
& from such a place that there are no piecesgrains, if it is possible. And having cut it in squares with
emery, they cut it in bevel & polish it. And in this manner,
they counterfeit very beautiful sapphires. The old esmail
d’azur for silver verging on aquamarine was very
appropriate for counterfeiting sapphires, but it is scarcely
found. One counterfeits aquamarines with white glass, but
they take it from the bottom of the glass.


Amber

The orangeish color that is in transparent amber and in the
other one that has body is not internal, for on the inside it is
whitish. But through age it or wearing it, it acquires this
reddish crust. This is why those who cut it with the file or on
the wheel do not remove, if it is possible, this crust. But
they only polish it, rubbing it with a willow
stick or other soft wood dipped into water &
dusted with tripoli of Brittany , and it takes a
beautiful polish. If it is too straw yellow & you want to intensify
its color, hang it inside a chimney where there is much
soot & smoke, and it will take on a reddish-orange
color. Try to take the most whitish transparent one, and put it under
dung to turn it green, like bones. Or smoke it
in a closed space, in the smoke of safre or
manganese & other drugs that you know. Or in
urine & distilled vinegar mixed with colors, or in the
vapor of aqua fortis boiling in copper, or
aqua fortis boiling with silver & sal
ammoniac & Some cut amber in facets on a wheel
of soft wood with potée instead of
emery, & jet also. The salt called de
Langlois de armonic is a mineral salt that
resembles marble stone and is a very hard mineral with large
pieces, like that of Cardona & Monserrat.



I have experimented by making it boil in lye or corrosive
water, it turns reddish on the surface. And if it is rubbed against
fir & soft wood before it is cooled, it is
easily cut.

