FreeShip- "Gemcutter’s Star Friend", High RI Asterism/Star Detector - (Prompt rebate on orders with 3+ FreeShip items!)

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This is a viscous (thick) version of GemCutter's Friend. Dispensing it with dropper bottles onto a rough stone doesn't work that well because of issues with rubber or plastic caps. We would suggest that dipping a toothpick or something larger onto the top surface of the material in the jar and pulling out a few drops to be deposited onto your stone will work best in the long run.

The intended use for this product is to deposit small amounts from the jar onto gem rough as an aid in finding asterism or "stars" in gemstones which can have this property, such as star sapphires.
Since this is viscous it will not run off of stones but will stay in a "puddle". Used with a bright light it can help orient the cut in the best viewing position for a star. It can also be used in cases when a stone won't fit into a jar of Gemcutter's Friend. Some of the viscous liquid can be placed on areas on the large stone.

If you wish to transfer this to a different container, please note that if you use plastic bottles they must be made of polyethylene or polypropylene, DON'T put it into a clear plastic container, all clear plastics that we know of will cloud up & soften from organic fluids; also don't get any on a wood finish, it will leave a "scar".
Also, please note that Gemcutter's Star Friend is not a single ingredient, it is a mixture. It was very difficult to formulate a high viscosity version that is just as clear and has the same high refractive index as the low viscosity version.
We've sold this for several years under another name that turned out to have a trademark issue, so we’ve changed the name and updated this description to eliminate all mention of the previous names of both the original material (now trademarked) which had not been available for years, and our version which had a very similar name.

We've written a new detailed safety section on Gemcutter's Friend and Gemcutter's Star Friend at the bottom, just above "COMBINED SHIPPING". It's rather lengthy, so I'll state the short version up here: This product is non-toxic, safe to use daily (there are no fumes), and it's not flammable (unless you directed a torch right onto the liquid; it is also self-extinguishing, that is the definition for something that is "combustible"). You should avoid getting it on sensitive areas of your skin like wrists. Contact with fingertips should not pose a problem. MSDS sheets of the main ingredient classify it as toxic if you drink it.

Since gemstones have high refractive indices, if pre-cut rough gems are immersed into a liquid with a similar high refractive index they will appear to disappear with only flaws in the gems, such as dark inclusions, voids, cracks, etc., visible since the defects are of a lower refractive index. This allows the gem cutter to orient the best position of the stone to cut in the areas having no flaws. It's an "orientation maximizer" that shows where the largest cut gem from the rough is that will give the maximum dollar value of the cut gem.
This "Star" version of the immersion liquid version is a thick, near gel that is placed onto rough stones, it is not for immersion but for asterism ("star") detection.

On lapidary forums I saw mention of people dunking their stones in a variety of liquids with greater or lesser success in finding flaws. Some liquids were honey, anise oil, brake fluid, cinnamon oil, wintergreen oil, and others.
The best liquids were those that had a refractive index of 1.5 or higher.
Here are the refractive indices of some of the liquids I saw on the lapidary forums:
anise oil 1.54-1.56 (clear)
cinnamon oil 1.59-1.62 (usually dark)
cassia oil 1.58-1.60 (amber)
wintergreen oil 1.54 (clear)
clove oil 1.53 (always dark)

Of those, it looks like whoever used anise oil came up with the best candidate, since it has the highest RI and is clear. One problem with it is the fact that it's an essential oil and the RI can vary from variety to variety (there are several). Another problem is the strong licorice aroma it has (which may be a plus for people who like licorice!).
I was working with high refractive index ingredients used in the flavors and fragrances industry (they were available in small quantities and were relatively low in price) for a sculpture idea I was working on. So, since I had an assortment of high RI liquids to experiment with, I was able to formulate a mixture that was safe, low viscosity, low odor, crystal clear, bright, and had an RI of about 1.57
We decided to try selling some of my version on Etsy to see what interest it generated. That was back in November 2016. Since then, we've had over 250 orders for it, and many 5-star reviews. We consider continuing to sell it under the new name worthwhile (we changed the name on 9/7/22).

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Safety Section:

We've had a couple of customers ask if there's anything in Gemcutter’s Star Friend that's unsafe or toxic. I've been meaning to address that in these listing descriptions.

Is it non-toxic, and safe? Presupposing you don't do the ridiculous- wash large areas of your body with it or drink it- the answer is categorically yes; it is not harmful. MSDS sheets of the main ingredient list ingestion (drinking) in the toxicity section. In other words, it is toxic if you swallow it.

MSDS sheets give the ingredients a relatively high passing grade in the non-hazardous arena. I use the word "relatively" because you do need to use common sense. Half of MSDS sheets warn about is "skin sensitization" in some people who repeatedly have skin contact. "Sensitization" means that you will develop allergic reactions, most commonly a rash, if skin contact occurs again. Although apparently the potential for sensitization is not universally recognized. The other half of MSDS sheets state "skin sensitization is not likely to occur".

It's very common to see the potential for sensitization in hydrocarbons. Many essential oils, solvents, glues, perfumes, personal care ingredients, and oils, have that capacity. One well known resin, epoxy, stands out as one of the worst. Cyanoacrylates and other acrylic resins and monomers (Super Glue and acrylics used by fingernail artists) are other resins that can cause it. Pretty much any of the thousands of compounds derived from crude oil are included in the list.

There is one other potential hazard that comes with hydrocarbons and that is flammability. MSDS sheets give the ingredients in Gemcutter’s Star Friend a low fire danger. I tested this as I do with other hydrocarbons new to me. I put a small puddle of the liquid in a common dinner spoon in the driveway and put the flame from a mini-torch directly onto the puddle. This material passed the test to my satisfaction. It took about 5 seconds to get the puddle to actually ignite. Its flame was low and weak. As soon as I removed the torch the flame on the puddle extinguished itself.

One of the physical properties of Gemcutter’s Star Friend is low vapor pressure, which means it evaporates very slowly. This is good to know because there is no fire hazard from fumes. Another physical property is non-reactivity with other materials. In MSDS sheets this is often phrased as "is hazardous polymerization expected". The answer is no for all ingredients. Others are "chemical stability" and "hazardous decomposition". The answers are yes for chemical stability and no for hazardous decomposition. As would be expected from the above information, all ingredients are non-DOT regulated.

The NFPA safety diamond (and the similar HMIS diamond) gives the main ingredient of Gemcutter’s Friend a 1, 1, 1 rating which is very common for essentially non-hazardous materials. Many essential oils used to make perfume have the same rating. If you're unfamiliar with the safety diamond, here's an online quote defining it:
"The NFPA diamond consists of four color-coded fields: blue, red, yellow, and white. The blue, red, and yellow fields—which represent health hazard, flammability, and reactivity, respectively—use a numbering scale ranging from 0 to 4. A value of 0 means that the material poses essentially no hazard, whereas a rating of 4 indicates extreme danger. The white field is used to convey special hazards."
Don't hesitate to ask if you have any other safety concerns or questions about this product.-

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