Rare Blue sapphire, emerald, and
coral producing molluscs are found in Chilka Lake, of Odisha state on the east
coast of India.
Photo by: Adv. Anurag Kumar Aggarwal
Photo by: Adv. Anurag Kumar Aggarwal
Photo by: Adv. Anurag Kumar Aggarwal
Photo by: Adv. Anurag Kumar Aggarwal
Photo by: Adv. Anurag Kumar Aggarwal
Will a Gemologist or Geologist ever
believe this???
NO…
But it shall be not less than a
miracle for anyone.
Our family friend Dr. Anurag
Kumar Aggarwal went for a family tour to Odisha, there they visited Chilka lake
also. Chilka lake is a beautiful brackish water lagoon (water that has salinity
than fresh water, but not as much as sea water) covering an area of over 1,100
km2. It’s known to be India’s largest coastal lagoon.
Photo by: Adv. Anurag Kumar Aggarwal
Photo by: Adv. Anurag Kumar Aggarwal
Photo by: Adv. Anurag Kumar Aggarwal
There, they took a boat to take a
view of lake, in boat coxswain and his helpers showed them mollascks in a
plastic tub. They claimed that these molluscs may contain precious gemstones
like Sapphire, Coral, Emerald and Pearl. To check the luck they broke the shell
with a wooden hammer, and did take out some green, blue, red stones out of
them. They charged good amount for each stone claiming them to be natural.
Photo by: Adv. Anurag Kumar Aggarwal
They told that they are having
license from government for the extraction of these gemstone bearing molluscs from the lake.
They also showed red crabs in a
plastic, tub which was covered with a net, they claimed that these are found in
this lake.
Photo by: Adv. Anurag Kumar Aggarwal
Dr. Anurag knew that practically it’s
not possible to get such gemstones from molluscs, but being an inquisitive
person he purchased some of the stones to share his experience with me.
He told that these cheat people
are fetching undue amount from laymen by telling false stories.
I did the analysis of those
gemstones, they were 11 stones. 2 red, 1 milky white, 1 green, 1 blue, 1 sky
blue and 5 pearls.
Photo by: Meenakshi Chauhan
Photo by: Adv. Anurag Kumar Aggarwal
Photo by: Adv. Anurag Kumar Aggarwal
All of the stones except pearls
showed the properties identical to glass, filled with gas bubbles and swirl
marks.
Red stones were to imitate coral,
as were semi-translucent, having white striations as visible in natural corals,
and were cut in cabochon (capsule like) cut, as corals are generally polished
in.
Gas bubbles and swirl marks
Photo by: Meenakshi Chauhan
Gas bubble and a burst bubble
Photo by: Meenakshi Chauhan
White striations were deliberately made to imitate coral.
Photo by: Meenakshi Chauhan
Dark Blue stone was to imitate
Blue Sapphire, and was cut in double cabochon. That was also full of gas
bubbles and swirl marks.
Photo by: Meenakshi Chauhan
Light blue stone was to imitate
Turquoise .That stone was also filed with number of gas bubbles and swirl
marks.
Photo by: Meenakshi Chauhan
Photo by: Meenakshi Chauhan
Photo by: Meenakshi Chauhan
Green stone was to imitate
emerald. Again cut in double cabochon, and was full of gas bubbles and swirl
marks.
Photo by: Meenakshi Chauhan
Pearls were appearing to be
cultured one, which are available in market for mere 50-60 INR. Which were
claimed to be natural pearls by those people. Nacre layer was peeling out from those pearls.
Photo by: Meenakshi Chauhan
Photo by: Meenakshi Chauhan
Although for a trained gemologist
it’s just a 2 minute job to catch the game, but a layman would pay high for
this fake magic.
Natural emeralds and sapphires
forms deep inside the earth curst, and are to be mined from there. Corals are
found in sea but not from molluscs, that too in well-polished form.
Pearls are found from molluscs and there farming is also done, but natural pearls are not practically possible
from this breed of molluscs as shown in the pictures.
These cheat people are
deliberately putting these stones inside molluscs with tweezers and then
killing them brutally to earn illegal money.
Red Crabs were rare Red Ghost
crabs specie, Odisha forest department is planning to include this specie of
crab in the Schedule IV of the Wild Life Protection Act 1972 for its
conservation.
This
cheating business is flourishing well in Odisha. I hope some concerned
authority shall take some action soon to stop this working. Such activities are defaming our country also, as foreign tourists do visit this lake.
Author:
Meenakshi Chauhan (meenakshi@gjepcindia.com)
Indian Gemological Institute - Gem Testing Laboratory (IGI-GTL)
Jhandewalan, Delhi
(Project of GJEPC)
