A word about your video.. American scientific videos geared for general consumption on the channels like Discovery are so infantile and show so little respect for the intelligence of the viewer that they even repress natural inquiry. They are punctuated with drum beats and musical fan fairs that have the effect of obscuring practical reality. I enjoyed your video because you did not treat the viewer like a grammar school student. We need more videos like yours that expose us to the edges of technology not only in the field of crystallography but in all fields.
The only reason I'm able to make a video like this is because I used to make instructional technology video's for people who sold and serviced complex systems. I was responsible for ensuring that they actually learned something. The video's on the Discovery channel are only required to be entertaining.
That collection is amazing each of them stunning in their own unique way, as someone who loves Crystal's and other geological stuff I would be so exited to own a collection like yours, very impressive and a very interesting video, the first longish one that was comprimised/not upto the coerect standard/shape looked like a drill bit made of quartz!😂, thanks for sharing your knowledge and your beautiful collection!🙂👍
Beautiful synthetic crystals...incredible colors ! Nice collection ! You brought me back, to one night, back in the 1960's. My Dad, who worked a Bell Labs, Western Electric in North Andover Ma...came home one night with a couple large rectangular shaped crystals, that were "grown" by Western Electric. I was amazed ! How could one grow, a crystal ? I thought it would take eons in nature! But they were growing them in Western Electric ! They looked something like your clear ones, (but not as clear)I think they were a little cloudy, with the "fish scales" along the sides. lol. I can still remember Dad passing them around the table..for the 8 of us to enjoy. He said they were rejected for some reason. He was an accountant for Western and a co-worker had given them to Dad. I don't know what happened to them..or even if they were "on loan" and had to be returned. I haven't seen them in over 50 years! Thanks for bringing me back to when I first saw a man made crystal, when I was a kid. N.M.C.
masscartermatt I just recently acquired one of the crystals from your dad's lab in Merrimack. Indeed, I have lots more new crystals I need to do a video on. Way back in the seventies, I got a crystal "cap" that had been sawed off of a lab grown crystal. I remember asking how much a complete one cost. I was told over a thousand dollars. Back then, this was cutting edge science. Before these crystals were available, electronic grade crystal plates were worth more than their weight in gold! Anyway, your enthusiasm has lit a fire under me to make a sequel. Watch this space.
Indrid Cold...Great ! Yes ! I remember dad saying how expensive they were to grow !! The massive plant is still there, but it closed down..around 1988 I'd say. ..Lucent took over..but didn't need the space.This place is huge.Now several people rent out small corners of the plant. I haven't been by there in ten years...Its Close to the Lawrence Mass., Air Port, in North Andover Ma. I'll keep watch. Very interesting.
@@dadsvespa gentlemen, I have a crystal given to me the year I was born in 1967, my father, a Xerox tech told me: I was fixing a copier at Bell labs and I saw the stack of blems and asked the scientist if I could have on, sure he said and I have cherished this rock since we'll 1967. Dad said the scientist told him as there are some kind of mounting grooves on either side, if you take a hacksaw to it it will knock you across the room! At several layers there appears to be bubbles or inclusion of doping to perform some tuning or function. I will get some photos up here asap, I wish to find a worth and potentially sell this beautiful crystal.
That Crystal you showed at 7:20 and said it was double terminated, that’s not a double terminated crystal it’s a twin Crystal. Double terminated will be pointed at the bottom too. and yes blue quartz does exist in nature, Quartz with inclusions of blue minerals like Dumortierite, Ajoite etc. Btw Your pronouncing trigonally wrong I believe, It’s Try-gone-ally. I can appreciate your collection although I like natural better. Oh I forgot to mention there is a natural blue transparent quartz called Iolite which is the gem variety of cordierite.
These are amazing and it's so hard to find detailed information on the process. Thank you so much!!! I wish I could weld up a small autoclave at home to do this even if it were only 1 chunky gem at a time
You mentioned vogel crystals for another video. I'd love to watch a vogel video by someone informed like you seem to be. Please make video . thanks for all your videos.
I've actually been growing synthetic ruby and sapphire through flame fusion. My crystals are no where near as great as what you have here and won't since I'm using the Verniuel process. I'm building a Verniuel furnace at home that I've been designing and testing materials. I've got the chemistry down for ruby, but sapphire is frustratingly difficult.
These samples have answered some key questions for me. I may view this again and post some more specific questions. Fantastic collection. Thank you. (voted up)
WOW! Awesome vid mate! I was just looking up the best way to grow crystals (science project for the kid, lol) and came across your video. I had no idea such things even existed . Thanks again.👍🏻
Thank you for this video and the information. I've collected crystals for years, mostly what I mined myself. I've dug some spectacular specimens in Arkansas but this stuff you have is a whole other level.
I am very surprised the former Siberian nuclear scientists were able to use molybdenum for their chambers, since molybdenum is soluble in molten quartz under pressure. I would have expected the chamber to explode under such high pressure prior to being coated with quartz crystals. Chemically speaking, the only two elements that could practically be used as an inner coating were platinum and iridium. At the same time these Russians were also growing beryl crystals. Have you obtained any of the early beryllium aluminum silicate runs? You have a beautiful collection. Thanks for sharing.
I have a few VERY RARE synthetic emerald crystals that were grown by the Linde Corporation way back in the sixties. I bought them from the estate of a young lady whose father worked for Linde. You may recall that Linde synthetic star sapphire was the absolute state of the art back then. Anyway, these emeralds are among the most beautiful crystals I have ever seen. They really deserve a video of their own.
Thank you. The world of synthetic crystals is among the most fascinating in science. This is especially true of the research conducted by the old Soviet Union. Some of their accomplishments have never been duplicated. I have some newly acquired specimens that I will be showing soon.
So sorry to have neglected answering this. Synthetic quartz is used extensively in frequency oscillators. For example, virtually EVERY computer motherboard contains a timing crystal made from a thin slice of synthetic quartz. This maintains chip synchronization.
The crystal at 17:29 was the result of a seed crystal breaking or coming dislodged from the rack and laying against a nearby crystal during the growth process. Also, most of the world calls this cultured quartz rather than synthetic quartz. The quartz is real and the first generation of seed crystal came from a large near perfect natural crystal. I have had multiple opportunities to purchase Russian cultured quarts in different colors at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. At 39:11, you imply that quartz Radio Frequency resonators were not possible before cultured quartz. In fact natural quartz (mostly from Brazil) was a critical war material for making quartz RF resonators for use by Amateur radio operators starting in 1923 and on to 1939 when the US Military started converting military transmitters to crystal control. Massive quantities of large natural clear quartz crystals were used by various American manufacturers for the US military during WWII. The surface finish smooth or etched is a function of the cool down conditions before the crystals were removed from the pressure vesicle. The vast bulk of Amethyst used in jewelry is natural crystal, not cultured. (Retired HP Materials Engineer)
Thanks for the info. I know a lot of folks call these crystals "cultured," but everyone called it synthetic back in the day. I've heard that Dmitry Belakovsky does that Tuscon show now. Back when I knew him, he was operating by word of mouth. Thanks for the info on the differences in crystal face appearance. BTW, I'm trying to find a source of Chatham flux grown ruby crystals. I need a cluster in the 100ct range. If you know a source, I'd appreciate the info.
I speculate that among the reasons they grew quartz crystals that looked like quartz crystals was so the bureaucrats and KGB agents watching over their shoulder would know that they really were growing quartz crystals. Outside the Soviet Union, synthetic quartz crystal was an intermediate deliverable that was cut up and made into crystal oscillators.
Dear Sir, You video is fantastic. Do you know if there are companies in US or Europe that commercialize such autoclaves ? Or how to build one at Lab scale ? I am a chemist and would like to investigate the growth of quartz with dopants.
Bell phone company pioneered the lab method here in the 60’s. Some of those guys might still be around. There’s a video on TH-cam showing how they did it.
Hello there i have been searching for synthetic quartz for so long period of time.Actually i want beads made out of pure synthetic quartz . can u please help me where can i find such real and pure beads or crystal?🙏
What i wanted to know from your collection, apart from the seed plate were there any internal inclusion on synthetic quartz like bread crumb incluions or other? Thanks for giving us the long video on this subject. very interesting to me as a gemmologist.
Fahmy Hilmy : As a matter of fact, there were a variety of inclusions. Nailhead spicules were common, as were breadcrumb inclusions that tended to form near the crystal's surface.
The bread crumb inclusions, were they only found hydro thermal process or also found in verneuil process. The reason i ask i have given a specimen for identification and it is green quartz but has a bread crumb incluion in culet and strange wavy internal pattern parallel to optic axis and perpandicular optix axis that wavy pattern appears as rhomb shape pattern.
Fahmy Hilmy : Yes, breadcrumb inclusions were only in the hydrothermally grown crystals. Vernual grown bouls tend to be flawless (although curved stria can be seen readily under a 10X loupe.
I have recieved a green quartz which had obe bread crumb looking inclusion and wavy flame like pattern when viewed parallel c-axis and the same pattern exhibit rhomb shape pattern when viewed perpandicular to c-axia. FTIR graph is no use as this had no peak at all. and bottom part of the faceted stone is nearly colourless, the colour is gradullay faded from grey green to colourless. I am happy to send few pics so perhaps you can give few pointers. Does quartz manufactured only by hydrothermal method or other method too. As per another gemmologist i have contacted she said only hydro thermal no other, appreciate if you can clarify on this too.
Thank you so much for the insightful sharing.... Would it be possible to help me understand if such synthetic crystals still have any healing properties in them? Thanks if you could enlighten me on this... Blessings !
Joelin Lee : I don't really know about the healing properties of these particular crystals. I did have some of the blue quartz cut to a Vogel. There was some symptom relief.
I'm a professional gemstone Carver. I had some of that brown with green one time and cut a piece out of it. I didn't realize it was a limited supply. That's unfortunate
HawaiiBlownGlass : Glad you enjoyed it. These crystals harken back to a time when Soviet science was actually producing breakthroughs independent of the West. What I have discovered in my research, is that growing crystals is both an art and a science. The "recepies" are almost NEVER published or divulged. Things like seed-plate preparation, baffle cut-out patterns, and autoclave internal design are treated as trade secrets. One of my former soviet scientist friends continues to play around with autoclaves in his GARAGE. I wonder if his neighbors know they are living next-door to a bomb?! Anyway, below is a link to a video with my friend Dmitrey. He is being interviewed by a New-Age whakadoodle who sells special "healing crystal jewelry. th-cam.com/video/HtKFGDXglZA/w-d-xo.html
Literally the only video on Ytbe or elsewhere on this topic... I wonder how the liquid flows between the lower and the upper chambers as they seem to be isolated by the middle plate. Anyone got idea?
I'd Love to Facet some of this fine Quartz. Especially some of the more unusual colors like Blue. You have an amazing collection. Is it possible to obtain even broken pieces of this material for that purpose ? I just need good crystal quality but not the natural facets or crystal shapes. Just clean, glass-like pieces to facet into gemstones.
Check out Ali Express. Look under hydrothermal quartz. I've seen kilogram size crystals of this material. The Chinese have basically taken over the market for grown gems.. Also, a company called Russ Gems sells this material in smaller sizes. Lots of people enjoy cutting the lab grown quartzes. Please let me know how you make out. I'll do my best to help you.
Have you seen the new Australian method for growing diamonds? It’s faster, involves only pressure, no heat. They call it shear pressure. They can create a Diamond in a day!
I'm a little confused. The mineralization chemicals I've heard of were sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydroxide, and now potasium chloride. Which are better, why, and what concentration?
The potassium hydroxide is quite caustic and dissolves the raw quartz much more rapidly. Also, from an esthetic standpoint, potassium based reagent produces much shinier crystal faces.
thank you for your responce, but at 2:35 it said water and potasium chloride. Did you mean potasium chloride or potasium hydroxide, and what concentration?
Interesting decade old video find today! They were trying to make quartz hosted cobalt lasing media?? That surprises me very much. I don't think it even has an energy level structure that allows for population inversion? In fact I don't think I've ever heard of cobalt ever being made to lase at all!
Thank you very much for this, it´s precious info. I would really much like to get some of these russian hydro quartz, but I couldn´t find anything on the net. Please tell me where I can find these, perhaps you can help me to get in touch with Mr. Velikovsky ? It would be great ! Thank you.
Haïk G : Thank you for the kind words my friend. It is gratifying to see this video being watched years later. I have not spoken with Dmitry in several years. However, it is my understanding that he attends the mineral show in Tucson AZ every year. The institute for which he worked went through bankruptcy years ago, and Russian mob did quite a number on the equipment . He did appear in a video by one of the "Hippy Dippy" crystal jewelry sellers and it is here on TH-cam. I'll try to post the link. Since doing this video, I have posted others relative to the science of crystal growing. Just look under my TH-cam account. Every now and then, a few of Dmitry's crystals do, in fact, show up on eBay. Indeed, a gentleman who worked with the actual Soviet Weapons team is selling large weapons grade blue crystal on eBay.
Thank you for this answer, I´ll watch the other videos, and continue the hunting : ) In the "hippy" video you mention there is a reference about a russian man named Vladimir Klipov who works at Sawyer Technical Materials, he has apparently some experience in the russian crystal growing way. Do you think that I could find great materials at Sawyer ? I would also like to know your opinion about Chatam hydro and flux gems if you have some experience with those. Thanks again, I´m an amateur gemologist and passionate about lab grown true crystals, and I´m glad to chat with you.
To the Russian mob of the day, it was more important to set a frightening example. They did not know or care about the operation. What was important to them was instilling fear.
Actually no. I've tried an ultraviolet laser on all of them, and they do not fluoresce in either long or short wavelengths. The cobalt doped crystals do take on a lovely blue color, but I don't believe it is actual florescence.
@@Indrid__Cold Hi thanks for that! It is truly an amazing collection you have there and great presentation. Recently I obtained some very large synthetic prisms doped with I don't know what at present as I have to have them analysed but they do show some weak emissions with a 405nm laser line.
Hello Sir,I am crystallographer, I ❤ crystals. I want to establish my own crystal laboratory research. Could you make me please with good suppliers of autoclaves for hydrothermal growth of quartz crystal in Russia or anywhere in the world please ?
ElGatoLoco698 I'm afraid the source of these is pretty limited. If you go to the big Tucson show, I hear Dmitry still shows up there as "Exotic Minerals of Russia".
The “freak” Crystal That you said was a mistake looks like a growth interference Crystal to where it grew up against another Crystal in the chamber. I like the mistake crystals the best the growth interference one and the mutant
The untinted "as-grown" bars are available from many vendors. Here is a Korean supplier and if you look at the dimension diagram you will see English and Cyrillic legends hinting at the long history of Russian involvement in the industry. www.garamec.com/html/product01.php
They've been pretty much unavailable for the last five years or so. There are a couple of aqua blue ones available on eBay, but the seller wants about $450 each for them. This is ridiculous. But if you want them, that is the last place I saw them.
The material is really nice. You get a good mix of amethyst and citrine, which results in some truly spectacular gems. In the years since I shot this video, I've obtained some interesting new specimens (and a better camera). I'll likely add a new version that shows off this new material. One piece is a double terminated lab grown ametrine that shows classic trigonal crystal morphology.
@@Indrid__Cold I dont know where you got your most recent pieces, but they now seem to make a lot of it in china, which is where I got mine, apparently hydrothermally grown as I can see the seed crystal in the center..... I wish they would use identical color seed crystal with whatever color quartz they grow, but regardless as to wether they grow the madeira or the amethyst they always use clear seed....so far.
@MikeG-js1jt You are correct. China now does a LOT of non-electronic use quartz crystal growth. You now see a lot of lab grown crystals that look more natural coming out of China. They have a tremendous reserve of autoclave capacity. My crystals came from the former Soviet Union and were grown back in the 1980s. The Russians did a lot of defense related crystal growing during the height of the Cold War.
Hi thank you for uploading the video. I am based in India and have quartz mines. I am interested in setting up a manufacturing unit for Making synthetic quartz crystals for Electronic use. Please send me your email so that we can discuss further.
Yes, the Russian scientists had a thing about allowing quartz crystals to fully develop their faces to reduce strain on the lattice. They grew thousands of crystals in this way. Most were consumed by their military operations. I you were a high ranking visitor to the facility, you were give a grown crystal as a souvenir of your visit. There are probably a lot of these crystals floating around the former Soviet Union. My collection is likely one of the biggest outside a museum.
Marian Rusnak what area of crystal growth expertise are you looking for? Hydrothermal, flux, floating point, flame fusion? I know several s scientists with deep experience, but not in all of these methodologies.
Indeed they have. Seiko/Epson produces some of the finest quartz crystals on earth. Unfortunately, China is mass producing material that is collapsing the market, but is of far lower quality.
If you upload again you have to change that my cake and your way too much static either that or just replace the pop filter because it just sounds gross
Cyber Anubis : Because man IS GOD. God, on the other hand, is really a mixture of time and energy. The big bang wound up the universe like a big clock, it is now in the process of running down. However, none of the fabric of reality continues without consciousness to observe it. Consciousness. Without it, all the stars will quickly become black holes, and the universe will disappear like a soap bubble.
I disagree at the end when you say you’ll never see a crystal with this degree of perfection. Natural is so much better I don’t care how clear or pure those are. Natural is best. They could never produce in an autoclave what mother nature produces in nature and all the forms. Scepters inclusions of other minerals etc. Like I said I can appreciate your collection of man-made crystals but they’re kind of whack when compared to natural crystals in my opinion
Sir, really enjoyed this video.
And enter your collection.
As I proud for crystal company working experience.
Thanks to you for your video.
I still keep coming back here. This is amazing.
I appreciated the intro into how these crystals were grown followed by the gorgeous examples in your collection. Excellent video!
Glad you enjoyed it. You can check out my newer videos on redit.
Amazing collection of quartz crystal.
Thanks for sharing.
A word about your video..
American scientific videos geared for general consumption on the channels like Discovery are so infantile and show so little respect for the intelligence of the viewer that they even repress natural inquiry. They are punctuated with drum beats and musical fan fairs that have the effect of obscuring practical reality. I enjoyed your video because you did not treat the viewer like a grammar school student. We need more videos like yours that expose us to the edges of technology not only in the field of crystallography but in all fields.
The only reason I'm able to make a video like this is because I used to make instructional technology video's for people who sold and serviced complex systems. I was responsible for ensuring that they actually learned something. The video's on the Discovery channel are only required to be entertaining.
support OP
Incredible collection! I'm so glad you took the chance when you did, imagine if we never got to see these!
Man I got sucked in to the TH-cam wormhole and came across your video and I’m so glad I did because you have an amazing collection.
Glad you like it!
That collection is amazing each of them stunning in their own unique way, as someone who loves Crystal's and other geological stuff I would be so exited to own a collection like yours, very impressive and a very interesting video, the first longish one that was comprimised/not upto the coerect standard/shape looked like a drill bit made of quartz!😂, thanks for sharing your knowledge and your beautiful collection!🙂👍
That's a fantastic collection, glad to see it in appreciative hands.
Best video I saw in months.
Beautiful synthetic crystals...incredible colors ! Nice collection ! You brought me back, to one night, back in the 1960's. My Dad, who worked a Bell Labs, Western Electric in North Andover Ma...came home one night with a couple large rectangular shaped crystals, that were "grown" by Western Electric. I was amazed ! How could one grow, a crystal ? I thought it would take eons in nature! But they were growing them in Western Electric ! They looked something like your clear ones, (but not as clear)I think they were a little cloudy, with the "fish scales" along the sides. lol. I can still remember Dad passing them around the table..for the 8 of us to enjoy. He said they were rejected for some reason. He was an accountant for Western and a co-worker had given them to Dad. I don't know what happened to them..or even if they were "on loan" and had to be returned. I haven't seen them in over 50 years! Thanks for bringing me back to when I first saw a man made crystal, when I was a kid. N.M.C.
masscartermatt I just recently acquired one of the crystals from your dad's lab in Merrimack. Indeed, I have lots more new crystals I need to do a video on. Way back in the seventies, I got a crystal "cap" that had been sawed off of a lab grown crystal. I remember asking how much a complete one cost. I was told over a thousand dollars. Back then, this was cutting edge science. Before these crystals were available, electronic grade crystal plates were worth more than their weight in gold! Anyway, your enthusiasm has lit a fire under me to make a sequel. Watch this space.
Indrid Cold...Great ! Yes ! I remember dad saying how expensive they were to grow !! The massive plant is still there, but it closed down..around 1988 I'd say. ..Lucent took over..but didn't need the space.This place is huge.Now several people rent out small corners of the plant. I haven't been by there in ten years...Its Close to the Lawrence Mass., Air Port, in North Andover Ma. I'll keep watch. Very interesting.
@@dadsvespa gentlemen, I have a crystal given to me the year I was born in 1967, my father, a Xerox tech told me: I was fixing a copier at Bell labs and I saw the stack of blems and asked the scientist if I could have on, sure he said and I have cherished this rock since we'll 1967. Dad said the scientist told him as there are some kind of mounting grooves on either side, if you take a hacksaw to it it will knock you across the room! At several layers there appears to be bubbles or inclusion of doping to perform some tuning or function. I will get some photos up here asap, I wish to find a worth and potentially sell this beautiful crystal.
That Crystal you showed at 7:20 and said it was double terminated, that’s not a double terminated crystal it’s a twin Crystal. Double terminated will be pointed at the bottom too.
and yes blue quartz does exist in nature, Quartz with inclusions of blue minerals like Dumortierite, Ajoite etc.
Btw Your pronouncing trigonally wrong I believe, It’s Try-gone-ally.
I can appreciate your collection although I like natural better.
Oh I forgot to mention there is a natural blue transparent quartz called Iolite which is the gem variety of cordierite.
These are amazing and it's so hard to find detailed information on the process. Thank you so much!!! I wish I could weld up a small autoclave at home to do this even if it were only 1 chunky gem at a time
Glad you enjoyed the video. I have more I need to add, but health issues are kicking my ass.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and your amazing collection!
You mentioned vogel crystals for another video. I'd love to watch a vogel video by someone informed like you seem to be. Please make video . thanks for all your videos.
I've actually been growing synthetic ruby and sapphire through flame fusion. My crystals are no where near as great as what you have here and won't since I'm using the Verniuel process. I'm building a Verniuel furnace at home that I've been designing and testing materials. I've got the chemistry down for ruby, but sapphire is frustratingly difficult.
Have you thought about induction heating? that seems promising
Fantastic thank for presenting this. I've always been fascinated by this.
These samples have answered some key questions for me. I may view this again and post some more specific questions. Fantastic collection. Thank you. (voted up)
TesserId : Glad you found the information useful. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.
TesserId hny1 www.la-viande.fr/cuisine-achat/tendances/reveillons-noel-fin-annee-place-tradition 7a86940201948136bb3a512af8940c60 www.maisondugsm.com/a/notice/download/2495/telecharger_notice_d_utilisation_et_manuel_pour_huawei_ascend_g620s.html www.maisondugsm.com/a/notice/download/2495/telecharger_notice_d_utilisation_et_manuel_pour_huawei_ascend_g620s.html
WOW! Awesome vid mate! I was just looking up the best way to grow crystals (science project for the kid, lol) and came across your video. I had no idea such things even existed . Thanks again.👍🏻
Thank you! That was a lot of fun. Beauuutiful collection!
Thank you for this video and the information. I've collected crystals for years, mostly what I mined myself. I've dug some spectacular specimens in Arkansas but this stuff you have is a whole other level.
Thanks for your kind words.
if u ever get bored of looking at them, just send the whole set this way 👍😆
Amazing, collection you have. I would be proud also. :)
Amazing collection! I believe that I just acquired the Citrine sample you showed off in this video! They both look very similar
I am very surprised the former Siberian nuclear scientists were able to use molybdenum for their chambers, since molybdenum is soluble in molten quartz under pressure. I would have expected the chamber to explode under such high pressure prior to being coated with quartz crystals. Chemically speaking, the only two elements that could practically be used as an inner coating were platinum and iridium. At the same time these Russians were also growing beryl crystals. Have you obtained any of the early beryllium aluminum silicate runs? You have a beautiful collection. Thanks for sharing.
I have a few VERY RARE synthetic emerald crystals that were grown by the Linde Corporation way back in the sixties. I bought them from the estate of a young lady whose father worked for Linde. You may recall that Linde synthetic star sapphire was the absolute state of the art back then. Anyway, these emeralds are among the most beautiful crystals I have ever seen. They really deserve a video of their own.
Wow... great collection. Thx for sharing
Super cool I’ve been trying to find out more about this process, awesome video
Thank you. The world of synthetic crystals is among the most fascinating in science. This is especially true of the research conducted by the old Soviet Union. Some of their accomplishments have never been duplicated. I have some newly acquired specimens that I will be showing soon.
Thank you for all the expertise you offered. I would like to know how these are used in electronics?
So sorry to have neglected answering this. Synthetic quartz is used extensively in frequency oscillators. For example, virtually EVERY computer motherboard contains a timing crystal made from a thin slice of synthetic quartz. This maintains chip synchronization.
The crystal at 17:29 was the result of a seed crystal breaking or coming dislodged from the rack and laying against a nearby crystal during the growth process. Also, most of the world calls this cultured quartz rather than synthetic quartz. The quartz is real and the first generation of seed crystal came from a large near perfect natural crystal. I have had multiple opportunities to purchase Russian cultured quarts in different colors at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. At 39:11, you imply that quartz Radio Frequency resonators were not possible before cultured quartz. In fact natural quartz (mostly from Brazil) was a critical war material for making quartz RF resonators for use by Amateur radio operators starting in 1923 and on to 1939 when the US Military started converting military transmitters to crystal control. Massive quantities of large natural clear quartz crystals were used by various American manufacturers for the US military during WWII. The surface finish smooth or etched is a function of the cool down conditions before the crystals were removed from the pressure vesicle. The vast bulk of Amethyst used in jewelry is natural crystal, not cultured. (Retired HP Materials Engineer)
Thanks for the info. I know a lot of folks call these crystals "cultured," but everyone called it synthetic back in the day. I've heard that Dmitry Belakovsky does that Tuscon show now. Back when I knew him, he was operating by word of mouth. Thanks for the info on the differences in crystal face appearance. BTW, I'm trying to find a source of Chatham flux grown ruby crystals. I need a cluster in the 100ct range. If you know a source, I'd appreciate the info.
I speculate that among the reasons they grew quartz crystals that looked like quartz crystals was so the bureaucrats and KGB agents watching over their shoulder would know that they really were growing quartz crystals. Outside the Soviet Union, synthetic quartz crystal was an intermediate deliverable that was cut up and made into crystal oscillators.
those are some amazing crystals...are you running SiO2 crystallization experiements yourself?
Dear Sir, You video is fantastic. Do you know if there are companies in US or Europe that commercialize such autoclaves ? Or how to build one at Lab scale ? I am a chemist and would like to investigate the growth of quartz with dopants.
Bell phone company pioneered the lab method here in the 60’s. Some of those guys might still be around. There’s a video on TH-cam showing how they did it.
These are beautiful, I wish I could find one... love this video.
Hello there i have been searching for synthetic quartz for so long period of time.Actually i want beads made out of pure synthetic quartz . can u please help me where can i find such real and pure beads or crystal?🙏
Great presentation thanks
What i wanted to know from your collection, apart from the seed plate were there any internal inclusion on synthetic quartz like bread crumb incluions or other? Thanks for giving us the long video on this subject. very interesting to me as a gemmologist.
Fahmy Hilmy : As a matter of fact, there were a variety of inclusions. Nailhead spicules were common, as were breadcrumb inclusions that tended to form near the crystal's surface.
The bread crumb inclusions, were they only found hydro thermal process or also found in verneuil process. The reason i ask i have given a specimen for identification and it is green quartz but has a bread crumb incluion in culet and strange wavy internal pattern parallel to optic axis and perpandicular optix axis that wavy pattern appears as rhomb shape pattern.
Fahmy Hilmy : Yes, breadcrumb inclusions were only in the hydrothermally grown crystals. Vernual grown bouls tend to be flawless (although curved stria can be seen readily under a 10X loupe.
I have recieved a green quartz which had obe bread crumb looking inclusion and wavy flame like pattern when viewed parallel c-axis and the same pattern exhibit rhomb shape pattern when viewed perpandicular to c-axia. FTIR graph is no use as this had no peak at all. and bottom part of the faceted stone is nearly colourless, the colour is gradullay faded from grey green to colourless.
I am happy to send few pics so perhaps you can give few pointers. Does quartz manufactured only by hydrothermal method or other method too. As per another gemmologist i have contacted she said only hydro thermal no other, appreciate if you can clarify on this too.
That camera stabilization really hurts my head. Super cool video tho.
thanks for sharing these beauties!
Thank you so much for the insightful sharing.... Would it be possible to help me understand if such synthetic crystals still have any healing properties in them? Thanks if you could enlighten me on this... Blessings !
Joelin Lee : I don't really know about the healing properties of these particular crystals. I did have some of the blue quartz cut to a Vogel. There was some symptom relief.
Indrid_Cold Thanks very much for taking the time to reply. Have a lovely day!
I'm a professional gemstone Carver. I had some of that brown with green one time and cut a piece out of it. I didn't realize it was a limited supply. That's unfortunate
Fascinating, thank you!
HawaiiBlownGlass : Glad you enjoyed it. These crystals harken back to a time when Soviet science was actually producing breakthroughs independent of the West. What I have discovered in my research, is that growing crystals is both an art and a science. The "recepies" are almost NEVER published or divulged. Things like seed-plate preparation, baffle cut-out patterns, and autoclave internal design are treated as trade secrets. One of my former soviet scientist friends continues to play around with autoclaves in his GARAGE. I wonder if his neighbors know they are living next-door to a bomb?! Anyway, below is a link to a video with my friend Dmitrey. He is being interviewed by a New-Age whakadoodle who sells special "healing crystal jewelry.
th-cam.com/video/HtKFGDXglZA/w-d-xo.html
Literally the only video on Ytbe or elsewhere on this topic... I wonder how the liquid flows between the lower and the upper chambers as they seem to be isolated by the middle plate. Anyone got idea?
I'd Love to Facet some of this fine Quartz. Especially some of the more unusual colors like Blue.
You have an amazing collection.
Is it possible to obtain even broken pieces of this material for that purpose ? I just need good crystal quality but not the natural facets or crystal shapes. Just clean, glass-like pieces to facet into gemstones.
Check out Ali Express. Look under hydrothermal quartz. I've seen kilogram size crystals of this material. The Chinese have basically taken over the market for grown gems.. Also, a company called Russ Gems sells this material in smaller sizes. Lots of people enjoy cutting the lab grown quartzes. Please let me know how you make out. I'll do my best to help you.
Have you seen the new Australian method for growing diamonds? It’s faster, involves only pressure, no heat. They call it shear pressure. They can create a Diamond in a day!
I did some research this afternoon on this new diamond synthesizing technique. The manufacturer is focusing only on industrial diamonds at present.
Thank you very much for sharing
I haven't seen any offered up for sale in over a year.
I have a bell labs crystal from 1967 and want to sell / discuss. Best way to get photos up here?
Hello Sir,
could you give me please the coordinates of suppliers of autoclaves for quartz crystal growth.
what is the alkaline solution used and what molar?
is there a detailed drawing and description of their bomb structure for growing quartz
I'm a little confused. The mineralization chemicals I've heard of were sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydroxide, and now potasium chloride. Which are better, why, and what concentration?
The potassium hydroxide is quite caustic and dissolves the raw quartz much more rapidly. Also, from an esthetic standpoint, potassium based reagent produces much shinier crystal faces.
thank you for your responce, but at 2:35 it said water and potasium chloride. Did you mean potasium chloride or potasium hydroxide, and what concentration?
@@kreynolds1123 Sorry, it's potassium hydroxide. That's what happens when you don't use a script 🙃
Interesting decade old video find today!
They were trying to make quartz hosted cobalt lasing media?? That surprises me very much. I don't think it even has an energy level structure that allows for population inversion? In fact I don't think I've ever heard of cobalt ever being made to lase at all!
There was a LOT of basic material research going on in the former Soviet Union back in the eighties when these crystals were grown
Thank you very much for this, it´s precious info. I would really much like to get some of these russian hydro quartz, but I couldn´t find anything on the net. Please tell me where I can find these, perhaps you can help me to get in touch with Mr. Velikovsky ? It would be great !
Thank you.
Haïk G : Thank you for the kind words my friend. It is gratifying to see this video being watched years later. I have not spoken with Dmitry in several years. However, it is my understanding that he attends the mineral show in Tucson AZ every year. The institute for which he worked went through bankruptcy years ago, and Russian mob did quite a number on the equipment . He did appear in a video by one of the "Hippy Dippy" crystal jewelry sellers and it is here on TH-cam. I'll try to post the link. Since doing this video, I have posted others relative to the science of crystal growing. Just look under my TH-cam account. Every now and then, a few of Dmitry's crystals do, in fact, show up on eBay. Indeed, a gentleman who worked with the actual Soviet Weapons team is selling large weapons grade blue crystal on eBay.
Thank you for this answer, I´ll watch the other videos, and continue the hunting : ) In the "hippy" video you mention there is a reference about a russian man named Vladimir Klipov who works at Sawyer Technical Materials, he has apparently some experience in the russian crystal growing way. Do you think that I could find great materials at Sawyer ? I would also like to know your opinion about Chatam hydro and flux gems if you have some experience with those. Thanks again, I´m an amateur gemologist and passionate about lab grown true crystals, and I´m glad to chat with you.
Is that Moth-Man in the beggining?
Yes, it is.
Very nice pieces. Fascinating.
Next time you run into someone who doesn't know what they have be honest.
wish i had an autoclave so i could do that
prototype9000 A friend of mine who works for Sawyer Labs in Eastlake OH has several running in his garage.
Hello
I want to purchase my own crystal growth furnace for growing my quartz crystals. Could you show me a good supplier of best quartz crystalisers?
"Natural shape" is a bit stretching it considering the extreme artificial conditions that were used to make them...
I guess I was comparing to the traditional run of orthorhombic blocks being made in most comparable facilities.
@@Indrid__Cold I understood that. Just pulling your leg...
.....can I trade your crystals for a bad poem? ....I'll autograph it .... It was worth a shot.
How much did these cost you?
Why would the mob smash everything? That’s dumb! You’d think they’d just set up a counter operation and make $.
To the Russian mob of the day, it was more important to set a frightening example. They did not know or care about the operation. What was important to them was instilling fear.
Where can I get these!?!?!
Is synthetic quartz as hard as natural quartz?
Hinji2413 Yes, it is identical in every way to earth mined Quartz.
Does the Co result in any fluorescence? from either short wave or longwave?
Actually no. I've tried an ultraviolet laser on all of them, and they do not fluoresce in either long or short wavelengths. The cobalt doped crystals do take on a lovely blue color, but I don't believe it is actual florescence.
@@Indrid__Cold Hi thanks for that! It is truly an amazing collection you have there and great presentation. Recently I obtained some very large synthetic prisms doped with I don't know what at present as I have to have them analysed but they do show some weak emissions with a 405nm laser line.
Bell labs made these crystals and that design long before they stole the design.
Pretty much anyone who grows crystals uses their original designs, even today.
Where you but this?
Hello Sir,I am crystallographer, I ❤ crystals. I want to establish my own crystal laboratory research.
Could you make me please with good suppliers of autoclaves for hydrothermal growth of quartz crystal in Russia or anywhere in the world please ?
Any place to buy these things? I'd love to go to work on one and try some faceting.
ElGatoLoco698 I'm afraid the source of these is pretty limited. If you go to the big Tucson show, I hear Dmitry still shows up there as "Exotic Minerals of Russia".
The “freak” Crystal That you said was a mistake looks like a growth interference Crystal to where it grew up against another Crystal in the chamber.
I like the mistake crystals the best the growth interference one and the mutant
The untinted "as-grown" bars are available from many vendors. Here is a Korean supplier and if you look at the dimension diagram you will see English and Cyrillic legends hinting at the long history of Russian involvement in the industry.
www.garamec.com/html/product01.php
So fukn cool!!!!!! Love quartz I don't care much for diamonds
so how much is it worth ?
Which piece?
The sparkling flawless clear ones.
Where, if possible, can these be purchased? Thank you
They've been pretty much unavailable for the last five years or so. There are a couple of aqua blue ones available on eBay, but the seller wants about $450 each for them. This is ridiculous. But if you want them, that is the last place I saw them.
Does Smithsonian have these types
Can they make fake citrine using this technology?
Yes. If you follow the video, you'll see examples.
How good is a quartz for 3D optical storage hmm
The Russian institute of materials sciences proof-tested five hundred petabyte storage in a one cubic centimeter crystal doped with 1% americium.
How did you find your Fe 3 Citrine?
It came from a lab in the former Soviet Union. I obtained it through one of their scientists.
@@Indrid__Cold Very cool. Hope to find one some day lol
You shouldn't call people ugly.
I bought a 1 kilo piece of ametrine "orangish" colored quartz and cut a couple of gems from it...................
The material is really nice. You get a good mix of amethyst and citrine, which results in some truly spectacular gems. In the years since I shot this video, I've obtained some interesting new specimens (and a better camera). I'll likely add a new version that shows off this new material. One piece is a double terminated lab grown ametrine that shows classic trigonal crystal morphology.
@@Indrid__Cold I dont know where you got your most recent pieces, but they now seem to make a lot of it in china, which is where I got mine, apparently hydrothermally grown as I can see the seed crystal in the center..... I wish they would use identical color seed crystal with whatever color quartz they grow, but regardless as to wether they grow the madeira or the amethyst they always use clear seed....so far.
@MikeG-js1jt You are correct. China now does a LOT of non-electronic use quartz crystal growth. You now see a lot of lab grown crystals that look more natural coming out of China. They have a tremendous reserve of autoclave capacity. My crystals came from the former Soviet Union and were grown back in the 1980s. The Russians did a lot of defense related crystal growing during the height of the Cold War.
Hi thank you for uploading the video. I am based in India and have quartz mines. I am interested in setting up a manufacturing unit for Making synthetic quartz crystals for Electronic use. Please send me your email so that we can discuss further.
Herkimer diamonds look like that
Yes, the Russian scientists had a thing about allowing quartz crystals to fully develop their faces to reduce strain on the lattice. They grew thousands of crystals in this way. Most were consumed by their military operations. I you were a high ranking visitor to the facility, you were give a grown crystal as a souvenir of your visit. There are probably a lot of these crystals floating around the former Soviet Union. My collection is likely one of the biggest outside a museum.
I am looking for an expert on crystal growth technologies. Any suggestions and contacts?
Marian Rusnak what area of crystal growth expertise are you looking for? Hydrothermal, flux, floating point, flame fusion? I know several s scientists with deep experience, but not in all of these methodologies.
The japanese have perfected this
Indeed they have. Seiko/Epson produces some of the finest quartz crystals on earth. Unfortunately, China is mass producing material that is collapsing the market, but is of far lower quality.
that is interesting
If you upload again you have to change that my cake and your way too much static either that or just replace the pop filter because it just sounds gross
he was able to obtain a substantial part of his collection, after murdering him, if someone wondering.lol
nice)
greetings
Svarovisk ?
No. Swvarovski crystal is just leaded glass.
Why make synthetic... why not appreciate natural.... why must man play god...
Cyber Anubis : Because man IS GOD. God, on the other hand, is really a mixture of time and energy. The big bang wound up the universe like a big clock, it is now in the process of running down. However, none of the fabric of reality continues without consciousness to observe it. Consciousness. Without it, all the stars will quickly become black holes, and the universe will disappear like a soap bubble.
look up tesla he might have somthing,
31:21 with regard to the takeover by the mafia.
Yes?
I disagree at the end when you say you’ll never see a crystal with this degree of perfection.
Natural is so much better I don’t care how clear or pure those are. Natural is best. They could never produce in an autoclave what mother nature produces in nature and all the forms. Scepters inclusions of other minerals etc.
Like I said I can appreciate your collection of man-made crystals but they’re kind of whack when compared to natural crystals in my opinion