How Rudraksha, gemstones, crystals and organic gems are tested and identified — written by the laboratory, for anyone who wants to understand what they own.
Most gem damage happens in the drawer. How hardness, light, heat, humidity and chemicals affect stored gems, and how to store each kind.
The spectroscope shows the dark lines where a stone absorbs light. Why those lines identify the colouring element, catch dye and expose cobalt glass.
Specific gravity is density against water. How a lab measures it by hydrostatic weighing, the SG of common gems, and why it is the key test for beads.
Caps cover the poles of a Rudraksha — exactly where carving and joins show. Why to buy uncapped, test, then cap, and how a lab handles a capped bead.
Shell, mother-of-pearl, bone and horn are all imitated in plastic. The layered, canalled and fibrous structures that identify each natural material.
Most 'selenite' sold is satin spar, the fibrous form of gypsum. How the two relate, how gypsum is identified, and why it dissolves in water.
Genuine Rudraksha have natural flaws. How a lab distinguishes cosmetic from structural defects, and which affect durability rather than authenticity.
A genuine Rudraksha does not have to sink. The physics of why the water test proves nothing, why fakes pass it, and what to do instead.
Rudraksha is the stone of the Elaeocarpus ganitrus fruit. Where the tree grows, how the fruit forms its chambers, and why botany explains the tests.
Why every bead is weighed and measured, what size and weight say about origin, and how to use the figures to confirm your bead is the one tested.
Most Rudraksha are oiled, polished or stained before sale. Which treatments are harmless, which hide carving, and how a lab describes the surface.
A 108-bead mala cannot be tested bead by bead at full depth. How a lab examines a mala, what sampling establishes, and what a mala report states.
How to read a Rudraksha X-ray: what the compartments and seeds look like, how they are counted, and the patterns that reveal carving or joining.
Where the Rudraksha appears in Hindu texts, what the traditions say about its origin and its mukhi, and how a laboratory relates to beliefs it does not test.
Imitation Rudraksha are made from turned wood, areca nut, moulded plastic and cast resin. What each looks like and how a lab identifies it.
Authenticity and quality are different questions. The features that separate an exceptional bead from an ordinary genuine one, and why grade is opinion.
A practical sequence for buying any Rudraksha — what to ask for, what to check on arrival, when to test — that works with any seller.
How a laboratory confirms ruby, separates it from garnet, spinel, glass and synthetic corundum, and detects the heating and glass filling that set its value.
The laboratory examines Rudraksha, gemstones, malas, bracelets and crystals and issues a numbered, PIN-protected report you can verify online at any time.