Fake, fraud, fraudulent, tektites, moldavites, austrailtes

FAKE TEKTITES!

There are currently a lot of fake tektites around. If you are new to buying tektites then I suggest you stick to known collectors and dealers. Try and source the tektite as close to the source as possible. A Moldavite from the Czech Republic is far more likely to be genuine compared with a moldavite from Tanzania or China. If in doubt you can email me.

I emailed the companies selling these fakes and received no reply. It seems it is their mission to rip-off the public!

FAKE AUSTRALITES!

ABOVE:  On ebay a company called Holygemstones is selling this material as Australites. This rock is crystalline! Tektites are GLASS and like all glass, by definition it is not crystalline. This rock is probably Nuumite, so why this company insists on selling it as an Australite is beyond me! These supposed Australian Australites come from America by the way.

ABOVE: Nuumite being sold as Nuumite. How pleasant!

FAKE MOLDAVITES!

ABOVE: Moldavites? I don't think so...little green aren't they.....like a bottle. I want to shake the hand of the Tanzanian guy who pulled this con off. This is Tanzanian Moldavite (previously moldavites are only known in the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria). So, if you want to buy this bottle glass you can find it at www.minedirect.com. At least this company is semi-honest, but why they don't just pull this product and stick it in the glass recyling skip is beyond me. They obviously want to ruin their reputation. Here is their blurb:

Lot of Electric Bottle Green Tanzanian "Moldavite" Top Faceting Rough from Tanzania. We have always had our reservations on the origin of Tanzanian "Moldavite" and its natural nature. GIA has already documented the Emerald & Bottle Green "Moldavite" as being man made and this enhances that argument. Most of these stones are extremely clean with an occasional bubble or veil internally and we are confident you should get very clean finished cut stones out of these. This is GREAT to practice those new designs on!

We are selling this material as Glass and we are NOT certifying or guaranteeing it as being natural. Since the Moldavite from Tanzania craze we have seen "Natural" Glass pop up from every corner of the globe. Most of it is clearly not natural but it has a strong following! Many sellers sell this material as natural and that is a great injustice to those that don't know all that is to be known about this material. This was sent to us as a sample and we have been informed that we can get this material in whatever color we would like and we are looking into the possibility of getting additional material for the future in different colors.

We have often heard the argument that this material comes from a far off location in Tanzania where it is unrealistic to conclude that this material is man made. Natives are said to be grinding the rough into these nodules to clear out inclusions. We have even heard of samples out in the market that look like they are natural because they weren't grinded in such fashion. I think it is fairly reasonable to assume that something is being hidden when locals need to grind this rough in order to market it. In addition, our discovery of Blue "Natural" Moldavite in Pakistan that closely resembled the Tanzanian material further cast doubt on the origin of Tanzanian "Moldavite" as being natural. It seems as though molten glass is poured onto natural rock and dirt to give the appearance of it being natural because of the inclusions.

So you want some? Well it is available at $0.30-0.40 a gram !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ABOVE: Has the origin of tektites been solved? It has for these 'tektites'.

BLUE MOLDAVITES!

Blue Moldavites.........Don't even go there. Moldavites do not come in blue - they are green !!!!!!!!! At least the last faker got that one right (kind of slipping up a bit by offering any colour you want though).

It is either blue bottle glass or

In the UK some people are selling Spectrolite (Labradorite), which is a feldspar, as blue moldavites. If you twist this stuff it varies from blue to grey in colour. Very much crystalline and not a glass. Very much not a tektite - not even anywhere close.

ABOVE: This is spectrolite (polished). In this case it is being sold as spectrolite (yey!), but similar material is being sold as Blue Moldavite.

Got any fakes or want something checking out? Email me at aubrey@tektites.co.uk