Photomicrography: Images from Within
Images by Sammantha Maclachlan
Sammantha Maclachlan FGA DGA FIRV MJVA AJP PJDIP CPAA – JVA Registered Valuer®️
- Winner of the Gordon Ness trophy (gemmology)
- Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain
- Diamond diploma from the Gemmological Association of Great Britain
- Founder Member of the Jewellery Valuers Association®️
- Fellow of the National Association of Jewellers Institute of Registered Valuers
- Committee member of the Scottish Gemmological Association
- Senior Accredited Gemologist, Accredited Gemologists Association
- GIA Applied Jewelry Professional
- Cultured Pearl Specialist
- IGI certified diamond grader
- Practical Diamond Certificate from Gem-A
- Member of the Society of Jewellery Historians
20 years of jewellery industry experience with watches, gemstones and valuations including Asian gold jewellery and fancy coloured diamonds, Sammantha Maclachlan has caught our attention with her skills in photomicrography.
The incredible shots shown here and in the newsletter are not only gemmologically exciting, they are simply wonderful works of art.
There’s nothing left to do except to thank Sammantha for sharing her images, and welcome you to enjoy the page!
Micro-Photography … little tiny pictures
Photo-Micrography … pictures taken through a microscope
Both terms refer to an image that is taken by a microscope, but there is a slight difference in their usage. A photomicrograph specifically refers to a photograph taken through a microscope, while a microphotograph can refer to any photograph that has been reduced in size to be viewed under a microscope.
Of course, these halos are not diagnostic of Be diffusion but of high heat treatment,
which causes internal diffusion of titanium containing inclusions, such as rutile, resulting in these beautiful blue halos.
This is a stack of 23 images. 120x magnification.
This is a stack of 15 images with a magnification of 120x.
This is a stack of 25 images and was taken with a magnification of 120x.
This is a stack of 32 images with magnification of around 40x.
The image is a stack of 16 stills and is taken using fibre optic lighting only,
which reflects beautifully on the hematite platelets creating a rainbow of colours.
A perfect cube of pyrite seems to float in this amethyst from Thunder Bay, Canada.
Use of crossed polarising filters enhances the iridescence caused by fractures within the stone.
Field of view approx 2.0 mm.
A sea of garnet crystals can be seen in the lower quarter, above this a large group of spessartine garnet crystals form in the direction of the basal plane.
A group of two-phase inclusions can be seen above these and a group of growth tubes appear almost icicle-like in the top of the image.
I hope you enjoy this chaotic scene. I find that every time I look at it I find another interesting inclusion!
From the collection of Sid Tucker.
From the collection of Sid Tucker.
This is a stack of 52 images taken at 120x zoom.
What may mess with your head a little is that those are concave etch pits
rather than convex pyramid shapes as they appear!
You can see some iron staining in the pit on the right.
