038r - - - - - Sapphire
One finds sapphires that one calls de treille, because they are pierced and it is said that a certain king had made from these a certain ornament in the shape of a trellis, that would be thus named the Screen of Charlemagne in the treasure of Saint Denis, in which the gemstones are set without leaf, so as to have the enjoyment of the light on one side & the other, &to show their naivete. I have a white one that seems to be rough & pierced, and is spotted all over with blue blemishes. I am of the opinion that these are artificial & that they are of taffre or very clear esmail azuré melted entirely on the sapphire. The file bites it as on the beryl.
Saffron
It is counterfeited & augmented with marigold leaves half—dried, & twisted like a thread, & put in the hottest sun to dry, & is mixed, & the aforesaid marigold even gives some color.
Sapphire
Stone cutters sometimes choose old pieces of antique glass in church windows, which are much thicker than those of today & are of more lively colors. If it is for souf sapphire, they choose beautiful blue & from such a place that there are no pieces grains, if it is possible. And having cut it in squares with emery, they cut it in bevel & polish it. And in this manner, they counterfeit very beautiful sapphires. The old esmail d’azur for silver verging on aquamarine was very appropriate for counterfeiting sapphires, but it is scarcely found. One counterfeits aquamarines with white glass, but they take it from the bottom of the glass.
Amber
The orangeish color that is in transparent amber and in the other one that has body is not internal, for on the inside it is whitish. But through age it or wearing it, it acquires this reddish crust. This is why those who cut it with the file or on the wheel do not remove, if it is possible, this crust. But they only polish it, rubbing it with a willow stick or other soft wood dipped into water & dusted with tripoli of Brittany , and it takes a beautiful polish. If it is too straw yellow & you want to intensify its color, hang it inside a chimney where there is much soot & smoke, and it will take on a reddish—orange color. Try to take the most whitish transparent one, and put it under dung to turn it green, like bones. Or smoke it in a closed space, in the smoke of safre or manganese & other drugs that you know. Or in urine & distilled vinegar mixed with colors, or in the vapor of aqua fortis boiling in copper, or aqua fortis boiling with silver & sal ammoniac & Some cut amber in facets on a wheel of soft wood with potée instead of emery, & jet also. The salt called de Langlois de armonic is a mineral salt that resembles marble stone and is a very hard mineral with large pieces, like that of Cardona & Monserrat.
at left bottom margin
I have experimented by making it boil in lye or corrosive water, it turns reddish on the surface. And if it is rubbed against fir & soft wood before it is cooled, it is easily cut.