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Sapphire vs Brazilian Pebble

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 2:24 pm
by thatonejohn
I found a reproduction Sears catalog and in with the Columbia and Harvard machines they were advertising both Sapphire reproducer balls (of the highest quality for $0.75), and Brazilian Pebble reproducer balls (noted as being sold by many dealers as Sapphire for $0.20).

Has anybody come across both types? any thoughts on the longevity of the Brazilian pebble, aka quartz, vs the Sapphire? Mohs hardness for quartz is 7, and 9 for sapphire.

Also, did they actually use sapphire? or did they use corundum? for those not familiar with rocks/minerals/gems, sapphire is one of the gem varieties of corundum, ruby being the other gem variety. They all share the same physical properties, including crystal structure, hardness, chemical formula.