Carbuncle (gemstone) Carbuncle (gemstone) A carbuncle is any red gemstone, most often a red garnet. The word occurs in four places in many English translations of the Bible. The English King James translation is a rendering of the Hebrew Masoretic text (Old Testament) and Greek Textus Receptus (New Testament). "Carbunculus" is a word used in Latin for a small coal (or charcoal), and also for any of a number of precious or semi-precious stones, especially those of a red color.; Jerome apparently chose the term because of its similarity in meaning to the Septuagint's ἄνθραξ ("anthrax" meaning "coal"), which was in turn
Gemstone irradiation the country. All neutron- or electron beam-irradiated gemstones must be tested by an NRC-licensee prior to release for sales. In India, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre started irradiating gemstones in the early 1970s. In Thailand, the Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP) conducts the process for private sectors, irradiating of gemstones from 1993 to 2003. The most commonly irradiated gemstone is topaz, which becomes blue after the process. Blue topaz is very rare in nature and almost always the result of artificial irradiation. According to the American Gem Trade Association, approximately 30 million carats () of topaz are irradiated every