Q. I have observed in glass rhinestone costume jewelry that some rhinestones fluoresce a bright orange, red, or salmon color. What other elements besides lead, manganese or uranium oxide could cause such fluorescence in common glass under UV light?

I asked Dr. Robert Brill, our retired Research Scientist, for advice with your question. He replied:

"The fluorescence sounds like it could be from a rare earth (or something similar). Or possibly it could be from some thin-film iridescent coating on the surface?"

I hope this answer is helpful.

For more information about rare earth elements I attached a bibliography for coloring glass.

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