Well i am very high and a few questions pop up in my head,wish i had better undestanding of the matter.
Is it best to use quartz/boro beads cause they are the same hardness as the stem 7 vs 7 ,cause in the ruby scenario you got 9 vs 7 (Gem vs Quartz) compared to 6 vs 7 (Soda lime vs quartz).
Is the question above stupid ,cause 7 and 9 on the scale might be hard enough not to chip on each other.
Also if something is hard ,doest it mean it is strong ? Diamonds are known to be very hard but easy to break... lol...
It should be easier to scratch something softer with something harder . Soda lime is less scratch resistant than boro.
Welcome to the rabbit hole
!
Edited
Found a published study in my mother language written by a scientist from the National Academy of Science,he got an e-mail left at the bottom. I will shoot him an e-mail with my question ,hopefully he would answer.
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Gemstone hardness measures resistance to scratching. Learn how hardness and other factors contribute to a gem's wearability.
www.gemsociety.org
After another spin on the wheel.
Quartz is airborn and harder gems than 7 on the mohs scale are prefered for jewelry cause they dont get scratched by environmental quartz dust.
Only a diamond can scratch a diamond. Corundum can scratch itself, topaz (8), quartz (7), and anything softer.
So anything can scratch itself in the end ,but something harder scratches the softer things easier. So i'd say boro and quartz are safest bet,until i dont hear back from the NAS guy.