I have just started learning about gemstones and am waiting on my microscope to start really digging in.
I have a gemstone that I sent to GIA for identification. It was what I thought except I donât understand what the treatments actually mean from a value standpoint.
The report leaves me with more questions.
Can anyone help me interpret what this means?
Thanks so much!
Hi Kathleen! Welcome to the forum!
If you havenât already seen this, I recommend these IGS articles on ruby treatments:
Whether or not it effects the value is subjective. One customer might be resistant to purchasing a stone with enhancement, while another would be fine wearing the stone.
Obviously, an enhanced stone will not command a similar per carat price such as its unheated counterpart.
Hope your microscope arrives soon! It will definitely open up a new world⌠
Cheers!
Troy
Thanks for posting those links, I found them really insightful. I am curious, tho, is the top/first pic in the Ruby/Glass composite link considered synthetic, or is that an example of a natural ruby by way of comparison?
Also, the second article mentions that those doing the treatments donât want to share their âsecretsâ. I guess itâs sensible that this is the case, but it seems strange to me that mineralogists and gemologists would not know treatments that presumably happen in clandestine places. I am not an expert and there may be an obvious explanation for this, but can you suggest why such treatments, which sounds pretty sophisticated, are not reproducible or understood by professionals?
Hi Paul,
If you are referring to the side-by-side comparison of a ruby on the left vs one on the right with all of the light colored fractures⌠that is the same stone, before and after exposure, to a jewelry cleaning agent.
The author, Mr. Jeffrey Bergman (@jbergman), is an active member here. Hopefully, he can break away from his busy schedule and answer some of these question, as I am very new to the world of rubies/sapphires. My main focus has been Garnet, Spinel, Tourmaline, and Zircon.
There are definitely others here who could better answer than I.
For the treatment labs having a âsecret sauceâ, I believe it is basically so they can keep their process guarded, so other treatment labs canât take way potential customers.
Cheers!
THANK YOU! I am so pleased to know about these articles, Troy!!!
Most welcome! There is a large library of articles, and other resources here at IGS that you can access through your dashboard, including mini-courses. The one on Rubies for instance, includes articles like the two posted earlier.
No, sorry, i was referring to the title pic, the one with the vine-like white material on the surface of the ruby (is there a term for that)? My question is where that one is considered synthetic?
This one:
Ok, thank you. I wasnât sure if that was the image you were asking about.
IMHO, this is still considered a ruby with glass infill treatment. Since the glass is also providing a level of stabilization, it makes sense it is called a composite.
Similar context how âcompositeâ is used for stabilized stone material like Turquoise and Lapis.
Did the seller disclose the lead glass treatment to you?
I didnât read the article but I am thinking this ruby was heat set into a setting and the glass in its fractures melted out. I probably am wrong but if I understood my GIA training, this is what happens when the seller never discloses that the ruby has this type of treatment & the ruby is just destroyed in this process.
Maybe I donât follow, but that image is not exactly representative of the kind of stone one would work to synthetically reproduce. If anomalies in mineral content of a stone like that exist, it seems to me that they are not modern synthetic anomalies. Why bother? I doubt that would fly off the shelf.
The ruby pictured has been put in an ultrasonic cleaner and or exposed to heat/cold temps. The lead-glass treatment is so unstable that it can very easily be damaged. Itâs not a gemstone you can pass down to future generations. Too fragile. For the most part, a lead glass-filled ruby/sapphire is unusable as a gem in its natural state. Treaters/dealers get a severely fractured low-quality gemstone and pretty much glue the pieces together and sell it as a natural gem for thousands of dollars when itâs not even worth $30. If the OP wasnât aware she was buying a lead glass-filled ruby, I suggest that she get a refund tout de suite
Hi, Iâm sorry I think I got out of sync on this, I was referencing the main header photo in the link, the ruby with the whitish surface veins (I am not familiar with the term for that). I see now you were referencing OPs pic. Please ignore my comment, and thanks always for the insightful replies.
Gia report 3 grand bottom. Otherwise idk
