Thank you very much for the input. I had read at least 3 “blogs” written by accredited gemologists who had defined the labels “natural” (earth mined with no treatments), “genuine” (earth mined WITH any kind of treatnents) and synthetic. I was hoping that these terms were somewhat binding for a Reputable auctioneer. I’m looking to return all that I know are synthetic. As you suggested, oldtroll57, some I will take to an accredited gemologist for positive identification. IF there are any earth-mined rubies there, I do certainly want to keep those. And, of course, I need proof if they are synthetic. I consider this as a lesson to myself about rubies in particular. What’s the most ironic about my situation is that I managed to purchase a rather nice natural ruby from the same auction site (different auctioneer) for $35.
Of course, I know that an auction site such as Ebay, there are no standards. Only there can you purchase a 6 ct completely “natural”, flawless sapphire for $50.
I definitely know to stay far, far away from diamonds: they are way over my head. Apparently, so are rubies. Lesson learned. Thanks for the reply,
If anyone is going to pay anywhere from 5 to 120K for a fine natural stone, it has to come with a GIA certificate of authenticity. The diamond market is full of lab created stones. 90% of the output is for industrial diamonds… the market for them as use in abrasives is insatiable…same goes for natural mined stones of which 90% is not of gem quality. Lab created diamonds using a press also uses an iron diffuser to speed up crystal growth. Instead of three years to grow a diamond out of a seed and pure carbon, iron diffusion creates a stone within 3 months… A professional gemologist can detect iron inclusions in the with a microscope.Vapor deposition diamonds also have curved growth lines that clue them off as lab created. None of these can be detected by the naked eye and sometime even with a ten power loup…Due to the flood of lab created diamonds entering the market, the price has dropped quickly. The should cost less than 2/3 to 1/2 of natural…Industrial diamonds sell at a starting price of $3.50/ct.
Lab created rubies and other corundum varieties can be grown hydrothermally or by flux fusion. Emeralds are grown by the same techniques. Again each method has some characteristic inclusion that distinguish them from natural.
Every lab created stone has to be clearly labeled as such… or synthetic… otherwise it would constitute fraud. Natural diamonds are labeled as such also… genuine does not have a specific meaning. Lab created stones are genuine carbon or genuine corundum.
The GIA has published material on this because it is always vigilant for fraud. About 10 years or so ago, Chinese lab created diamonds were being sold as natural… the GIA sounded the alarm. At that time there was no good way of distinguishing natural from press created diamonds… GIA research is continuously on going and is trying to keep one step ahead of fraud… Their stated mission is to combat fraud and bring order to the gem market.
You can buy stones with confidence at the price of paying retail…retailers such as jewelry stores are bound by law to label their stones properly. I would not trust online sales as some sellers are unscrupulous or at the best misleading. Say away from Etsy and other websites.
Buying stones sight unseen is asking for trouble. Pictures are insufficient to evaluate whatever you are buying…If you have to pay alot for a stone, have the papers and have it examined by a gemologist before finalizing the purchase…
I recently saw a natural 5.86ct VS1 yellow diamond at Cartiers selling for 1.89K… surprised that it wasn’t more expensive… particular since the name alone commands a premium… there were papers with it… I haven’t priced diamonds recently, but prices have dropped due to an abundance of lab grown diamonds that serve the low end market.
heat treatment for corundum stones to improve clarity and color is standard practice. untreated high quality blue sapphires are a rarity, I don’t know of any easy way to distinguish heat treated from untreated blue sapphire, unless there were still a few residual undispersed rutile inclusions in them. Finding one that is untreated and very expensive has to come with certificates stating so.
@StevenH26783
Thank you very much. I did indeed want a GIA perspective on the word “genuine” and you have now educated me. I confess I was mislead by the word “genuine” based on several articles I had read, only to discover that the lot on which I had bid (based on a picture) was synthetic - and no refunds available. I felt very much that the sellers methods were fraudulent and continue to be. But, if it is not so according to the GIA, then they are merely deliberately misleading.
You are very right that buying stones unseen is asking for trouble. I have learned a valuable lesson. I feel that I shall not be attempting any further purchases of rubies until I have received much more education. Thank you again for the information!
@StevenH26783
I would only add, though, that these particular stones were not labeled genuine corundum, but genuine rubies. The auction house claimed it has no way of knowing (whether they are synthetic) if the lot submitted for auction is undocumented. They simply tap an electronic probe on the stones long enough to know they are real. They do not even employ a gemologist to glance through a loupe. Genuinely misdirecting is what I call it. I have watched them for long enough since my purchase to see that they are simply shilling rubies from disreputable providers in India and collecting their 25% premium for their efforts of writing a cleverly misleading auction listing. Still, my mistake and now my lesson.
There’s nothing wrong about lab created rubies so long as you know that they are. Lab rubies are quite attractive. But the price difference between natural and synthetic is unmistakable. Lab created corundum should cost a tenth of natural. They can be distinguished from natural by inclusions that are the consequences of the process that there were made by. Flux going corundum has flux inclusions containing lithium molybdate. Hydrothermal methods create inclusions and growth lines that indicate that process. I’m not a GIA certified gemologist but a geologist and an amateur at that. However I have extensive self training in that area. My interest is geochemistry and not so much gemology. I’m more interested in mineral paragenesis and deep earth processes that create the conditions that permit for gem and ore deposit formation than in the actual stones themselves. All of the information that I have comes from reading advanced petrology textbooks and research papers. I am an associate member of the America Geophysical Union and European Geochemical Society. It does require a strong background in chemistry and physics. I do not pretend to understand all of it or even much of it but I do love the hard science behind it. One had to be self educated and take the time and have the discipline to study with scientific rigor. Those things are at the heart of any scientific study. My experience with gems dates back 30 years. My experience with geochemistry is just as long. However it’s not a topic that an educated layperson cannot master. I’m hoping to formally study and pursue my interests as I have recently retired from the clinical neurosciences. The same scientific rigor that I am trained in my own professional area of science followed me into my study of rocks and minerals. You have to read systematically. Memorize things and build on prior knowledge. It’s not difficult if you are following a passion. I would encourage you in your endeavors. Just don’t stop and don’t let bad experiences turn you off. Learn from your mistakes. I have learned much from mine.
Please study hard in a systematic and disciplined way… start with beginners books and advance to higher levels of study… I strongly recommend the Simon and Schuster field guide to minerals and rocks. There’s a companion book on gems. you can cross reference the two books. You have to gain some knowledge of gem minerals and their physical properties, chemistry and optical properties before you can understand how gems are examined and determined to be lab created or natural. I strongly recommend also the revised edition of Dana’s mineralogy… it uses Dana’s system of classification and gives you the physical and chemical properties of dozens of mineral, many of which can crystalize into gems…If you have a natural, you will be able to learn how good a stone it is, by further inspection with a high powered loup or optical microscope.
I do a lot of fact checking and online research… everything is out there… you just have to know what and how to search…many sources are commercial and tell you little, others are great starting points for a deeper dive into what you want to know more about… Wikipedia is another starting point for any specific mineral or gem… Mindat gives you the physical and chemical properties of a mineral and their type locale, but not much more, as it is a gigantic compendium of thousands of minerals. It’s not necessary to study everything under the sun, but the more you study, the better off you will be… there are only a few minerals that crystalize into facetable stones… diamonds, emeralds which are beryls, corundum stones and tourmalines… quartz stones are just quartz… if you know quartz, then you will be able to understand colored quartz stones like amethyst and citrine.
You will also need to know how color centers are produced in these gem minerals. The process of color center formation is still under intense research. It’s quite involved… some of the processes involve crystal field splitting of transition element valence energy levels, when these elements are incorporated in trace amounts within a crystal of pure mineral. Other colorants include charge transfer, dislocations, voids and other crystal structure defects… all of this can be mind boggling for a beginner. But you do have to start somewhere… quartz stones and corundum stones have the simplest chemistry and physical properties… these are good to start with… other gems, especially tourmalines are far more complicated. However, everything is understandable if you understand mineral paragenesis.
best wishes and good luck on your endeavor… look forward and not in the rear view mirror,but do remember your mistakes so as not to repeat them…