Imperial red sapphire

Gem Related Discussion
1

I’ve run across a bunch of sapphires online that are being sold sa imperial red sapphires… If a corundum is red, doesn’t that make it a ruby?

Is this some sort of scam?

2

I know of no other name for a red sapphire than Ruby. I do not know if you are familiar with the Herkimer Diamond found in the north east of the US, but they are just very pure quartz not a diamond. My thought is the red sapphire under that imperial name is not corundum.

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3

That’s what I think also. So I bought a few to analyze.

4

and what did you find out??

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the question i once asked a seller after several emils i got him to admit they were treated

6

I found stones labeled as “Imperial red sapphire” on Etsy. They have the appearance of being bright orange sapphire. My guess, based on super cheap price they were being sold at, is CZ, or at best coated topaz or lab created corundum. Discovering what they actually are will be a good learning experience though.
:purple_heart:Brandy

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7

I agree that’s why I bought some of them. They were cheap and had free shipping.

8

I found out that they were tiny little spinel. They are so small I don’t even know what the price of the spinel that weighs 0.07 ct is… plus i still don’t know if they are natural or synthetic. I haven’t had time to stick it under a microscope… plus my micrscope arrived without the gem holder so its very hard to manipulate these little stones under the microscope. I paid 5.23 USD for 3.51 ct (50 stones) = 0.07ct per stone. (judging from the price they must be synthetic)

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