Full Answer
What is a fracture filled stone?
Fracture Filled. S mall cracks or fractures in a gemstone can interrupt the passing of light through the stone, creating white or "dead" spots in the color of the stone. Sometimes these fractures – if they reach the surface of the stone – will be filled with material that allows the light to pass through smoothly.
How do they fill in fissures in a stone?
They are applied in liquid form (melted) and then allowed to solidify. Sometimes stones are partially heated to help the process along, other times the stone can be put into a vacuum to remove air out of the fissures and allow a more complete filling. So Why Treat?
What is the purpose of fill in gemstones?
– filling surface-reaching fractures or cavities with a glass, resin, wax or oil to conceal their visibility and to improve the apparent clarity of gem materials, appearance, stability, or in extreme cases—to add to a slight amount of weight to a gem.
What materials are used to fill in cracks in stone?
Sometimes these fractures – if they reach the surface of the stone – will be filled with material that allows the light to pass through smoothly. Various materials are used for this; oil, wax, glass, epoxy, and borax are common materials.
What does stone treatment mean?
Treatment refers to any process other than cutting and polishing that improves the appearance of the color or clarity, or that are used to alter the appearance (color, clarity or phenomena), durability, value, or supply of a gemstone.
Are treated gemstones less valuable?
Treated gemstones are cheaper. Most people want to buy or wear an emerald but since an emerald costs $50K per carat (untreated), most people cannot afford it. The solution is a treated emerald that starts at $10 per carat and can go up to $10K per carat.
What does it mean when a diamond has been treated?
Diamond treatment usually involves improving the total quality of the diamond by modifying the inclusions and/or enhancing or changing the colour. Some treatments are stable and permanent while others may not be that stable and can suffer damage during setting, wear, cleaning and repair. Fracture Filling.
What does it mean when a gemstone is filled?
Filling is a gemstone enhancement method which indicates a broad range of treatments. From simple oiling to resin impregnation to the filling of fractures with glass or synthetic gem material with the aid of fluxes.
How can you tell if a gemstone is heat treated?
Heat treatment is a very risky process as many gems have inclusions that expand at a different rate and cause stress fractures, which then becomes an identifying characteristic of heated gems, particularly sapphire and ruby which can display halos around inclusions within the gem.
How can you tell if a gemstone has been dyed?
Another thing you can look is the colors of the gemstone. If you observed that there are areas of the gemstone where the color is extremely concentrated than the other areas of the stone, then it's likely dyed.
Are color treated diamonds less valuable?
A color enhanced diamond has less value than a natural diamond because it underwent a treatment that isn't natural.
How can you tell if a diamond is cracked or filled?
The best way to detect fracture filled diamonds is under a gemmological microscope. The filling generally leaves a faint or strong neon colour in the stone, which when observed face up is either invisible or could easily be mistaken for normal, spectral colours.
What does treated color mean in a diamond?
Color Treated Diamonds, however, are relatively inexpensive as their color is added artificially. They are, essentially, color enhanced diamonds. The particular color of your color treated diamond will add luster and radiance to your unique diamond otherwise invisible to the naked eye.
What does it mean when a gemstone has been enhanced?
The term enhancement is defined as any treatment or process other than cutting and polishing that improves the appearance (color/clarity/phenomena), durability, value or availability of a gemstone. In today's gem marketplace, many gemstones have been enhanced by a variety of methods.
Why are stones heat-treated?
Heat Treatment is a gemstone's exposure to high temperatures that alters the color and increases the clarity. Specifically, heating is used to lighten, darken or enrich the color. Without heat treated gemstones, fine gems' availability in the most desirable colors would be scarce.
Is glass filled ruby real?
He went on to explain that lead-glass rubies are not found naturally in the earth, but are instead made using a combination of low-quality corundum, the mineral found in ruby, which is then infused with high amounts of lead glass. The mixture is heated at high temperatures and then cooled, cut and polished.
How long have humans treated gemstones?
Common Gemstone Treatments Cheat Sheet. Humans have treated gemstones for thousands of years. Much of the gem material currently on the market has been treated in some way before it reaches the consumer.
What is the best treatment for pearls?
Pearl. The most common gemstone treatments for pearls are bleaching and dyeing. Most pearls also undergo maeshori heat treatment to enhance their luster and a gentle polishing to coat them with wax. Some pearls may also undergo non-routine treatments.
What are the treatments for amber?
Common treatments for amber include heat treatment, dye, and reconstitution. Coatings and fracture fillings are less common. Heat treatments darken the color and leave “sun spots.”. These spots appear like glitter within the stone. The fracture spots in this piece of amber are evidence of heat treatment.
Does moonstone have a coating?
While moonstone is typically untreated, some specimens have artificial coatings . Dark coatings on the back of a cabochon can enhance adularescence. Some gems may also have a blue coating to enhance their color.
Can diamonds be treated?
However, if you purchase a diamond, send it to a gemological laboratory to catch any possible treatments. Diamonds may receive laser drilling, high-pressure/high-temperature (HPHT), coatings, fillings, and radiation treatments.
Can you dye chalcedony?
Chalcedony. Bleach and dye treatments are common in chalcedony. So, check any brightly colored samples carefully. In addition, heat treatments can improve the color in certain stones. Chalcedony can also receive coatings, sometimes only on the back of a cabochon.
What is the purpose of oiling a gemstone?
The purpose is to diminish the visibly of fractures and thus improve transparency in the stone. The treatment is usually not permanent.
What is clarity enhancement?
Clarity enhancement/Fracture filling refers to the filling of surface breaking fractures or fissures with colorless glass, resin or similar substance. This process is done to improve durability, color and transparency.
What is a gemstone treatment?
Treatment refers to any process other than cutting and polishing that improves the appearance of the color or clarity, or that are used to alter the appearance (color, clarity or phenomena), durability, value, or supply of a gemstone. Today, most gems are treated to improve appearance. Treatment processes can consist of heat, ...
What is dyeing gemstones?
Dyeing refers to one of the oldest treatments recorded. The treatment involves the introduction of a coloring agent into a gemstone to give it a new color, intensify an existing color or improve color uniformity.
What is the process of irradiating a gemstone?
Irradiation refers to the use of neutrons, gamma, and/or electron bombardment to alter a gemstone’s color. The irradiation stage of the process is then usually followed by a heating phase to effect the change. Blue topaz is typically produced by irradiation.
What are the treatments for gems?
Today, most gems are treated to improve appearance. Treatment processes can consist of heat, irradiation, dyeing, oiling, or other processes. Detection of these treatments may be easy to nearly impossible. Treatments should always be disclosed to the consumer. The following are the most common treatments that are observed in the gem trade.
What is the most common method of treating gems?
Heating. The heat treatment of gems is the most common treatment technique used on gems. Reference to heat treatment of gems is found in gemological literature dating back thousands of years. However, widespread use started in the 20 th century. This treatment is usually detectable in many gems.
What is the most commonly filled stone?
The most commonly filled stones are emerald, aquamarine, ruby, sapphire, peridot, and turquoise . It is accepted for emeralds to be oiled, as they are naturally heavily fractured. The process of fracture filling ruby with transparent lead glass is a recent innovation that began around 2004 in Chanthaburi, Thailand.
What happens when a gemstone is cracked?
S mall cracks or fractures in a gemstone can interrupt the passing of light through the stone , creating white or "dead" spots in the color of the stone. Sometimes these fractures – if they reach the surface of the stone – will be filled with material that allows the light to pass through smoothly.
What is the most common form of treatment for gemstones?
This article will take a look at two of the most common forms of treatment, Coating and chemical treatments. Coating . Painting and coating is an age old method of enhancing a gemstone, used as far back as Greek and Roman times, when they were considered an accepted method of further beautifying a natural gem.
What are the different types of chemical treatments?
There are five basic types of chemical treatment, namely, bleaching, dyeing, diffusion, oiling and impregnation . Bleaching is the most straightforward and is basically the use of a chemical agent to lighten or remove color or possibly dark inclusions.
What gemstones have been coated to improve their color?
Many gemstones have been routinely coated to improve or radically change their color for many years now. Topaz is a case in point. “Mystic” topaz, for example has a thin layer of titanium applied to the pavilion which causes interference effects and results in a display of rainbow colors.
What is the treatment for tanzanites?
The treatment involves applying a coating consisting of cobalt, to pale Tanzanites in order to give them the appearance of fine stones. The treatment is identifiable using an immersion cell and microscope which reveals areas where the coating hasn't taken completely or erosion has occurred near facet junctions.
What is the best treatment for emeralds?
Oiling is by far the simplest treatment. It involves filling fractures, feathers and cracks reaching the surface layer of the stone with a liquid. In the case of Emerald, this is routinely cedar oil but can include palm oil and even olive oil.
What is diffusion treatment?
Diffusion treatment only penetrates a shallow layer as illustrated. Generally, the chemicals used are commonly natural components of the material itself. Sapphires as an example, are mostly heated together with alumina, titanium and iron which enhances its blue color. These occur naturally in blue sapphires.
Can oil be removed from a stone?
The oil remains liquid inside the stone and can be removed if the stone is too rigorously cleaned – such as in a jeweler’s ultrasonic cleaner. Impregnation, by contrast, involves filling fractures with solid substances such as wax or plastic or lead glass.
What stones are treated with oils?
Recently, I have read articles that other colored stones such as rubies, alexandrite, other varieties of chrysoberyl, and demantoid garnets have been treated with oils and resins to make surfacing inclusions less visible. Occasionally colored oils are used on emeralds and rubies.
Who first used gemstone enhancement?
The treatment and enhancement of gemstones has existed for hundreds and hundreds of years. The first documentation of treatments was presented by Pliny the Elder. And, 2000 years later, many of these treatments are still being used today! Some enhancements improve on nature, cannot be detected and are permanent;
What is the process of putting wax into a porous material?
Impregnation and stabilization are common for turquoise. Impregnation is the infusion of wax or paraffin into a porous material. Stabilization is the introduction of a bonding agent, usually plastic, into a porous material. Of the two processes, stabilization is the most permanent.
What is agate dyed?
Chalcedony or more commonly known as agate, is often dyed blue, green, or orange and carved into bowls, statues, or cut into beads. This is fine, as there are some lovely pieces around using this stuff, especially carved animals and the like and no one minds that it's not "natural".
What is synthetic resin used for?
Synthetic resins can be used to fill in fractures in emeralds and other stones with fractures that reach the surface of the gem. Hardeners are often applied to make the process more permanent. The use of these resins, with hardeners (Like Opticon) are NOT acceptable treatments. Irradiation.
Why does a gemstone need heating?
In most cases the heating enhances the gemstone to make it more beautiful; the price premium is the result of the rarity of being unheated!. Heating. Heating is the most common treatment available. It can cause the color of a stone to lighten, darken, or change completely.
Is corundum a heat treatment?
The heat treatment of corundum (rubies and sapphires) is an excellent example. The heat treatments of corundum (both simple heating and heating with a flux, such as beryllium) are often done before before cutting, and may not be disclosed to the lapidary before cutting is done. Treatments and Pricing.
Why is glass injected into diamonds?
A glass-like substance is injected into the fracture to make it less visible and to improve the stone’s apparent clarity. Because the filling may be damaged or removed during routine cleaning and repair, the technique is controversial in diamond treatment.
Does diamond treatment affect the value of a diamond?
While diamond treatments can increase a stone’s Color or Clarity, the presence of such enhancements may affect the diamond’s value – particularly if the price reflects its appearance after treatment.
Why do people use gemstone enhancements?
Gemstone enhancements are applied to gems to improve their appearance and wearability. Some of these procedures have been used for centuries, while others are recent. People in the gem industry choose treatments based on the gem type and the desired effect. Although some gemstone enhancements are commonplace, the gem-buying public remains ...
What gemstones are filled with lead glass?
Lead Glass Filling. Diamonds, rubies, and sapphires can be filled with lead glass to improve their clarity. Some gems that combine natural with synthetic material may also be called “hybrid gems.”. This 9k gold ring features a “composite” ruby, filled with lead glass.
What causes gems to form?
Heat is one of the conditions that cause gems to form, whether in the ground or in a lab. Heating that occurs during gem formation isn’t an enhancement. On the other hand, heating applied after gem formation counts as an enhancement). Another often heat-treated gem is aquamarine.
Is oiling a gem worth it?
To gem owners, oiling is well worthwhile, since the oil filler isn’t visible and simply allows the natural beauty of the stone to shine. For them, gemstone enhancements like oiling increase both the emotional and monetary value of the gem. Jewelers should tell buyers that oiled gems need special care.
Why are diamonds treated?
A relatively small percentage of gem-quality diamonds are treated and they are treated for two reasons: to improve clarity or to alter color.
What is the most common diamond treatment used to enhance clarity?
Fracture filling: Infusing molten leaded glass-like substance into a diamond’s fractures – is the most common diamond treatment used to enhance clarity.
What is HPHT treatment?
High Pressure, High Temperature (HPHT): HPHT treatment uses machines that are essentially the same as those used to grow synthetic diamonds. The HPHT process can turn some brownish diamonds colorless or transform these brownish stones into other colors like yellow, greenish yellow or green.
What are the treatments for enhancing diamonds?
Sometimes this process will be followed by annealing. Irradiated diamonds are sensitive to heat and jewelry repair procedures, recutting, and repolish ing can change their colors. Annealing:
What color does annealing produce?
It has been reported to produce pink, red, and purple colors as well.
Can diamond filling be damaged?
The treatment can last for years with proper care, but the filling can be damaged during common jewelry repairs, or if subjected to repeated cleanings with steam, acid or ultrasonics.
Do wholesalers have to disclose treatment?
The bottom line for you: while wholesalers and retailers are obliged to disclose presence of treatments, when shopping for a diamond it’s still wise to ask for a diamond that has been graded by GIA or another lab with the equipment to detect sophisticated treatments. Here’s a quick overview of some of the more common treatments.
What is enhancement in gemstones?
What does “enhancement” mean in the gem trade? ENHANCEMENT: Any treatment process other than cutting and polishing that improves the appearance (color/clarity/phenomena), durability, or availability of a gemstone. ...
What is the oldest form of gemstone enhancement?
Heating is probably the oldest form of gemstone enhancement. It is impossible to tell who first allowed a gem to fall into a fire and then, in amazement, observed the resulting change of color. What is clear though is that the heating of gemstones has been going on for many centuries and, depending on the gem type, is often accepted as “routine” by those in the gem trade.
What gemstones are irradiated?
Irradiating gems after they were mined either replicates this process or takes it to another level. The gemstone “poster child” for irradiation is blue topaz. Irradiated blue topaz is so prevalent in the market that it is presumed that any topaz with a medium to deep blue color has received this treatment.
How do you feel about a gem that has been enhanced?
Philosophically the question is, how do you feel about a gem that has been “enhanced”? This “philosophical feel” is the largest problem that most people have with gemstone enhancements . While many individuals will accept common and durable treatments as valid and reasonable, there are still those who for holistic, religious or emotional reasons want a gem that has not undergone any “improvements” other than cutting.
What is the difference between enhanced and un enhanced sapphires?
Financially the difference between an enhanced and un enhanced gem can be either quite large or small to non existent. Sapphires for example will usually command a 30%-80% premium if they have not been heat treated when comparing a heated one of the same color to its purely “natural” un enhanced counterpart. Why then do people ever heat sapphires? Heat will often result in a sapphire that is a different shade of color and/or clearer and consequently brighter and so certain sapphires with specific characteristics can have their beauty and salability increased by heating. If sapphire enhancement by heating does not bother you then you can get a beautiful heated gem for significantly less money than an equally beautiful one that hasn’t been heated. In other cases, such as brighter yellow or orange Citrine, heat treatment is almost universal and so the market doesn’t have a special price bracket for unheated material.
What is the name of the coating on a gemstone?
The most commonly known versions are the “Aqua Aura”, “Mystic” or “Azotic” coatings which give the gem an iridescent look. These more “metallic” coatings give a look which no natural gem has and are easily identified by those with some experience with gemstones.
Is enhanced gem durable?
There are some enhanced gem materials which are just as durable and easy to care for as their un enhanced counterparts. However, there are other enhancements which are not color stable in certain gem materials or can cause the gem to not be very durable in everyday wear. I will try to explain this as clearly as possible.
Coating
Dyeing
Clarity Enhancement/Fracture Filling
Heating
Flux Healing
Diffusion Treatment
Irradiation
Oiling
- Oiling refers to a filling of surface reaching cracks or fissures in a gem with a colorless oil or resin, wax or other substance except glass or plastic, to improve the gemstone’s appearance. The purpose is to diminish the visibly of fractures and thus improve transparency in the stone. The treatment is usually not permanent.