Gemstone - Treatment and Enhancement Knowledge

Gemstone & Treatments

Oiling - Heating - Berullium Heating - Diffusion - Irradiation

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Some of treatment procedures are centuries old, while others are relatively new. Gemstone are treated in different ways to improve their appearance. Some of these procedures are centuries old, while others are relatively new. Also, by cutting or polishing gemstone could have fabulous colors and nice sparkle. Treatment or enhancement gemstones means any process to make natural gems improved gem’s color, clarity before cutting and polishing. Please understand that TREATMENT AND ENHANCEMENT has nothing to do with man created gems or synthetic gems. Treating and enhancing gemstone is a very common step to improve gems appearance. Some treatment and enhancement improved by nature are permanent and cannot be detected. Treatment and enhancement procedure so closely resembles what happens in nature, that one cannot always tell if they have been treated after mining or before. Microscopic examination will sometimes reveal an inclusion that burst during heating treatment, but lacking that there is no way to tell exact that heat treatment was done before or after mining.

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There are many techniques of treated or enhanced gems. Briefly explanations of the important techniques is given below.

Oiling

Oiling treatment method has been used form more than hundreds years, mostly emerald treated to derive its beautiful green color and clarity. In the same way, other colored stones such as alexandrite and rubies have been treated this way makes less surface inclusions. So we can concluded that colored oils are used on those gemstone to improve their appearances. This treatment reduces fractures and provide better clarity. Wax and natural or synthetic resins are used besides colorless oil. Synthetic resin fills fracture in gemstone. Oiling treatment is not a permanent but generally accepted . Some requires re-treatment. Special care for oiled gems are repairing and cleaning.

Heating

Heat treatment is the most common form and famous enhancement. This is so common with corundum, ruby and sapphire, it is recommended that jewelers inform their customers that they are "probably heat treated". Heating can cause color of a stone to darken, lighten, or even completely changed and can also improve gems clarity and brightness.
Heating of most kinds of gemstones is a standard treatment procedure. Heating knowledge was passed over generations. Heating Methods vary from simply burning method to highly techniques under regulate temperature.

Mostly rough gems are heat enhanced to improve their quality. Heating is also called burning. Colors, clarity and brightness are changed by heating, inclusions the stone is improved. Let us give example, if we heated darkish Tourmalines, color will go brighten. In the same way situation occurs with aquamarine. After properly heated will lose gems greenish become absolutely blue. Heating can turned gemstones into beautiful sparkling and more valued. More example, related is the blue topaz treatment. Also, treatment makes colorless topaz to turn them nice blue. This, topaz treatment, is done by two steps of different treatment. First, radiation to turns the topaz brown by modifying the sharing of electrons between crystal's atoms. Then heating treatment turn them blue color. In most cases, you can find that citrine, kunzite, tanzanite, aquamarine, zircon, amethyst, tourmaline, topaz as well as sapphire and ruby are heat treated.

In market, permanent demand is unheated ruby and blue sapphire those gemstone have very high price. If you compare price of good quality unheated gemstones with with enhanced one, you will find that there is a big difference in market pricing. Top quality unheated blue sapphire and ruby are very expensive in market. In other case, without heat treatment, many kinds of gemstones would not exist - tanzanite. Tanzanite is demanded with color that they would not have without heating. this show that sometimes heating even increases gems value. So we concluded that heating is not necessary decrease the value.

Heating does not change the chemical, atomic, structure of the gems. Treatment is permanent and accepted. Heated gemstones is very easy to keep, they do not require any special care.

Beryllium Heating

This treatment probably catalyst causing change in chemical, atomic, structure of the gemstone. This is the point to produce yellow and orange colors in sapphires. The exact beryllium heating process is still mystery.

Diffusion

Diffusion is an enhancement method, commonly used on corundum, added iron and titanium during the heating process of the gemstone, sometime called surface diffusion. Diffusion layer created by adding elements. This layer described as colored coating. By re-cut, polishing or scratching diffused gem may lose its beauty. Diffused star sapphires or other diffused sapphires is only about 0.1mm depth. Diffused gems should be handled with care.

Irradiation

Radiation enhancement or irradiation means pounding material with subatomic particles. In some case, irradiation is followed by heating to produce a better or new color for the gem - such as topaz. Today so many irradiation technique applied and has created shades that cannot found in natural topaz. Same way in tourmaline, irradiation can turn dark pink stone into red. For diamonds irradiation and heating can turned them into browns, blues, yellows, pinks and greens. These are fairly common. Irradiated diamonds will sell for much less price per carat than the naturally colored ones of comparable color, clarity grade, and size. Within few hours gemstone's color can be altered and the clarity improved. Irradiated gem does not require any special care. Irradiation treatment consider to stay permanent.