How to Identify Unheated and Untreated Gemstone

  • Added:
    Dec 10, 2013
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How to Identify Unheated and Untreated Gemstone Photo by Shivangi Gupta

Many-a-times heated and treated stones are sold to customers in the garb of genuine and natural gemstones. Untreated gems and gemstone jewellery is rare and with each and every passing day become more cherished for these are very rare. However, the beauty of synthetic stones is a product of human manipulation. Here’s why it is essential to distinguish these from the genuine stones. But not everyone cares about natural beauty. Most consumers don't care (or perhaps they simply don't know) whether or not a stone has been treated. For those consumers, there is a never-ending supply of enhanced stones, modified and manipulated to mimic untreated gems.

Heated stones are less durable:
The stones created through heating cause these gems to become brittle. With the passage of time a heated gemstone start to chip and cause the stone to look dull.

May be a risk to health:
These gems cause radioactivity and contain beryllium. Therefore wearing these stones cause pose health risks to the person. 

Treated stones do not retain value:
Every gem's price is established by how rare the stone is. Since treated stones are never rare and can be found in abundance, these can seldom be expensive. So consulting a gemologist before buying a gemstone is absolutely essential. However, sophisticate lab procedures can only identify a treated and heated stone. Diffusion treatment is another process that introduces artificial colour into a stone by artificially adding chemicals and other enhancement materials to the stone.

How one can know whether these sapphires have not been heat treated?

Heating or tampering a stone breaks "silk" an indicator that any stone particularly sapphire has never been burned. Silk is actually a mineral rutile that stands as a thin strand within the sapphire stone. These strands could be easily visible through magnification. However, if a sapphire has been heat treated in any way to increase colour, the silk either disappears or is melted. If the silk is partially tampered or melted, these lines indicate the stone has been heat-treated.

Intact silk directly prove that the stone is free from any kind of heat treatment. Also, intact, unaltered crystal inclusion also proves that the stone is free from any kind of enhancement therapy. Virtually every birthstone reflects some inclusions when the stone is looked under a microscope made for gems. However, very, very small inclusions should be ignored as these have negligible impact on the price and value of any stone. On the other hand, large inclusions have a drastic impact on the price and value of a gem.

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This article has been written and posted by a astrologer who working with gempundit.com and provides information on gemstones and tell more about blue sapphire stone astrological benefits.


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