| Lighting
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| | Ruby was one of the first gems to be
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| Proper lighting is crucial with any
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| | treated, with reports detailing the heat
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| colored stone, but it is particularly
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| | treatment in Sri Lanka dating back over
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| important with ruby. The culprit is the
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| | 1000 years. But today's treatments are
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| fluorescent tubes so much a part of the
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| | far more sophisticated than the primitive
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| modern office.
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| | heatings of years gone by.
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| Most fluorescent tubes are so
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| | Today, ruby heat treatments run the
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| red-deficient that what they do to the
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| | gamut. The simplest is heating to knock
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| color of a ruby should be outlawed. The
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| | out the blue component that makes a stone
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| reason is not hard to fathom. Ruby
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| | purplish. Such heating can be done at
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| requires a light source with at least
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| | lower temperatures (say 700-1200 °C) and
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| some red in it, and fluorescent tubes
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| | is often undetectable.
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| ain't got none. Thus to bring out the
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| | Another type involves heating to higher
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| inherent beauty in your stones, use
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| | temperatures (1200-1800 °C) to remove
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| halogen or incandescent bulbs, or natural
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| | rutile silk, and this is generally
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| skylight.
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| | detectable.
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| When using skylight (not direct sunlight)
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| | But the type of heating that is most
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| to view gems, keep in mind that red
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| | controversial is that applied to Mang Hsu
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| stones will appear best around noon,
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| | rubies. This involves heating (1200-1800
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| while blue stones look their finest just
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| | °C) in the presence of a flux. The flux
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| after sunup and just before dusk. So the
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| | produces healing of surface-reaching
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| rule is, if buying with natural light
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| | fractures and openings. Thus a highly
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| (skylight), don't buy rubies (or red
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| | fractured stone can be healed and the
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| spinels) in the middle of the day.
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| | fractures dissipated.
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| Background checks
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| | A further treatment occasionally seen is
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| A word should also be said about the
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| | oiling/staining. Gentle heating in
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| viewing background. At mining areas in
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| | alcohol (be careful!) can generally
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| Burma and elsewhere, rubies will often be
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| | remove oils/stains.
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| sold on brass plates, yellow table tops
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| | One of the true tragedies of gemstone
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| or in stone papers with yellow liners
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| | enhancements is that they raise
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| (flutes). This makes the purplish red
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| | expectations among the gem-buying public
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| color more reddish. Place your stones on
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| | to unreasonable levels. Once a customer
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| a white background for accurate color
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| | has seen the shocking reds produced by
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| assessment.
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| | human tampering, it becomes far more
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| Parcels
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| | difficult to accept the more ordinary
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| Buying parcels is a specialized area
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| | hues of nature. No where is this more
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| beyond the scope of this article, but I
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| | true than with Maing Hsu ruby.
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| do want to mention that parcels often
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| | I will not go into enhancement ethics.
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| look great with all the gems piled
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| | But it is essential that both buyers and
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| together. This is because they draw color
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| | sellers are aware of the presence of any
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| from one another, with each gem adding
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| | treatment, for they can have an important
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| color to the whole. For an accurate
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| | impact on value. It is my personal
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| assessment of color, spread the parcel
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| | opinion that, when spending a significant
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| out such that individual gems do not
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| | sum of money on a ruby, one should avoid
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| influence the color of those nearby.
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| | treated stones of any kind.
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| Treatments
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