| It's very rare to find a totally natural ruby - nearly | | | | layer of intense color on the surface of the stone. |
| all rubies have been treated in some way to | | | | This is done to extremely pale rubies, or clear |
| enhance their color or strength. Therefore, it is | | | | sapphires. Since a ruby is nothing more than a red |
| important to understand the different treatments, | | | | sapphire, a clear sapphire treated in this way is |
| how they affect the ruby, and what to tell your | | | | considered a genuine (though not completely |
| jeweler if you need to have a treated ruby | | | | natural) ruby. Surface diffusion is a stable and |
| worked on. | | | | permanent treatment under normal conditions, but |
| The most common treatments applied to ruby | | | | can be destroyed if the ruby is recut. |
| jewelry are heat treatment, surface diffusion, | | | | Fracture Filling |
| fracture filling, and cavity filling. | | | | Sometimes, colored oil or resin is used to fill tiny |
| Heat Treatment | | | | fractures in the ruby. This also increases the |
| The number one most common treatment for | | | | stone's color and clarity, but does not result in |
| rubies is heat treatment. This involves heating the | | | | exceptional stability or strength. Exposure to heat |
| stone to a very high temperature (in the | | | | or chemicals can damage the fillers that are |
| neighborhood of 3000 degrees Fahrenheit), | | | | typically used. |
| infusing it with a deep, rich red color. A secondary | | | | Cavity Filling |
| effect of the heating is that small fractures are | | | | This is a similar process to fracture filling, and is |
| healed and filled with heating residues. These | | | | very common. As with fracture filling, this will |
| effects are permanent, and only detectable by a | | | | enhance color and clarity, but exposure to heat |
| skilled gemologist. | | | | and chemicals can slightly destabilize the stone. |
| Heat treated rubies are just as color-stable and | | | | So, when buying ruby jewelry, don't shy away |
| strong (if not more so) than natural rubies, but if | | | | from heat treated stones in general - they are |
| you need to have work done on your stone, it is | | | | just as stable and beautiful as natural stones. If |
| important to tell the jeweler that it has been | | | | your stone has been treated with surface |
| treated. | | | | diffusion, fracture filling, or cavity filling, remember |
| Surface Diffusion | | | | that it will be slightly more vulnerable to rough |
| Applying heat treatment to a ruby, in the | | | | handling. |
| presence of a coloring agent, will create a shallow | | | | |