Gemstone treatment is any
enhancement, by man, to a gem material other than cutting
or polishing. Below is a list of gemstones, the method
of known treatment and its frequency of use.
Alexandrite - NoneAmazonite
- Usually, the use of wax, paraffin or oil via impregnation;
occasionally, use of plastic or hardening agents.
Amber - Occasionally, heated for sun spangles or color
enhancement; rarely, dyed or surface treated.
Amethyst - Occasionally, heated to lighten color and to
remove 'smoky' components.
Ametrine - None
Ammolite - Commonly treated with colorless hardening substances,
for stability, via impregnation.
Andalusite - None
Aquamarine - Usually heated to remove yellow components
(green) to leave the blue.
Beryl - Blue-Always irradiated blue from colorless; Pink-Commonly
heated to remove the yellow component; Yellow/Green-None;
Red-None; Yellow-Usually produced by irradiation.
Chalcedony - Agate-Usually dyed; (Black) Onyx-Always dyed;
Banded-Usually dyed; Blue-Commonly dyed; Green-Usually
dyed; Carnelian-Usually heated, occasionally dyed; Jasper-Occasionally
dyed; Chrysoprase-None.
Chrysoberyl - Cat's Eye-Occasionally irradiated; Yellow
or Brown or Green - None.
Citrine - Usually produced by heating various types of
quartz.
Coral - Black-None; White-Commonly bleached; Pink-Commonly
impregnated with colorless wax; Orange-Commonly stabilized
with plastic; Gold- Usually bleached from black; Red-Occasionally
dyed.
Diamond - Occasionally to commonly laser drilled; Rarely
coated; Occasionally by filling surface cavities or fractures
with a hardened substance; Occasionally irradiated and/or
heated. Now a recent procedure of taking a brown diamond
and making it white (HTHP for high temperature high pressure).
Diopside - None.
Emerald - Usually the penetration of colorless oil, wax,
unhardened resins into voids; Commonly the filling of
surface cavities or fractures with a hardened colorless
substance; Occasionally dyed with colored substance.
Garnet - None
Hematite - None
Iolite - None
Ivory & Bone - Commonly bleached; Occasionally dyed;
Occasionally impregnated with colorless wax paraffin;
Commonly impregnated with colorless hardened substances.
Jade - Commonly impregnated with colorless wax; Commonly
bleached and polymer impregnated; Occasionally dyed.
Kunzite - Commonly heated and/or irradiated.
Lapis Lazuli - Commonly impregnated with colorless wax
or oil; Commonly dyed.
Malachite - Occasionally coated with a colorless wax;
Rarely impregnated with plastic and/or other hardened
agents.
Moonstone - None
Opal - Rarely impregnated with colorless oil, wax and
resins; Rarely impregnated with colorless plastic; Commonly
sugar solution infilling in an acid bath; Occasionally
infusion of unhardened essentially colorless substances
into voids; Usually impregnated with colorless resins
and hardeners.
Pearl - Usually bleached; Rarely dyed in natural pearls
but usually dyed in cultured pearls; Occasionally irradiated;
Commonly chemical treatment with heat.
Peridot - Rarely penetration of colorless oil, wax, unhardened
resins into voids; Rarely filling of surface fractures
with a colorless hardened substance.
Rhodochrosite - Rarely dyed.
Rhodonite - None.
Ruby - Usually heated; Rarely dyed; Commonly intentional
filling of surface cavities and fractures with a foreign
material, including glass; Commonly as a by-product of
heat treatment the presence of solidified borax or similar
colorless substances; Less rare now is diffusion of color
or asterism.
Sapphire - Usually heated; Occasionally diffusion of color
or asterism; Occasionally irradiation to provided temporary
intense yellow or orange color. Diffusion sometimes and
particularily in bulk.
Serpentine - Rarely dyed.
Spinel - None
Spodumene - Rarely irradiated green.
Sugelite - None
Tanzanite - Usually heated.
Topaz - Blue-Usually irradiated and often heated; Yellow/Orange-Occasionally
irradiated; Pink/Red-Usually heated; Brown-None; Green-Usually
irradiated.
Tourmaline - Chrome Vanadium-None; Cat's Eye-None; Yellow/Orange-Rarely
heated or irradiated; Blue/Green-Commonly heated, Occasionally
the penetration of colorless oil or unhardened resins
into voids, Occasionally filling of surface cavities or
fractures with a colorless hardened substance; Pink/Red/Purple-Occasionally
heated, Commonly irradiated, Occasionally penetration
of colorless oil or unhardened resins into voids, Occasionally
filling of surface cavities or fractures with a hardened
substance, Occasionally penetration of coloring agents
into voids.
Turquoise - Commonly impregnated with plastic; Commonly
impregnated with colorless oil or wax; Rarely dyed.
Zircon - Green/Brown-None; Yellow-Rarely heated; Blue/Red/Colorless-
Always heated from the brownish crystals.Credit and thanks
should be given to the AGTA -American Gem Trade Association
for having the ethics to push the disclosure