Gemstones
A crystal fragment from deep within the earth,
a raw natural creation ….No other treasure of the earth has
inspired man's desire to capture and possess its extraordinary
beauty like a gemstone. The spell a gem casts over the imagination
is so powerful, it has also inspired us to free its beauty from
imperfection and to mold its shapes and colors for adornment and to
express our individuality.
For thousands of years, man has fashioned uncut gem specimens into
faceted and cabochon shapes. By experimenting with cutting
techniques that enhance the play of light across their surfaces, we
have coaxed brilliance and fire from deep within. A fine cut
gemstone offers the full array of nature's intricate beauty,
highlighted by the skill of the lapidary's art. Pearls, formed by
crystals of organic origin, are complete in form as they are
harvested from sea and river animals. Luminous, these pearls evoke
awe and wonder.
In addition to gemstone cutting, over the centuries we have
developed countless other methods to improve upon the natural
properties of gemstones and pearls. These techniques are known as
enhancements. They derive from our desire to draw from nature's
bounty the truest and purest color and brilliance. A basic
understanding of these enhancement techniques will add to your
appreciation of the beauty, durability, and value of gemstone
jewelry. Return
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Amethyst / Citrine
Amethyst and citrine are gemstone varieties of
quartz. Purple has long been considered a royal color, so it is not
surprising that amethyst has been so much in demand throughout
history. Fine amethysts are featured in the British Crown Jewels
and were also a favorite of Catherine the Great and Egyptian
royalty. Great thinkers like Leonardo da Vinci believed that
amethyst could dissipate evil thoughts and quicken the
intelligence.
Named from the French word for lemon, citron, many citrines have a
juicy lemon color. Sunny and affordable, citrine can brighten
almost any jewelry style, blending especially well with the yellow
gleam of polished gold. In ancient times, citrine was carried as a
protection against snake venom and evil thoughts.
Darker hues of amethyst are rarely enhanced to perfect their color,
although some varieties do respond well to heat enhancement.
Brownish varieties are commonly heated and magically turn into the
bright yellow or orange colors known as citrine. This enhancement
method is permanent and will last for the life of the
gemstones. Return
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Aquamarine
The very name aquamarine brings to mind the
limpid, clear blue tint of the sea. Legend says that it is the
treasure of mermaids, with the power to keep sailors safe at sea.
Aquamarine was long thought to have a soothing influence on married
couples, making it a good anniversary gift.
Many aquamarines are greenish when mined and cut. For those who
prefer a purer blue, these stones are heated to enhance their blue
color permanently. Some aquamarine fanciers prefer the greenish
hues, saying the greener tones remind them more of the sea. The
color tones of aquamarine are subtle and varied. Their soft luster
is a wonderful addition to any natural colored gemstone jewelry
collection. Return to Top
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Cultured Pearls
According to ancient Chinese legend, the moon
holds the power to create pearls, instilling them with its
celestial glow and mystery. Pearls have been treasured for their
lustrous, creamy texture and subtle iridescent reflections since
the dawn of humankind.
Because natural pearls are so rare and difficult to recover from
the ocean's depths, man invented the technique of culturing salt
and freshwater pearls from mollusks carefully seeded with irritants
similar to those produced by nature. The painstaking effort of
culturing is one of the most dramatic examples of man's quest to
coax beauty from nature.
Due to demand for perfectly matched white pearl strands, cultured
fresh and saltwater pearls are often bleached to achieve a uniform
color. They may also be polished in tumblers to clean and improve
their luster.
Pearls are most commonly thought of as white, but they are actually
produced in many colors, including gold, yellow, champagne, pink,
peach, lavender, gray, and black.
Dyes, heat treatment, and irradiation are sometimes applied to
produce a wide range of hues such as yellow, green, blue, purple,
gray, and black in freshwater and Akoya cultured pearls. Some South
Sea cultured pearls are bleached to lighten their hue, but most
South Sea and Tahitian cultured pearls are not subjected to
enhancements to create or improve their color.
Produced by a living organism, pearls require special care because
they contain calcareous crystals that are sensitive to chemicals
and acids. To care for your cultured pearls, avoid using perfume,
hairspray, abrasives, solvents, and nail polish removers while
wearing them. Like your skin, cultured pearls contain water and may
dehydrate and crack if exposed continuously to arid conditions.
Your jeweler will tell you how to best care for your cultured
pearls. Return to Top
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Coral
Coral is among the most ancient of gem
materials, used for adornment since prehistoric times. Coral inlays
and ornaments have been found in Celtic tombs from the Iron
Age.
An organic gem from the sea, coral was believed to bestow wisdom,
protect from evil, heal wounds, and calm the soul. A
semi-translucent to opaque gem, coral is formed from a colony of
marine invertebrates and primarily made of calcium
carbonate.
White is the most common color in coral, but a variety of other
shades can be found, including pink, orange, red, and black. The
rarest color is a deep red.
Coral is commonly enhanced to improve its color and durability.
White coral is bleached. Pink coral is permeated with a colorless
wax and orange coral is stabilized with plastic. Black coral is
sometimes bleached to create gold coral. Occasionally, red coral is
dyed to deepen or uniform its color. All commonly used forms of
coral enhancement are stable.
Special care is required for coral regardless of whether or not it
is enhanced. A soft and porous gem, coral scratches and abrades
easily and chlorine, alcohol, ammonia, nail polish remover, and
other chemicals can damage it. Remove coral rings when washing and
moisturizing your hands. Avoid exposing your coral to extreme
temperatures. Your jeweler will tell you how to best care for
coral. Return to Top
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Diamond
Diamond is celebrated for the purity of its
brilliance. Yet within the structure of diamond, we often find
impurities, or inclusions, that deflect light, distracting our eye
from the radiance we so value. Many of these tiny imperfections are
removed when the diamond is shaped. Today, cutters also have the
option of using an enhancement technique that focuses tiny beams of
laser light at imperfections and vaporizes them. The minute
passageways created by the laser may then be filled with clear
resins or glass-hard substances, rendering them nearly invisible to
the naked eye. This method can also be used to fill fissures that
reach the stone's surface, rendering them less visible to the naked
eye. This treatment is permanent: only extreme heat or specifically
formulated chemicals will remove the filling from the laser
passageways or fissures.
Diamonds may also be colored in a variety of hues. Extreme heat and
irradiation permanently enhance certain innate color properties,
allowing them to display their hues in more brilliant array. Black
diamonds, for example, are usually enhanced in this way.
A new high-pressure high-temperature treatment, known as HPHT, can
improve the color of certain types of diamonds. HPHT treatment can
remove tints from some diamonds, making them more colorless, or
intensify the pink, blue, green, and yellow colors in others.
Because HPHT diamonds sell for less than naturally colored
diamonds, industry rules require HPHT-treated stones to be
identified with an inscription on the girdle of the diamond to
prevent misrepresentation.
Whether color enhanced, lasered, or cut from the most perfect raw
state, your jeweler will inform you of the magical journey your
diamond has followed, from deep within the earth's mantle to the
fine, finished gemstone you see before you. Return to Top
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Ruby
Gem of passion, of smoldering desire, ruby has
been treasured for thousands of years. Because the ancients thought
its glowing red color was due to an inextinguishable inner fire,
ruby was also always associated with courage and power.
Throughout most of recorded history, ruby has been the most
valuable of gems. It was believed wearing a fine red ruby bestowed
good fortune on its owner - although the owner must have already
had good fortune enough to possess such a rare and beautiful
gem!
Despite all the best efforts of gem merchants to use technology to
enrich color, fine ruby is still exceptionally rare. After being
extracted from the earth, rubies today are commonly heated to high
temperatures to maximize the purity and intensity of their red hue.
Impurities may also dissolve or become less noticeable after
heating. However, heating will only improve the color if the gem
already contains the chemistry required. Occasionally rubies with
small imperfections are permeated with a silicate byproduct of the
heating process, which helps to make small fissures less visible.
This enhancement, like heating, is permanent and rubies, whether
enhanced or not, remain among the most durable of gems.
Today a new method of artificially coloring the surface of paler
rubies or dark purple sapphires through the diffusion of beryllium,
or a similar element, has made the red of ruby more affordable.
Although this method is not yet common, in the future
beryllium-diffused rubies may offer an affordable alternative to
either untreated or heat-enhanced rubies, which are both much more
rare. However, recutting or repolishing may affect the color of
some beryllium-diffusion treated stones. Return to Top
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Emerald
Emerald, to many, symbolizes rebirth and the
abundance of the life force. The rich green hue brings to mind the
regeneration of life in spring and hope of new
possibilities.
Spring can also be seen in the network of inclusions in the depth
of the emerald that the French call the jardin, or garden, because
it resembles foliage. The inclusions are like a fingerprint, giving
each emerald a distinct personality and distinguishing them as
truly natural gemstones.
Early gem merchants sought to purify the transparency of their
emeralds by immersing them in clear oils or paraffin. They found
that clear oils and waxes rendered surface fissures less visible to
the eye. Today, we have many sophisticated technologies with which
to clarity-enhance emeralds. In addition to the oils and waxes of
ancient methods, we now use clear resins to penetrate the open
fissures surfacing in the stones. Hardeners are often added to
solidify these liquids. This step prevents the resin from
evaporating, thus making the clarity enhancement more permanent
than oiling or waxing the gem. Although emerald itself is quite
durable, the garden of inclusions may make individual gems
vulnerable to damage if handled roughly. Ask your jeweler for
information regarding your emerald selection and care. To
understand the journey your emerald has traveled from the earth to
you is to gain special insight into its magic. Return to Top
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Opal
Revered as a symbol of hope, fidelity, and
purity, opal was dubbed the Queen of Gems by the ancient Romans
because it encompassed the colors of all other gems. Opal is prized
for its unique play of color, the ability to diffract light into
flashes of rainbow color.
Opal occurs in different colors, ranging from semi-transparent to
opaque. The most common is white opal. Crystal or water opal has a
colorless body. The most valued variety, black opal, has a dark
blue, gray, or black body color. Boulder opal combines precious
opal with the ironstone in which it forms. Bright yellow, orange,
or red fire opal are quite different from the other varieties of
opal. Their day-glo tones, which are translucent to transparent,
are beautiful with or without play of color.
Although opal is rarely enhanced by methods other than cutting and
polishing, opals can be treated to bring out their play of color.
One technique is to immerse white, gray, or black opal in a sugar
solution and then in strong sulfuric acid, which carbonizes with
the sugar and leaves microscopic carbon specks that blacken the
body color, making its flashes of color more visible. Opals can
also be permeated with colorless oil, wax, resin, plastic, and
hardeners to improve their appearance and durability. Occasionally,
some thinner or translucent opal may be painted with a black epoxy
on the backside of the gemstone to darken the body color and
improve the play of color. Fire opal is not commonly
enhanced.
Opal, with or without enhancement, should be treated with some
care. Opal is softer than many other gems and should be stored
carefully to avoid being scratched by other jewelry. It should also
be protected from blows, as exposed corners can chip. Opal should
not be exposed to heat or acid. Return to Top
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Sapphire
Velvety blue. Liquid blue. Evening-sky blue.
Cornflower blue. Because sapphire embodies an infinite palette of
blue hues, ancients believed that the earth rested on a giant
sapphire and its reflection colored the sky.
But like the endless colors that appear in the sky, sapphire is
also found in many, many other shades besides blue, from the gold
of a sunrise, to the fiery reddish-orange of sunset, to the
delicate violet of twilight. Sapphire may even resemble the pale
white gloaming of an overcast day.
In ancient times, a gift of a sapphire was a pledge of trust and
loyalty. It is from this tradition that sapphire has long been a
popular choice for engagement rings.
Yet the perfect sapphire is as rare as the finest work of art.
Thus, over the centuries, we have developed methods to enhance the
purest hues of sapphire. This is now commonly achieved by
controlled heating of these gems, a technique that not only
improves color but also improves clarity. But heating will only
improve the color if the gem already contains the chemistry
required. Heating sapphires is a permanent enhancement, as lasting
as the gemstones themselves.
A new method of artificially changing the natural color of a
sapphire is diffusion, whereby beryllium or a similar element is
diffused into the surface of the gem, producing a richer color.
Sapphire treated by diffusion is far less costly and much more
available than rare fine untreated gems or those successfully
heat-treated. Diffused sapphire is available in shades of orange,
pinkish orange, yellow, and sometimes even blue. Information about
diffusion should be provided on the invoice for your jewelry.
Recutting or repolishing may affect the color of some
diffusion-treated stones. Your jeweler can help you decide whether
a natural, heated, or diffused sapphire is right for
you. Return to Top
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Tanzanite
Tanzanite, the ultimate prize of a gem safari,
has a mesmerizing blend of rich purples and blues with a velvety
deepness of color unlike any other gem. Mined only in Tanzania at
the feet of the majestic Mount Kilimanjaro, virtually every
tanzanite is heated to permanently change its color from
orange-brown to the spectacular violet-blue color for which this
precious gemstone variety is known.
Legend has it that the effect of heat was first discovered when
some brown gem crystals lying on the dry earth were caught in a
fire set by lightning that swept through the grass-covered hills.
The Masai herders driving cattle in the area noticed the beautiful
blue color and picked the crystals up, becoming the first tanzanite
collectors. Return to Top
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Topaz
The Egyptians said that topaz was colored with
the golden glow of the sun god. Legend has it that topaz dispels
all enchantment and helps to improve eyesight. The ancient Greeks
believed that it had the power to increase strength and make its
wearer invisible in times of emergency.
Topaz sometimes has the amber gold of fine cognac or the blush of a
peach, and all the beautiful warm browns and oranges in between.
Some rare and exceptional examples are pale pink to a sherry red.
Sometimes peach-colored topaz can be "pinked" by gentle heating.
This color change is permanent.
Blue, once the most rare color of topaz, is today the most common,
thanks to a stable enhancement process that turns colorless topaz
blue. After the raw topaz is extracted from the earth and cut, it
is irradiated to brown and then heated to sky blue. This
enhancement process is permanent.
Due to the popularity of blue topaz, a new treatment process called
vapor deposition has been developed to create additional colors of
topaz. In this treatment process, similar to those used by
opticians and camera makers to make lens coatings, a thin colored
film is bonded on the surface of topaz to create dark blue, red,
pink, and green colors or rainbow iridescence. These vapor
deposition-enhanced topaz colors must be handled with special care,
as the coating can be scratched or abraded.
Topaz is a very hard gemstone, with a Mohs hardness of 8, but it
can be split with a single sharp blow, a trait it shares with
diamond. As a result it should be protected from hard knocks. Clean
with mild dish soap; use a toothbrush to scrub behind the stone
where dust can collect. Return to Top
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Tourmaline
Tourmaline's name comes from the Sinhalese
word turmali, which means "mixed." Occurring in more colors or
combinations of colors than any other gemstone variety found in
nature, this gem lives up to its name. Perhaps this is why ancient
mystics believed tourmaline could encourage artistic intuition: it
has the palette to express every mood.
Dark blue, blue-green, and green tourmalines are occasionally
heated to lighten their color. Red tourmalines, also known as
rubellites, and pink varieties are sometimes heated or irradiated
to improve their colors. Heat and irradiation color enhancement of
tourmalines is permanent.
Occasionally, some tourmalines may have surface-breaking fissures
that are filled with resins, with or without hardeners. Care must
be observed with these gems. Avoid exposing them to harsh abrasives
and strong chemical solvents. Return to Top
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Turquoise
While turquoise is usually associated today
with Native American culture, the ancient Egyptians were mining
turquoise in 3,200 BC. Many ancient cultures regarded turquoise as
a source of metaphysical power. Turquoise was thought to protect
from evil, maintain virtue, and bring good luck.
Turquoise is an opaque, light to dark blue or blue-green gem. The
finest color is an intense blue. Turquoise may contain narrow veins
of other materials either isolated or as a network. They are
usually black, brown, or yellowish-brown in color. Known as the
matrix, these veins of color are sometimes in the form of an
intricate pattern, called a spider web.
To improve its color and durability, turquoise is commonly
permeated with plastic, a stable enhancement. It is also sometimes
permeated with colorless oil or wax, which is considered not as
stable as plastic. Some turquoise is dyed to improve its color, but
rarely, as this is an unstable enhancement.
Special care is required for turquoise regardless of whether or not
it is enhanced. A porous gem, turquoise can absorb anything it
touches. Avoid contact with cosmetics, perfumes, skin oil, acids,
and other chemicals. Avoid dehydrating it or exposing it to heat.
Your jeweler will tell you how to best care for your natural
gemstone. Return to Top
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This brief description of gemstone
enhancements does not cover all gemstones that are treated today.
For more information please contact us at 800-436-3236.
All enhancement information provided by the American Gem Trade
Association. |
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Gemtech Int'l. Corp. D/B/A Yosepha Jewelry
Designs
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Trade Association
Manufactors Jewelers and silversmith Association
Southern Jewelers Association
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