Marks in Sapphires?

[wendytoynton]

Hi

I''m an amateur jewellery collector, and recently purchased on-line a second hand ring through an auction site (not e-bay!)with what I suspected to be a lab created orange sapphire. I don''t have a picture as yet as it only just turned up in the post. The problem is the stone is a) larger than I suspected as I paid a pittance for it and b)the stone looks like it has a visible dark inclusion in it. The stone itself is quite a bright orange apart from this dark spot.

What I''m wondering is if the presence of this dark spot indicates that is likely to be a natural sapphire rather than a lab created one? Is it worth getting it valued?

The ring itself is an unusual style, it must be 1980s at least or older, stamped 9ct.

It''s still a bargain and a beautiful ring even if it is a synthetic, I''m just wondering if I should get it appraised for insurance purposes?

Thanks for reading

 

[morecarats]

Synthetic corundum produced by the flame fusion method often has black inclusions of undissolved alumina.

Black spots are also typical of beryllium diffusion. Since orange and yellow are the most frequently encountered colors in beryllium-diffused sapphire, further testing would be warranted.

The age of the setting may not necessarily indicate the age of the gemstone.

In any case, speculation in a online forum probably won''t help you. If you think the stone might be valuable, it would be worth having it tested at a proper gemological laboratory, preferably one that has the equipment for detecting beryllium diffusion. Once you know what you have, then you can consider a financial appraisal. Good luck, I hope it turns out to be a valuable natural sapphire.

 

[ma re]

Morecarats is right, no one here can tell you anything for sure. But if it''s a very bright, big orange sapphire that didn''t cost a lot, I''d suspect that it''s either treated or synthetic, cause such sapphires are very rare and expensive. The fact that it''s set in 9k gold is also pretty indicative that it''s (probably) not a very valuable stone, cause if someone had a stone worht thousands of dollars he/she would probably get it set into 18k gold or platinum - it''s not a rule, but somewhat of a common sense.

 

[chrono]

I would suspect that because of the size and relative inexpensive cost, that it would be a heavily treated, most likely beryllium diffused, sapphire. You can, of course, send it to AGL (in the US) or AIGS (in Thailand) for inexpensive testing if you believe it to be worth far more than what you paid for it.

 

[innerkitten]

Plus orange is a common color for synthetic sapphires.


Not sure if the wording on that was right. I haven''t had much sleep.