Spinel treatment?

[Kitten35]

When I took my stone to the jeweler yesterday, he said they would not cover it during setting (this is a different jeweler than the one I was working with before--I was pricing out each of the recommended jewelers here this past week) because there was no way to know if the stone was heated or not, or how brittle it was. I know it is not; it came from a trustworthy vendor on here and also came with a certificate, but when I told him this, he dismissed it and said, "They're all treated now, it's too hard to find the untreated material. They're all treated." I told him I had the certificate to prove it was natural and he still said, "Uh, no, it's probably not a legit cert." I didn't argue with him further. (I'm also having it set somewhere else, by a jeweler who told me they would not only cover but replace the stone with a similar one from the same vendor I purchased from if anything happened--much better!)

Now I know my stone is not treated, and I know others on here have untreated spinels, but why did he seem so convinced all of them were?

I was under the impression that spinels were not often treated? Mine is actually dated from 2007 on the certificate so it's older too. I thought I remembered reading that spinel wasn't treated because it didn't do much for the stone? The loose spinels he showed me for sale in his shop actually looked to be synthetic because they were perfectly clean, no bubbles at all in any of them, so I'm wondering if he meant synthetic instead? He did also show me some heavily filled rubies and said, "HEre are some natural BE treated rubies" (I think it was BE) so after he said that I'm not sure I put a whole lot of stock into what he is saying, because not all rubies are heavily treated either.

UPDATE: I'm definitely taking it to a different jeweler to have it set. I decided to order the trellis setting from American Set in unplated 14K WG if possible, and then when it comes in, if I don't like it (it's returnable), my second choice is the solitaire from Unique (mainly price difference here--AS is about $200 less, even with setting, and nearly the same setting). I decided to go without sidestones because my favorite is the baguettes and I don't want to mimic my sister's setting; also, I tend to be pretty hard on jewelry (I'm a klutz) so I decided to put it in something a little more protective where it would have a heftier setting since I want to wear it pretty frequently. I also just kept leaning towards solitaire styles when trying on--for me, you just can't beat the solitaire. Thank you for all the help deciding and advice!

 

[colorluvr]

Now I know my stone is not treated, and I know others on here have untreated spinels, but why did he seem so convinced all of them were?

My guess is because he/she is not very knowledgeable about the lesser known colored gemstones, and just made it as a general statement thinking you wouldn't know any better. Some jewelers who find that their customers may know more about colored stones than they do, have a tendency to make a sweeping (I know more than you do statement) when asked that kind of question...

I know because it happened to me at a supposedly high end jewelry store. Needless to say, I never bought anything from them and only had them do bench work. In my case, it was in reference to a sapphire when I asked if it was BE heated or not.

On the other hand, that kind of question can often spark up a wonderful conversation when the jeweler realizes they finally have a customer that knows what questions to ask.

 

[T L]

Well, although it is uncommon, some spinels are being heat treated (I heard Burmese ones were), but since they are not yet producing optimal results, it is not commonplace that I know of. I think your jeweler is just being "safe than sorry" and he has a point that they're "treating almost everything these days." That being said, my jeweler takes on lots of gemstones, treated and untreated, and he knows how to set brittle gems. It could be that your jeweler is not really equipped or has the know how to set gems other than diamonds or sapphires, so he really doesn't feel comfortable taking on the job either. While I do agree that many (not all) jewelers do not have good enough knowledge of colored gems, I do feel that some also don't have the capability to set them either.

 

[LD]

He's also right about Rubies. Unfortunately the ones you find in jewellers (including high end - just look at Tiffanys) will usually be treated and unfortunately not always just with heat. We are lucky that we know where to look for untreated natural gemstones but the majority of the jewellery buying public don't. You'll also find that MANY jewellers do not even know about treatments so to find one that at least not only warns you about them but also states when he has treated gemstones, it's quite refreshing. His information is a bit hit and miss but at least it's better than some!

BTW you'll find it difficult to get a jeweller to cover the stone during the setting process UNLESS you have bought it from them.

 

[Kitten35]

Thanks!

I did get one jeweler to do so, they have actually been the best throughout this whole process and that's why I decided to go through them. He said he's insured and he would have no problem purchasing another gem of comparable value, from WildFish, if something did happen to happen to the gem while it was being set, even if neither the stone or setting is from them. I was very pleased about that.

I was, honestly, very surprised. I did actually also have a jeweler last year who resized a ring for me and completely jacked up the sidestones--they were popping out of the channel and everything. I did not buy the ring from them, but they did buy me a new one of comparable value because the old one was not able to be fixed.

But now, I always ask. And even if it means buying the setting from them, or similar, I'd rather do that than buy a new stone!