explain heat treatment to me, please

[ChattyCat]

I know that there seems to be a big difference in price between heated v. unheated sapphires. Is this a safe thing to do? I guess it improves the color, but what''s the drawback other than saying you have a non-virgin stone, so to speak?

 

[chrono]

Heating "kills" the green and grayish tones to make the sapphire look better. It is safe for the stone. There really isn''t any drawbacks other than losing the bragging rights of an untreated stone. However, I have heard some discussion about how unheated stones tend to hold up better over umpteen years as heating changes/weakens the chemical structure a little within the stone. But so far, there has been no conclusive evidence, just hearsay.

 

[Linda W]

Chrono,

Thanks for that info, I never heard that before. This is why I love PS, always learning something new!!

Linda