Heated or filled ruby?

[ringo865]

I bought this pendant for a steal. I figured the ruby was either heated or lab or filled. It is set in 14k and 18k yellow gold with a .25 diamond. Both stones fluoresce.

How close of magnification do you need to tell if the things inside the ruby are crystals or bubbles?

 

[ringo865]

Pavilion view from the back of setting


Close up of fluorescence - no chalky areas


Backlit table side at bottom and left side of pear. Bubbles or crystals?

 

[Bron357]

The easiest way to detect glass filled is close examination of the surface. The way how they get the flux inside is through hairline cracks and pits. So if any facets are showing fine spider lines, that’s a giveaway for glass filled.
Detecting heat treatment usually requires a microscope because you need to examine the inclusions in the ruby to see if they are altered. In corundum, when rutile silk is heated it breaks up and also some inclusions “explode” when exposed to heat. Detecting beryllium diffusion, which can only be done with heat, requires lab analysis. There’s no tell tale signs you can “see”.
Bubbles in ruby can be air bubbles from glass filling, smaller ones can be undissolved material from lab created rubies or natural inclusions in a from the earth ruby.
so it’s not always that simple.
Lab grown ruby, glass filled ruby, heated ruby and unheated ruby all fluoresce under long wave UV So you can’t use that for ID.
Under short wave UV an experienced person might be able to visually detect the slight chalkiness of glass filled and sometimes the more orange tone of lab grown ruby.
lab grown ruby will have curved striations as that’s part of the manufacture process but usually it’s a whole series of tests to sort out what is what.

 

[ringo865]

There are a couple surface reaching feathers or cracks. I’ll look more closely later with my loupe but I recall they were open, like actual cracks. Not everywhere like quench cracked. But, it probably has been filled. Even still it was cost efficient and is very pretty.

So is there a difference between “lead glass” and “flux” filling?

Must I take special care cleaning or wearing a filled stone? I suppose no chemical cleaners, but could I use dawn and a toothbrush? Ultrasonic?

 

[ringo865]

Must I take special care cleaning or wearing a filled stone? I suppose no chemical cleaners, but could I use Dawn and a toothbrush? Ultrasonic okay, or no?

 

[T L]

Must I take special care cleaning or wearing a filled stone? I suppose no chemical cleaners, but could I use Dawn and a toothbrush? Ultrasonic okay, or no?

I would use non ammonia based cleaners (Dawn has ammonia) and absolutely no ultrasonic cleaner on any gem!!! They’re only good for cleaning engraved precious metal with no stones.