How to tell if a sapphire is real

[shinythings]

Hello!

Is there a way to tell if a sapphire is real or not, aside from bringing it to GIA? My mom suspects hers was switched out at the jewelers. It''s been appraised since then, but I''m not sure if the appraisers can really tell.

Thanks!

 

[belle]

sapphires vary in color. getting an exact match of the same shape and color would not be that easy. why does she think it was switched?

 

[shinythings]

I forget why she thinks it was switched-it was a really long time ago. thanks!

 

[C Smith]

Whether a fake is detected readily depends on many things.

A flame fusion synthetic sapphire will often display curved striations that are surface reaching and an odd gas bubble or two.

A flux melt stone will often show "finger print" type flux inclusions under magnification.

A hydrothermanl stone will show extreme linear color banding in many cases.

A pulled stone will be darn near flawless and almost too perfect.

A simulant can be picked out readily in any gemologists lab.

 

[CaptAubrey]

Stone switching really happens far less often than people think, since as Belle notes, it's not easy to come up with a matching fake.

Synthetic-vs-natural separations should be left to the experts, but if that appraiser was properly trained (i.e., it wasn't just some random jeweler), it's not terribly difficult to do.

If it was switched, it was almost certainly replaced with a flame fusion stone, which are by far the cheapest and most common (other types aren't cost effective for fraud). Those are easy to spot if you know what to look for.

 

[shinythings]

wow! thanks so much for the great tips. Very educational. Sounds like it''s probably the real thing, but I''ll take a look at all those things and still probably take it to GIA.