Just bought ruby...

[MarkRohan]

So bought it on Ebay. Costed me $4.99 with free delivery. Ad was claiming: "45.20ct NATURAL RED RUBY ROUGH SPECIMEN NR!" not sure what NR mean, but they claimed stone was heat treated....

"Treatments : Heated (Lead glass filling)
Origin : Madagascar
Hardness : 9"

My question: is there a slight chance that I bought a natural gemstone? Or this is a piece of glass?

This is pic of it:

 

[mochiko42]

For that price, there is no way you can get what most folks on this forum would consider to be a natural stone. Having said that you, the stone you got may have been natural at some distant point in time, but as the vendor description stated, it is clearly a "lead glass filled" stone. Personally, the only treatment I would accept for a genuine/natural ruby would be gentle heat only.

For more information on lead glass filling you can read:

https://www.pricescope.com/journal/lead-glass-ruby-nightmare-keeps-giving
http://w2009.gia.edu/research-resources/news-from-research/gia-global-dispatch/pdfs/Sp06-G%26G-lead-glass-filled-rubies.pdf
http://consumerist.com/2010/07/14/macys-caught-selling-leaded-glass-rubies-as-real-rubies/
http://www.ebay.com/gds/Heated-Treated-Lead-Glass-Filling-Ruby-Treatments-/10000000007316219/g.html

 

[MarkRohan]

Thank you very much! First link explained perfectly what I bought, some glass/corundum composite that most likely contains more glass...
And nice video in the first link.

Now I wonder about different "ruby".
http://www.ebay.com/itm/91-40CT-NATURAL-AFRICAN-BEAUTIFUL-RED-RUBY-OVAL-FACETED-HUGE-PENDANT-SIZE-GEM-/351005635950?pt=Loose_Gemstones_1&hash=item51b990f56e

"TREATMENT : COLOR ENHANCED"

So this is also not close to natural stone?

 

[LoversKites]

'Colour enhancement' makes me think of dying or heating. Could be any treatment though, too vague to know for sure.
The stone is opaque, very included and of undesired colour. It could very well only be heated. I wouldn't even call that ruby, though, just a brownish purple piece of corundum.

 

[mochiko42]

It's also helpful to search through previous posts.

E.g. this past post may be of interest

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/enhanced-ruby.65548/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/enhanced-ruby.65548/[/URL]

 

[cm366]

Thank you very much! First link explained perfectly what I bought, some glass/corundum composite that most likely contains more glass...
And nice video in the first link.

Now I wonder about different "ruby".
http://www.ebay.com/itm/91-40CT-NATURAL-AFRICAN-BEAUTIFUL-RED-RUBY-OVAL-FACETED-HUGE-PENDANT-SIZE-GEM-/351005635950?pt=Loose_Gemstones_1&hash=item51b990f56e

"TREATMENT : COLOR ENHANCED"

So this is also not close to natural stone?

Probably not close to natural stone, definitely not close to fine ruby. Here are some examples from rwwise.com - a good guideline might be to assume that since the market price of fine ruby starts well over $1000/carat, anything available for much less is likely to be either not fine or not ruby

I'd second mochiko's advice to search through past posts - I sometimes find that using Google and typing "pricescope" in front of my search terms brings up more reliable results than the site's search engine!

 

[chrono]

Colour enhanced probably means it was dyed to look purplish red. That ruby is also very clarity challenge, looking more like a mini granite countertop. Here's a more comprehensive thread on ruby treatments:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/corundum-sapphire-and-ruby-treatment.175354/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/corundum-sapphire-and-ruby-treatment.175354/[/URL]

 

[LoversKites]

Colour enhanced probably means it was dyed to look purplish red. That ruby is also very clarity challenge, looking more like a mini granite countertop. Here's a more comprehensive thread on ruby treatments:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/corundum-sapphire-and-ruby-treatment.175354/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/corundum-sapphire-and-ruby-treatment.175354/[/URL]

Chrono, why would they dye it to a purplish red? Couldn't they just dye it to a more appealing red-red colour?

Is it unlikely that the ruby is only heat treated? Its a very low quality piece of corundum.

 

[chrono]

LK,
It is likely they tried but given the quality of the starting material, perhaps it wouldn't "take"? Unfortunately, there is always the possibility of more than just dye, but perhaps it is also really included and there's not much that can be done other than dyeing lest the corundum falls apart. It looks almost cabbed, doesn't it?

 

[dk168]

NR = No Reserve on eBay listings as far as I am aware.

DK

 

[LoversKites]

LK,
It is likely they tried but given the quality of the starting material, perhaps it wouldn't "take"? Unfortunately, there is always the possibility of more than just dye, but perhaps it is also really included and there's not much that can be done other than dyeing lest the corundum falls apart. It looks almost cabbed, doesn't it?

Didn't think of the corundum falling apart.

I thought it was a cab until you stated otherwise I'm so silly.

 

[pregcurious]

What are you plans for it?

 

[T L]

Too good to be true, unfortunately. Well, at least it was only $4.99, and it might be a chunk of glass.

It seems that 90% of the ruby threads around here are full of issues. Ruby is the one gemstone I don't own because there are too many fakes, and when it seems you get a natural one, it's chock full of treatment, or it is super brown and/or extinct. Good ruby is probably a thing of the past unfortunately.