No heat blue zircon?

[CHRISTY-DANIELLE]

I'm looking at a blue zircon that the seller /cutter claims they bought the rough for in Cambodia last year and say it is "very rare /no heat" blue zircon. I can't find anywhere that blue zircon can be natural (not heat treated). Has anyone heard of this before?

 

[Niffler75]

@CHRISTY-DANIELLE No I have not heard of un- heated blue zircon before. Hmmm, interesting. Are they charging a premium for this material? Tread cautiously!

 

[CHRISTY-DANIELLE]

@CHRISTY-DANIELLE No I have not heard of un- heated blue zircon before. Hmmm, interesting. Are they charging a premium for this material? Tread cautiously!

Not, not really, the price is great. They are in US, he cuts, she's a GIA grad gemologist and the rough buyer. She wrote me back saying she was excited about the rough as unheated blue zircon is "very rare". With her cred, I'm guessing it is possible, but I've NEVER heard of it.

 

[Niffler75]

@CHRISTY-DANIELLE That's really interesting, if it is indeed unheated. What do you think you are going to do?

 

[JackTrick]

Almost all blue zircons are heated. So, yes. It is possible to pull a zircon out of the ground and have it be blue, but it's also entirely possibly that it was heated by the earth.

IIRC it is incredibly challenging to tell if the heating was done by earth or by humans.

So yeah. Possible. But I wouldn't attach a crazy premium to it.

 

[Skyjems]

As others have said, possible, but unlikely.

Other gems that have the same problem are topaz, aquamarine and VERY unfortunately, Amethyst & Citrine

I don't know of any labs that certify zircon as treated/untreated, most just use the normal 'it's commonly treated but at this time unable to tell'

I had some unheated aqua Sri Lanka, same kind of issue with that, unable to certify either origin or treatment, so there is no real premium for it.

If the stone is a deep blue similar to swiss/london blue, I really wouldn't believe it.

ALL OF THIS SAID: If it's natural zircon and you like the gem and the price is decent, you have very little to lose.

 

[CHRISTY-DANIELLE]

More of a nerdy interest than anything else. I have found out that there is a particular mine in Cambodia that produces natural blue zircon. Mastercut Gems has an unheated blue on his site. So I guess they do exist. Learn something every day! But , not worth any premium. The gem in question is well cut, nice color , and good clarity at a very decent price. Was just a tad skeptical of the "unheated" claim.

 

[Niffler75]

@CHRISTY-DANIELLE Glad I am not the only nerd on here!

 

[CHRISTY-DANIELLE]

you are not alone @Niffler75

 

[PrecisionGem]

The only gems that carry a premium for not being heated vs heated stones, are corundum.