Berilyum heated sapphires and rubies

[Goldenco]

What is the difference between be heated sapphires and be heated rubies?
And what are the market prices?

 

[T L]

There are many complex articles on the subject on the internet. However, in a nut shell, beryllium can completely alter the entire color of the gem, while regular heating only enhances the existing color and can help improve clarity.

 

[Goldenco]

Is it the same thing with rubies? And what's about the prices? As I noted many jeweleries use those type of gemstones.

 

[Bron357]

Heating is a “permissible” treatment for rubies and sapphires as is “oiling” for emeralds. It is done to improve clarity as the heating dissolves the rutile silk within the gem and enhances the colour.
A “heated” gem is very common, most rubies and sapphire for sale are “heated”.
Unheated is rarer and makes the gem much more valuable.
Beryllium treatment is “frowned upon”, as it basically alters the gem as it adds colour to the gem. It can turn “rubbish” material into something saleable, same for “glass filling”.
eBay is full of “beryllium treated” and “glass filled” rubies and sapphires, these gems don’t come with a GIA report and the sellers don’t always correctly describe the treatments. Buyer beware!
A 1 carat glass filled or beryllium treated gem might be pretty but it is worthless as a gem. They might sell for a few $ to a couple of hundred dollars.
A “real” heat only 1 carat ruby with certification might sell for $2,000 or more.
An unheated 1 carat ruby with certification might start at $5,000 or more.
Rubies are generally more expensive than sapphires and what some people call a Ruby, others might call a pink sapphire. So again, a lab certification will identify it as either a ruby or sapphire..

 

[Goldenco]

According to this website it can cost more than 400 usd per carat:
http://www.siamrings.com/sapphire-gems-beryllium-heated-0804.html

 

[T L]

According to this website it can cost more than 400 usd per carat:
http://www.siamrings.com/sapphire-gems-beryllium-heated-0804.html

Just because a website says something is a certain price per carat, doesn't mean you should pay that. There's nothing wrong with beryllium treated corundum, but know what you're buying, and don't overpay.

 

[PrecisionGem]

Well, maybe the most used price guide in the trade, lists the wholesale price of Beryllium treated corundum as ranging from $10 to $900 per ct. depending of course on the size, color and overall make of the stone.

 

[LD]

There is no difference between a beryllium treated ruby or beryllium treated sapphire - the treatment using beryllium is the same. It lowers the price significantly of both of those gemstones but is now a very common treatment as it allows lower graded gemstones to be sold looking very pretty. The value of anything that has been beryllium treated should be far lower than a natural gemstone. As for price, sellers sell at whatever they want so whilst Gene has given you guidance above, it's not unusual to see highly treated gemstones being sold very expensively and sometimes without disclosure.

 

[Goldenco]

I can't find any beryllium treated rubies sample in internet.

 

[minousbijoux]

Glass filled rubies are all over ebay (and everywhere!) so I reckon you'd be able to find anything on ebay.

 

[Goldenco]

Glass filled rubies are all over ebay (and everywhere!) so I reckon you'd be able to find anything on ebay.

We are talking about beryllium heated rubies not glass filled.
I have never find berryllium heated rubies.

 

[minousbijoux]

Yes I'm aware of that. My point is that treated rubies are all over ebay, though offhand, I've not heard much about Be treated rubies. Glass or resin filling is the prevalent treatment.

ETA: as suspected, a quick search of ebay turned up many Be treated rubies at inexpensive prices.

 

[Goldenco]

There is no beryllium treated rubies, just glass filled or synthetics.

There are 2 main differences:
-beryllium is in quite small microscopic quantity that's difficult to detect, just few labs can have the necessary equipment, but lead glass is easily detectable by loupe.

-Beryllium treatment is durable unlike glass filled.

 

[Stone Hunter]

Interesting thread. Has the term "natural sapphire" been defined? I've seen many at B&M stores that I do not like at all.

First off they could just be too dark for my preferences. Second they are not precision cuts. Third I think they may be "natural sapphires" and be BE?

 

[T L]

Glass filled rubies are all over ebay (and everywhere!) so I reckon you'd be able to find anything on ebay.

They were sold for $$$ by major jewelry and department stores before being busted by consumer watchdogs.

 

[T L]

Interesting thread. Has the term "natural sapphire" been defined? I've seen many at B&M stores that I do not like at all.

First off they could just be too dark for my preferences. Second they are not precision cuts. Third I think they may be "natural sapphires" and be BE?

Beryllium, lead glass filled, and other treated corundum are all considered "natural" stones if the original material was mined from the earth. You cannot call lab created stones "natural." This goes for all gems, not Just corundum.

 

[T L]

There is no beryllium treated rubies, just glass filled or synthetics.

There are 2 main differences:
-beryllium is in quite small microscopic quantity that's difficult to detect, just few labs can have the necessary equipment, but lead glass is easily detectable by loupe.

-Beryllium treatment is durable unlike glass filled.

There are diffused rubies.

http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/news/2002/012102story.html

https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/summer-2003-beryllium-diffusion-ruby-sapphire-emmett

 

[T L]

I had a difficult time posting this to the above quote of mine but this GIA article states...,
https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/summer-2003-beryllium-diffusion-ruby-sapphire-emmett

"Although initially only orange to orangy pink (“padparadscha”-like) sapphires were seen, it is now known that a full range of corundum colors, including yellow and blue as well as ruby, have been produced or altered by this treatment. "

 

[Seaglow]

Try googling red sapphires and Songea rubies. These are the names some vendors call the BE treated reds.

They call it "red sapphires" because the original color of the stones are not red, therefore, originally and without treatment, it's a sapphire. And Songea for the origin.

There are pricier BE treated sapphires - those that are clean and treated to alter color. So a grayish or pale but clean sapphire can be BE treated, of which the cost will be more that what the manufacturers can sell the clean, pale or off-colored sapphires.

 

[Goldenco]

Ok thanks.
By the way beryllium is very toxic, I don't know how burners use it but it's really smart discovery.

 

[Seaglow]

Ok thanks.
By the way beryllium is very toxic, I don't know how burners use it but it's really smart discovery.

More like an accident. It was the accidental inclusion of a chrysoberyl (Beryllium Aluminum Oxide) in a batch of sapphires placed in the burner. It was then discovered that Beryllium alters the sapphire colors. For blue sapphires, titanium is used for diffusion.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

There is no beryllium treated rubies, just glass filled or synthetics.

There are 2 main differences:
-beryllium is in quite small microscopic quantity that's difficult to detect, just few labs can have the necessary equipment, but lead glass is easily detectable by loupe.

-Beryllium treatment is durable unlike glass filled.

Multicolour sells beryllium treated rubies and discloses this treatment. Here is one example of a BE treated ruby currently for sale on their website.


http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?/details/single/ruby/rb10512aa/&1244716636

 

[T L]

Be treated is fine as long as you know what you're getting and you pay a fair price. I think they make for good melee if you're looking for a specific color to highlight a main stone. On the other hand, lead glass filled is horrible material, not durable and mostly glass.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Be treated is fine as long as you know what you're getting and you pay a fair price. I think they make for good melee if you're looking for a specific color to highlight a main stone. On the other hand, lead glass filled is horrible material, not durable and mostly glass.

My mum had a dreadful experience with a glass filled one. Not sure what kind it was but it was the kind that died with ONE wash in detergent!

On that note I was told emeralds were oiled and shouldn't be washed in detergent so now I have no idea how I should deal with mine. I had been scrubbing it happily for years.

 

[T L]

My mum had a dreadful experience with a glass filled one. Not sure what kind it was but it was the kind that died with ONE wash in detergent!

On that note I was told emeralds were oiled and shouldn't be washed in detergent so now I have no idea how I should deal with mine. I had been scrubbing it happily for years.

A good emerald with minor or faint treatment should hold up well to cleaning, although keep it away from ultrasonic cleaners and ammonia based cleaners. It is not the same as the lead glass filled junk on the market. I presume you have a very nice emerald.