Strange Orange Sapphire

[JJL]

Hi all,

It's been long since I last posted.

I come across two 3.75 CT Oval shape Orange Sapphire.

Gem merchant said it is only heat treated, not BE treated.

So I bought both for very good price, but... I wasn't really sure if I could trust this specific merchant.

So I did what Vincent adviced in somewhere in this blog by using water, blue bottle water cap, dark field loupe flesh light, and 10X loupe to test it (kind of immersion test).

However, I am more confused now.

Usually, BE treated orange sapphire shows orange rim around pink, but result is... pink rim around the orange.

What am I doing wrong?

Your advice and technical expertise will be more appreciated.

Thank you.

V/R

CPT JJL

 

[chrono]

The immersion test only works for surface diffusion. A new type of diffusion came out many years ago where the colourations goes deep into the stone, giving it even colouration throughout, observable if you cut the stone in half. The method you are using is useless if lattice diffusion has been done to your sapphires. At this point, it is best to send it to AGL for the $55 brief. They will confirm heat treatment but if suspect diffusion, will contact you to find out if you want further testing with LA-ICP-MS (Laser Ablation–Inductively Coupled Plasma– Mass Spectrometry).