Color and Gemstone Treatments
Color
Color is one of the considerations in attractive gemstone jewelry that you should pay careful attention to when you want to buy gemstone jewelry. Gemstones tend to have different densities; hence, in gemstones, the size is not proportional to the carat weight as it is in diamond jewelry. This means that a lighter gemstone with great color and clarity may be more valuable than a heavier gemstone without these features. The color of gemstones hides inclusions unlike diamonds. With respect to color, there are three factors to look for when you want to buy gemstone jewelry. • Hue: Hue is the actual color of gemstones. All gemstones have some small amount of other colors in them too; however, high-quality gemstones have the purest hue. Hence, rubies are purely red, emeralds are purely green and sapphires are purely pink or blue. • Tone: When tone is used to describe color, it refers to the degree of reflection of light. In other words, the tone of color ranges on a scale from light to dark. High-quality gemstones have a tone between medium-light to medium-dark. • Saturation: Saturation is the clarity of color that goes all the way through the gemstone. If brown or gray hues are absent in a gemstone, it is regarded as very highly saturated. These are high-quality gemstones as compared to gemstones that have a lower level of saturation. The saturation of a gemstone can be the deciding factor in how the gemstone is cut.Gemstone Treatments There are treatments that gemstones like emeralds, rubies and sapphires go through to fill any cracks and to improve the color. The treatment of the aforementioned gemstones is typical in the jewelry industry. When you buy gemstone jewelry, it is essential to know if the gemstone has treated or not. Low-priced gemstones can be made to look like expensive, high-quality gemstones using gemstone treatments. • Oil & resin treatments: Some gemstones (like emeralds and rubies) are often given oil and resin treatment. Over time and under excess heat conditions, these fillers can begin to break down; hence, they need to be repaired by a professional.
• Heat treatment: Heat is used to treat sapphires and rubies to bring out the color without damaging the stone.
• Chemical or diffusion treatment: Sometimes, a gemstone can be given a treatment using beryllium, cobalt or another element that will improve the gemstones’ color to make it a high-quality gemstone. This treatment, however, affects only the surface of the gemstone; if the surface is scratched, it will show the lighter hue beneath. For this reason, you should take special care of you gemstone jewelry if it has been treated with this method.
Many jewelers will give you the details about the treatments their gemstones have undergone. If there is no detail about these treatments, feel free to ask the jeweler before you buy gemstone jewelry.
Clarity, Cutting/Finishing and Grading Birthstones How to Care for Gemstones
