Enthusiasts
Its no wonder that both heated and unheated sapphires enjoy so much popularity. No other gemstone is...
Catherine Weir
Multicolour GemsIts no wonder that both heated and unheated sapphires enjoy so much popularity. No other gemstone is more familiar and cherished by layman. With a hardness of 9 on the Moh's scale, sapphires are extremely hard and durable and second only to diamonds in this respect. Sapphires usually require inclusion studies to determine treatment but in some cases, the color will give us a hint. The round pastel yellow sapphire on the left is a typical color for unheated yellows while the orangey red oval to its right is a typical color for beryllium treatment. The rest of the stones require microscopic magnification. The indigo octagon along with the far left reddish purple oval and the far right orangey cushion are also unheated.
To varying degrees, many consumers prefer all natural even and are even willing to accept less colorful and less transparent gemstones provided they have not been heated. This is good news for the industry, since the heat treatment of sapphires is a long, complicated, and expensive process that gemstone vendors would be pleased to forgo if possible.
See our latest sapphire arrivals > http://bit.ly/14IH7SW
