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| Gems & Jewelry |
All That Glitters
Jill Newman
02/02/2004
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The proliferation of modern gem treatments began in earnest in the 1960s, when the worldwide demand for rubies, emeralds and sapphires grew to new levels, and the mines could no longer supply nearly enough high-
quality gem specimens to meet the burgeoning market. Over the decades, the situation has worsened as a result of both natural and political factors.
| "At this point,
even the most sophisticated consumers are generally not aware that most stones
are treated.
As they become aware of treatments, they will start searching for natural or minimally treated stones, and that
will drive up
the prices in the years to come." |
The scarcity of natural stones is largely the result of hundreds of years of mining in core regions such as
Burma and Kashmir, where many gem deposits have been depleted. In more recent times, unstable governments and harsh climates have made development of major mining operations by outside investors nearly impossible.
But while natural untreated stones are increasingly difficult to obtain, they are not wholly unavailable. These natural gems command top dollar: a sizeable untreated ruby, for instance, has been known to fetch twice the price of a treated stone of a similar size.
Antoinette Matlins, a noted gemologist consultant who wrote Colored Gemstones, the Buying Guide, says consumers should expect to pay $100,000 a carat for a high-quality, certified natural ruby, pure red and transparent. "If a client requests a five-carat natural, beautiful color ruby," she says, "it could take several months to locate a stone of that caliber." More than likely, Matlins says, she would expect to find this type of natural gem through an estate collection; the most perfect rubies came out of Burma before the borders closed. By comparison, a moderately heat-treated ruby, considered standard practice today, might fetch only 25 percent of the value of a certified natural stone. Of course, with all colored gemstones, it is the imperfect ones
that will be subject to the alchemist’s legerdemain.
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