Two Common Ways To Enhance Sapphire Engagement Rings

Gemstone enhancement has been practiced for centuries, and today the majority of the sapphire engagement rings in the marketplace have undergone an array of treatments to improve their clarity and colour. Some treatments for sapphires are routine, unchangeable, and acknowledged by buyers, while others are looked down upon.

Principled business practice in the jewellery industry mandates that the retailer makes known any identified treatments or augmentations that the gem has undergone. This is especially important because these treatments have a considerable effect on the price of the gemstone. Two of the more common treatments applied to all precious jewellery pieces, not just sapphire engagement rings, are what’s known as heat treatment and irradiation. This article details both sorts of treatments, so that when you are shopping for your sapphire engagement ring you will know how to properly appraise the gems you are looking at.

Heat Treatment

The oldest and most frequently used sapphire enhancement is heat treatment. The majority of the sapphires on the market today have been heat-treated to improve their colour and clarity, or to remove different coloured blemishes on the gemstone’s surface.

Some heat treatment procedures are milder than others. Those commonly used on pink sapphires originating from the mines of Madagascar involve temperatures ranging up to 400o C. This gentle heating washes out the secondary blue shades and leaves the uniform pink stone that Madagascar is renowned for. Low heat treatments are also commonly applied to Madagascar’s padparadscha sapphires.

Over the past few decades, high heat treatments with temperatures exceeding 1700o C have been developed to improve the clarity of sapphires by dissolving silk deposits inside the gemstone. This treatment can turn sapphire engagement rings with a rather pale stone into a jewellery piece that will radiate an entire room with a vivid sparkle. Although undetectable to the naked eye, knowledgeable gemmologists will be able to distinguish if a sapphire has undergone this extreme type of heat-treatment.

While some buyers have learned to tolerate heat-treated sapphires, true connoisseurs of the naturally blue gem covet those rare stones that exhibit dazzling colour and clarity without any need for enhancement.

Irradiation

Light brown, pale yellow, and greyish sapphires are sometimes exposed to controlled amounts of radiation in order to bring about a vibrant golden yellow or orange colour shade. Despite the toxins involved in the treatment process, these stones are completely safe to wear. Their colour, however, is not usually stable and it will fade rather fast under exposure to bright light or heat. In a gemstone’s valuation process, gemmologists will often subject stones to a "fade test" by exposing them to intense light rays and observing any colour changes.

If you are going to be purchasing one of the many stunning sapphire engagement rings on the market, be certain you understand these two common treatment processes in order that you may correctly valuate your gemstone.

Frederick Holm is staff writer for of the F&L Designer Guides, compiled and written to help consumers choose a unique engagement ring design. From a diamond to a sapphire engagement ring from a princess cut to a platinum band, we have ideas and opinions covering all the options. Offering advice, tips and suggestions on how to choose that perfect ring, F&L will accompany you on every stage of your search to find the right designer.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.