Blue Sapphires, what you need to know before you buy.

Most people think of the color blue when they hear the word Sapphire, when in fact Sapphires do come in many different colors. The only color that should be associated with the use of the word Sapphire without any other descriptor is blue, if the Sapphire is another color then that color should be used to denote the type of Sapphire you are looking at. For example, you see a pink Sapphire and the seller calls it a Sapphire and not a Pink Sapphire they are not correctly naming the gemstone. You will also hear the term fancy Sapphires, which is a reference to all Sapphires that are not blue in Color.

This article will deal with Blue Sapphires and any reference in my article using the term Sapphire by itself denotes the color blue. When you are looking at Sapphires you might hear the following terms in reference to them, Kashmir, Burmese, Sri Lanka and Ceylon, Pailin, Cambodian, and Australian. All of these terms are used to describe color and quality. Be careful when someone offers you a Sapphire using any of these terms, make sure that the Sapphire actually came from that source. It not unusual for sellers to reference their gemstones as Kashmir Sapphires when they may have come from Thailand or Australia, as these do not command the same type of prices. Lets take a look at the difference of each term so you will know what questions to ask your seller.

Kashmir, This Sapphire has violetish blue to pure blue hue with a strong saturation, you will hear it described as having a velvety lustre and softness, this is caused by minute inclusions. Kashmir Sapphires are the most prized and the finest quality Sapphires available. This Sapphires color has also been called a cornflower blue, but that term has been over used to describe many different blues.

Burmese, It is close to the color of the Kashmir above with a subtle difference in the saturation and sometimes a darker tone, and could be described as a Royal Blue. It differs from the Kashmir, as it does not have that velvety lustre. Burmese make up the second most desired and finest quality of Sapphires available.

Ceylon and Sri Lanka, have a violetish blue to blue hue but are lighter in tone, this will provide the person viewing a gemstone with more sparkle and brilliance than the previous two Sapphires.

Pailin and Cambodian, are a violetish blue to greenish blue in hue, this distinctive color is very appealing to a lot of people, and you will find it in a large amount of jewelry that is being sold in jewellery stores.

Australian, you will find a lot of these Sapphires in lower cost jewellery as they have a very dark tone and look inky, you will hear the term inky blue used in reference to Australian Sapphires. With this very dark tone there is little brilliance, if any, for the eye to see and hence the value tends to be lower than the others described.

Sapphires are one of the most desired gemstones outside of diamonds, and the United States is still the largest purchaser of Sapphires and Sapphire jewelry. Which is interesting as American does have its own Sapphire mines in Montana; probably the best known is Yogo Clutch in central Montana.

When you look for you next Sapphire, make sure you know where is was mined and use the above information to help you either place a value on it, or provide you with the knowledge to pick the right color of Sapphire by knowing its origin.

Derek Parnell is a Graduate Gemologist (GIA) and owner of Jewels by Truros a division of Truros Corporation. For more information you can reach Derek at Jewels by Truros.

Buying a Ruby then read this guide

Buying a Ruby then read this guide?

When you hear people talk about the King of Precious Gemstones it is the Ruby. In the ancient language of Sanskrit the Ruby is called ratnaraj, which translated means the King of Precious Stones. Rubies have been significant in history as a prized and valuable gemstone. Over the centuries and presently today it is still one of the most precious gemstones, not only due to its beauty, but also its durability. Ruby is a 9 on the Mohr scale, which makes it well suited for daily wear.

There are considerable variations in a Rubies, Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat Size that can impact cost. Prices can range from the 15.97 Carat sold at an international auction for $3,633,000 in 1988 to everyday prices you will see in most jewelry shops and on-line gemstone stores. Like most gemstones it’s the size and quality that dictate the value and ultimately the price you pay.

Lets take a look at the Color, Cut, Clarity and Proportions and see how they impact the value of this gemstone.

Color. The color of Rubies can range from orangey red to purplish red. The most valuable Ruby is a vibrant red to a slightly purplish red hue. The saturation of the color is equally important, as the most valuable Ruby will have a vivid saturation. Another consideration is tone as it should be medium to medium dark, if it’s too dark then it will impact the gemstones brilliance. If the gemstone is too light it will look pink and then it cannot be called a Ruby, and must be classified as a Pink Sapphire. Most sellers would like borderline colors of pink/red to be classed as Rubies as they are more valuable. If you are purchasing a more expensive Ruby its important to have it graded by a reputable laboratory, such as GIA or EGL to have the color authenticated against color master stones.

Cut. Today fine quality Rubies over 1 carat are rare, but commercial quality Rubies are readily available. The most common cuts for Rubies are Ovals and Cushions with brilliant cut crowns and step cut pavilions. You will find Round, Trillion, Emerald and Pear in smaller sizes but they are rare in larger sizes with higher qualities. Cutters will try to cut the gemstone to minimize the orangey red color, due to the Pleochroism (different colors of the gemstone depending on which way it is observed) to increase the value.

Clarity. Most Rubies contain some inclusions as flawless Rubies are very rare, expensive and usually belong to collectors. Some of the inclusions you might see are silk, needles, included crystals, fingerprints, growth and color zoning, and color banding. There are different grading scales available throughout the world but the most commonly used one is from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). The gemstones are graded into 3 Types and each Type has the following grades Eye Clean, Slightly Included, Moderately Include, Heavily Included and Severely Included. Corundum is a Type 2 and if you have the opportunity to purchase one that has a clarity rating of Eye-clean you will have the highest clarity available.

Proportions. Symmetry in any gemstone is important as you will find many commercial Rubies will have variations in its symmetry when looking face up. These include out of round, uneven lobes in Heart shapes, uneven wings in Marquise cut, uneven shoulders in Ovals. The other area of focus is the pavilion, as cutters will add weight with a resulting pavilion bulge, but this adds nothing to the beauty of the Ruby. Brilliance can be affected by shallow pavilion causing large windows or by offset pavilions. The other important grading characteristic that is important is finish; you should not be able to see polishing lines, scratches, pits or abrasions on the Rubies surface.

When purchasing a Ruby you can use these guidelines for your purchase, but as with all gemstone purchases you will probably have to balance carat, clarity, cut, and color to meet a price point you are willing to pay.

Derek Parnell is a Graduate Gemologist (GIA) and owner of Jewels by Truros a division of Truros Corporation. Truros Corporation has interests in the Jewelry and the Real Estate Industry. For more information you can reach Derek at Jewels by Truros.

Synthetic Gemstones and Imitations. What you need to know.

In the 18th Century the chemical make up and structure of gemstones became of interest in those who wanted to create these beautiful gemstones. By the end of the 19th Century scientists were duplicating crystals with appearance and physical properties of their natural counterparts. Laboratories grew up devoted to synthesizing some of the most common and valuable gemstones we see today.

Many consumers today purchase synthetic gemstones as part of their jewelry collection, as they are low cost and the quality of some synthetics are excellent. The challenge comes when synthetic gemstones are either deliberately or through lack of knowledge sold as natural gemstones. This article will discuss some of the more common varieties of synthetic gemstones, so that you can be aware they do exist. Most will require a gemologist or a laboratory to be able to detect if the gemstone is real or synthesized. If you are not sure have the gemstone authenticated by a gemologist or a reputable grading laboratory like GIA or EGL, two of the worlds leading authority on gemstones.

There are many different ways to synthesize gemstones and as the processes are very technical I will just mention some of them by name only. These are Flame Fusion, Pulling, Floating Zone, Skull Melt, Flux Growth, and Hydrothermal Growth. These processes can produce synthetic gemstones such as Ruby, Sapphire, Spinel, Alexandrite, Cubic Zirconia, Emeralds, Amethyst, Opal, Turquoise, Lapis and many others.

One of the key developments of synthetic Ruby was to accelerate the growth and reduce the cost of components for Lasers. Today, nearly all ruby lasers use synthetic Ruby. These lasers are used in everything from your supermarket scanner to Medical Diagnostic Tools.

From Synthetic to imitations, these can be either man made or other natural gemstones. For example Red Spinel can imitate Red Ruby, Amethyst can imitate Tanzanite, Garnet can imitate Ruby. Most people will associate color with a gemstone and make an assumption that if is has a rich red Ruby color it is Ruby.

In the previous paragraph we discussed how laboratories can product synthetic versions of the real gemstone. It is also common to see synthetic gemstones used to imitate other natural gemstones. Synthetic Sapphire has been used to imitate Tanzanite by changing its color in the synthesizing process. Glass is probably the largest imitator of them all, as it can imitate most gemstone colors and is very cheap to produce. You will also see a lot of plastics used to imitate, Turquoise, Malachite, Peal, Amber, Jade etc.

One other set of imitations are assembled stones, these assembled gemstones use combinations of natural and synthetic material, to produce the desired effect. This process involves making gemstones of 2 or 3 different materials and cementing them together. An example might be a Sapphire and Synthetic Ruby Doublet, where the crown is Natural Sapphire and the pavilion is synthetic Ruby. To the unaided eye it looks like the natural gemstone but to a trained eye the assembled stone will soon reveal its secrets.

Should you buy Synthetic or Imitation gemstones? Absolutely, as they offer good value and you can assemble a colourful collection of them to match your mood and accessories at a very low cost.

Just make sure that you are aware that when you purchase a natural gemstone that you do not receive an imitation or a synthesized version.



Derek Parnell is a Graduate Gemologist (GIA) and owner of Jewels by Truros a division of Truros Corporation. For more information you can reach Derek at Jewels by Truros.

Gemstone Treatments and Disclosure

When you purchase your next gemstone be sure to ask if the gemstone has had any treatments, as this can affect the value and durability of the gemstone. A good jeweller will automatically make this disclosure as part of the sale.

If you are purchasing a high-value gemstone such as Ruby, Emerald or Sapphire make sure it has a certificate from a laboratory that has the expensive equipment required to be able to detect some of these treatment. Most jewellers and gemologists have equipment that can detect certain levels of treatment, but it is only the laboratory equipped grading companies such as Gemological Institute of America and European Gemological Laboratory that can detect all the treatments available.

There are 10 major gem treatments that require disclosure from the seller to the buyer.

Bleaching, Cavity Filling, Colorless Impregnation, Dying, Fracture Filling, Heat Treatment, Irradiation, Sugar & Smoke Treatment, Surface Diffusion, Surface Modifiers. In this article we will look at 5 of them.

Cavity Filling. This type of treatment refers to those gemstones that have defects on the surface of the gemstone; these cavities and surface reaching fractures reduce the appearance and value of the gemstone. To enhance the value these imperfections are filled with different resins, plastic or glass, which improves the appearance and increases the gemstone weight. Due to the different Reflective Index of the filler material most gemologist can detect the fillers.

Dying. Is used to enhance the color of gemstones such as Chalcedony, Lapis, Jadeite, Cultured Pearl and Turquoise. These gemstones have one thing in common they are all porous, which enables the dye to reach just below the surface. To assist in having the dye penetrate, some gemstones are heated and then cooled quickly by quenching in water, this causes minute surface cracks into which the dye will flow. The more color a gemstone has the more appealing to the consumers.

Heat Treatment. This is the most common among treatments and is used extensively on corundum (Sapphire, Ruby) to enhance the color of the gemstone. Heat can also be used to remove internal blemishes, or color centres to improve the gemstones color consistency. Most gemstones that are heated result in enhancing or changing the color are stable, however they are still enhancement and should be disclosed.

Irradiation. You will find this treatment in some colored gemstones and colored Diamonds. This process began in the early 1990s and is used widely today, there are minimal traces of radiation in the gemstone but its never harmful if the correct procedures have been followed. The challenge in gemstones is the lack of stability and its sensitivity to heat once the process has been completed. Therefore it is important that you know the gemstone has been irradiated, if you ever have a jewellery item repaired make sure the stone is removed, as the heat will change the color. Most colored Diamonds are made affordable by irradiating the natural browns and yellow, which can turn them into blue, green and red colors making them more attractive and increasing their value. The process in diamonds is more stable but is still susceptible to changes with heat.

Surface Diffusion. This treatment is becoming more common today with the enhancement of more valuable gemstones such as corundum. The gemstone is heated just below melting point, and then chemicals are used to penetrate the surface to become part of the crystal structure. This process is also used to produce stars (asterism) in some gemstones, again increasing value.

Disclosure. It is not only unethical, it is also against the law to sell a natural gemstone that has been treated and not disclose the treatment. If a jeweller or gemologist does not know if a gemstone has had a treatment then he should assume it has and disclose it, or send to a laboratory to confirm one way or another. All treatments must be disclosed at the time of sale to the consumer. Unfortunately, today there are a lot of treated gemstones being sold as natural.

The reason sellers fail to disclose falls into four main categories:

Ignorance, they believe their suppliers, who mostly live in countries where these rules are not adhered to or do not exist.
Competitive Pressure, they feel they will be disadvantaged in a sale if their competitors do not disclose.
Resistance, they do not believe in the rules and do what they think is right.
Calculated Risk, If they don’t disclose how often will they get caught and if they are caught they can probably make the problem go away by refunding or replacing the item.

A reputable seller will always offer disclosure, but its not a perfect world.



Derek Parnell is a Graduate Gemologist (GIA) and owner of Jewels by Truros a division of Truros Corporation. Truros Corporation has interests in Real Estate and the Jewelry Industry. For more information you can reach Derek at Jewels by Truros.

Color Change or Color Shift Gemstones, not knowing the difference can cost you money.

Color Change or Color Shift Gemstones, not knowing the difference can cost you money.


One of the most exciting and interesting gemstones you can buy is one that has color change, Alexandrite is most recognised of these gemstones as it has a dramatic color change depending on your light source. Today there are a lot of color shift gemstones, being sold as color change. Usually a color change gemstone commands a premium price, so how can you be sure you are getting color change and not color shift?

All of a gemstones color (hue, tone and saturation) is dependent on two things, how the gemstone is cut and the most important component light. It is the type of light and direction of the light that produces the brilliance and fire in a well-cut diamond or the beautiful color in gemstones.

The color you see in a gemstone is the result of the light that returns to your eyes after bouncing off the gemstones crystal structure. Now we know what causes color but what makes it a color change or color shift gemstone?

The element chromium that allows equal amounts of red and green light to pass through it causes color change in Alexandrite. Because of this balance of red and green, if you view Alexandrite under incandescent light (rich in red) the gemstone looks like a red Ruby. If you then take the gemstone and hold it under an incandescent light (rich in blue/green) the Alexandrite looks more like an Emerald Green. This is color change.

Color shift is representative of colors that can change in the different or the same light source, a good example of this would be Tanzanite that will shift from blue to violet/purple by tilting the gemstone in the same light source. You will find a reasonable amount of gemstones will have this effect especially the ones with rich colors,

The best explanation of the difference I have used for deciding what is color change and what is color shift, is for those that have seen or have access to color grading wheel which is a chart that designates all of the colors of gemstones for grading gemstones. GIA calls it the hue wheel and it shows all of the color hues from Blue, to Green, to Yellow, to Orange, to Red, to Purple, to Violet (32 hues in all). If a color change moves from Red to the next color on the wheel (orange) then this is called a Color Shift. If the color moves from Red to Green, which is on the other side of the wheel, then this is called Color Change.


Some of the major natural Color Change gemstones are Sapphire, Ruby, Alexandrite, Spinel, and Garnet. Also be aware, today there are a lot of coated or diffused gemstones that will also show color change.

Derek Parnell is a Graduate Gemologist (GIA) and owner of Jewels by Truros a division of Truros Corporation. Truros Corporation has interests in the Jewelry and the Real Estate Industry. For more information you can reach Derek at Jewels by Truros.