Hello folks, so I bought some rubies thinking they were real. The guy who examined the stones for me assured me that they were real by looking at them through a ruby filter and tested its hardness using a diamond mate tester saying if the hardness is close to the diamond's, then it must be real rubies. However, I took my gems to a gemologist and after he looked at them through a microscope, he told me they were synthetic ((( My question is how can I tell a genuine ruby without carrying a microscope? Thanks.
There is no quick and easy answer to your question. The synthetic rubies are indeed real rubies...just not natural. Learning gemmology takes time and study, same as any other discipline. You could start by reading through some of the free gemmology courses linked to on the left of the page. The course by Barbara Smigel seems to be well liked by everyone.
Rubies are amongst the most difficult gems to learn about due the the large numbers of treatments which they are subjected to and the variety of synthetics available. Start to learn the basics first then practice and experience will help you in the future.
Never do hardness testing on cut stones unless you want to damage them.
Hope this is helpful...happy studies and welcome to the forum
Thanks a lot for the reply Frank. So since my rubies are not natural what value do you think it has if any? The gemologist told me it has 0 value. I am not convinced.
The price of synthetic cut ruby is not 0 USD/ct but depending on what type of synthetic the price may vary between a couple of dollars per carat for the Flame Fusion synthetic rubies to maybe 50-100 dollars per carat for the more advanced flux grown rubies. I suspect your stones are Flame Fusion rubies as they make up more than 95% of the synthetic ruby market and are videly available.
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 11:24 am Posts: 7523 Location: Rome, Italy
Conny Forsberg wrote:
The price of synthetic cut ruby is not 0 USD/ct but depending on what type of synthetic the price may vary between a couple of dollars per carat for the Flame Fusion synthetic rubies to maybe 50-100 dollars per carat for the more advanced flux grown rubies. I suspect your stones are Flame Fusion rubies as they make up more than 95% of the synthetic ruby market and are videly available.
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2012 3:45 am Posts: 134 Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Read as many materials and articles about gemology to build a strong fundamental knowledge base on this niche of Science. The links at the left hand side are very informative and helpful! Then try some practicals whenever possible. Learning ways of using a luope is a good and important start !
And keep following up the progress, trend, and discovery of any new gem treatment in the industry. Fine ruby is one of the most coveted gems in the world, and of course, various ruby treatments and imitations have been developed and created. Keep learning and exploring! Don't be shy to ask around.
I am new to gemology too! Luckily for us, this is a fantastic platform to learn gemology. Let's learn as much as possible from the experts here!
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