Certification of facet rough

wilsonintexas · **Posted:** Thu Aug 11, 2022 7:00 pm

I have a friend who has what he thinks is untreated natural sapphirethat is 56 cts. Does GIA issue certificates of rough or only cut gems?

1bwana1 · **Joined:** Thu May 12, 2016 2:18 am **Posts:** 1505

No, GIA won't touch rough for any reason except research, and they won't even share the data on stones you loan them for such purposes.

However, I think there are a number of people here on G.O. that should be able to give an answer in most cases.

wilsonintexas · **Posted:** Fri Aug 12, 2022 2:31 pm

If there is a gia accredited persin how much would you charge to
1) verify the type of stone
2) verify if unheatreated
3) verify if natural

I am having trouble posting picture . Imgur changed on me

1bwana1 · **Joined:** Thu May 12, 2016 2:18 am **Posts:** 1505

I would like to see a picture or two of the rough to help decide the challenges of doing the type of identification you are asking for.

Proving that it is indeed a sapphire should be easy and straight forward with all rough. A Raman Spectroscope will determine that straight away.

Determining whether it is mined or lab grown, and what if any treatments the rough has had is largely done with examining internal features with a microscope. So, this will depend on how well we can see inside the stone.

I don't think most of us would charge for having a look, but postage and expenses will need to be paid.

Like I have said, let's start with some good pictures.

Barbra Voltaire, FGG · **Posted:** Fri Aug 12, 2022 11:18 pm

Exactly. Post some pics.
I would bet dollars to donuts that Chris Smith at AGL could do it.

Just as a sidebar, labs identify gems withing the limitations of their current knowledge and instrumentation. They do not certify anything.

wilsonintexas · **Posted:** Sat Aug 13, 2022 12:33 am

I will have to find a new picture host site. I cannot figure out how to post my imgur image. I will try again tomorrow. I have a short video i can post.

Barbra Voltaire, FGG · **Posted:** Sat Aug 13, 2022 1:17 pm

you can try posting a link to your imjur pic.

wilsonintexas · **Posted:** Sat Aug 13, 2022 2:13 pm

Sorry about the use of certify in the title.

I tried to say verify in the text.

when I first tried to post I got an error saying that it could not determine the dimensions of the image. I have made the picture public and will try it below.
I could not ember the photo, same error. I tried a imgur link to the video and all that showed up was a b;lack square. The only thing I could get to work was a link to the video on google account.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/eVqjq2wemz8iXed99

glhays · **Posted:** Sat Aug 13, 2022 2:19 pm

At first look I am not seeing sapphire at all.

wilsonintexas · **Posted:** Sat Aug 13, 2022 2:37 pm

I have not seen the material other than the photo. He says it weighs 42 cts. He is someone that got in tough because we were selling material aga show. So I have no idea of the true history behind it. I told him I could check on how it could be verified before he sent it to be cut. I do appreciate the comment.

1bwana1 · **Joined:** Thu May 12, 2016 2:18 am **Posts:** 1505

I would say that It looks exactly like all the other glass pieces I see being sold all over Africa almost every day. Except that I see what could be a slight greenish color in one direction when he first picks it up. That would indicate that the piece is dichroic and not glass. Impossible to say for sure until I see it in person, but I wouldn't gamble one penny of my money on it at this stage.

An inexpensive (less than $25) Dichroscope should be all you need to check for glass in this case.

Any one of these videos will show you or him how to do it:

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/v ... Cm%3Apivot

The lack of any high heat damage to the surface of the piece would indicate no high heat treatment.

There appears to be no zoning of any kind which would be very unusual in a natural sapphire stone with this level of color saturation

wilsonintexas · **Posted:** Sun Aug 14, 2022 11:36 am

Thanks i will pass on the info

Stephen Challener · **Posted:** Mon Aug 15, 2022 6:44 pm

Is this in his possession, or is he being offered it for sale online? It looks a lot like the type of video various sellers send, some more reputable than others.

1bwana1 · **Joined:** Thu May 12, 2016 2:18 am **Posts:** 1505

I agree with Stephen. It looks like a typical video Africans send around to sell rough. A great percentage of which is fake. Usually the African himself has already been defrauded and believes the stone to be real.

In Sapphires it pretty much never is.

glhays · **Posted:** Mon Aug 15, 2022 8:44 pm

Had a Congo ruby come in last week and low and behold FF. Looked like the real thing.

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