Our Affiliate Policy

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WHAT IS A TREATED GEMSTONE?

One day, a miner in Tanzania missed the junk pile and threw the colorless mineral zoisite into the fire. After the fire cooled, he noticed that the colorless material had changed to a beautiful, and permanent shade of blue violet, and the stone Tanzanite was born. This is an example of a heat treated stone, and it is very very common for gemstones to be heated to affect their color. Some get lighter, some darker, some change color, but most of the affects are permanent, and are so common that jewelers don't even feel required to tell you about them, and that is OK by industry standards.

Some treatments, however, are not permanent and can make a difference in the price of the item. Jade permeated with plastic is worth less than natural. Dyed black cultured pearls are worth less than natural black cultured pearls, (but almost all white pearls are bleached or dyed to unifycolor, and again, that is common and OK). Sapphires can be soaked in dye to improve color, and emeralds are oiled and filled to improve color and stability, and these treatments will affect the price in larger, single stones. The list goes on and on. Some treatments are done as a matter of course, and some are not.

Our rule of thumb is this: Assume your colored gemstone been treated in some way, but, if you are spending a lot of money on a large stone, ask your jeweler to explain the types of treatment for your stone and to verify if your stone has been treated in some way which is not going to be permanent. Treated stones are very common and perfectly fine, just as long as you know what you are buying and the price reflects the treatment.

Mrs. Gottrocks guarantees our stones to be as described in our catalog. We hope this information has been of assistance to you as you shop. Please feel free to email us with your questions or suggestions for future topics.