Treatment & Enhancement Detection
Detection of thermal heating, fracture filling, beryllium diffusion, oiling, and artificial color/clarity treatments.
Why Treatment Detection Matters
Gemstone treatments alter color, transparency, or apparent clarity. While some traditional enhancements (such as low-temperature heating) are common in the gem trade, full disclosure of treatment status is vital because untreated natural gemstones carry significant market value premiums.
IGL laboratory analysis examines internal stress features, inclusion alteration, and spectroscopic fingerprints to disclose treatments accurately on every report.
Common Gemstone Treatments Tested
- Thermal Heat Treatment (Rubies & Sapphires)
- Clarity Enhancement / Oiling / Resin Filling (Emeralds)
- Lead-Glass Filling & Fissure Filling
- Lattice Diffusion (Beryllium / Titanium)
- Irradiated & Dyed Gemstones
How IGL Detects Treatments
Key diagnostic observations used during treatment screening.
Altered Mineral Inclusions
Microscopic observation of melted rutile silk, discoid tension halos around mineral crystals, and altered internal liquid veining caused by heating.
Flash Effect & Fillers
Observation of interference color flashes (blue/yellow flash effect) along filled surface-reaching fractures under darkfield illumination.
Color Concentration Rims
Immersion microscopy to detect artificial color concentration along facet junctions in surface-diffused or dyed gemstones.
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