Ruby-Glass Composites vs Leaded Glass Clarity Enhancements
Ruby-glass composites and leaded glass ruby clarity enhancements are difficult for gemologists to detect. Learn how to identify these gems and procedures.
6 Minute Read
Ruby-Glass Composites or Leaded Glass Treated Rubies?
During a meeting of the Laboratory Manual Harmonization Committee (LMHC) in 2007, Dr. Pornsawat Wathanakul (Scientific Advisor to the GIT member) reopened discussions on glass fracture filling in ruby. Several members had noted myriads of large gas bubbles within the newer material submitted to their laboratories. In many cases, they found the glass filled wide seams crossing facets and accounted for an ever-increasing volume of the finished product. Furthermore, members surmised from observation that the glass held the material together. In other words, the glass acted like an adhesive.
Following discussions, the LMHC agreed this treatment went beyond any “fracture filling or clarity enhancement” process. The group decided to describe this (heavily treated) material as “ruby-glass composite” on all future identification reports.
Ruby Vocabulary Revisions
The Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC), along with other trade organizations, submitted a brief to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). They suggested a number of vocabulary revisions to its Guides to ensure a standard throughout the industry, such as the following:
- “Natural” should refer to untreated rubies.
- “Treated” should identify rubies treated with traditional methods, such as heating to modify
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Jeffery Bergman, SSEF SGC
With humble roots from a non-gem trade family, as a lapidary hobbyist, Jeffery cut and polished his first gemstone at the age of fourteen launching him on a lifelong career which has taken him to more than 70 countries, and every continent except Antarctica. With 5 decades of broad-based experience in natural gemstones, diamonds and fine jewelry, in 2020 Jeffery founded Eighth Dimension Gems (formerly Primagem) in Bangkok, Thailand, where he has lived for over 30 years.
Jeffery’s formal gemmological training was accomplished at the prestigious Swiss Gemmological Institute in Basel, Switzerland where he passed requisite exams for his SSEF Basic Gemmology (BGC) and SSEF Basic Diamonds (BDC) Diplomas. Additionally, he completed SSEF’s Advanced Pearls (ATC), Advanced Colored Stones (ATC), and Scientific Gemmology (SGC) courses.
Featured in many gem and jewelry periodicals, Jeffery has also appeared in interviews on the ABC, BBC, CCTV, CNA, CNN, NBC and GEO. He has been quoted in Time, USA Today, National Geographic, Discover, GIA’s Gems & Gemology, Gem-A’s Journal of Gemmology, ICA’s InColor, Rivista Italiana di Gemmologia/Italian Gemological Review and many other publications around the world. A guest speaker at seven GIA Gem Gatherings as well as many gemological conferences & universities, Jeffery is also an Honorary Professor for the AIGS – Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences in Bangkok, Thailand.
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