Until fairly recently, the average consumer wasn’t aware that most commonly available gems are treated to make them marketable. If it weren’t for treatments, many gems might be affordable to only the wealthiest consumers. For example, some unappealing white sapphire rough can be turned a beautiful blue by careful heat treatment. Treatment has become an important issue for many consumers, and media publicity about gem treatments can affect the sales of some colored stones.
Emerald is an example of the way treatment and public information issues can affect sales. As you’ll learn in Assignment 15, most emerald rough is fractured by the stresses of formation and mining. As a result, most finished emeralds are treated in some way—usually by filling with oils or resins—to improve their apparent clarity. In the late 1990s, emerald treatments received the attention of the media, and the negative publicity reduced consumer confidence in the gem.
High-profile court cases and consumer unease about treatments affected emerald sales. In spite of this, gem importers brought about $143 million of cut emeralds into the United States in 2002. And emerald remains the number one colored stone import into the United States in terms of value.
Nomenclature, disclosure, and durability concerns are still an issue in the market today. In the early 2000s, a new type of fracture filling hit the market in the form of high-lead-content glass in fracture-filled ruby. This material turned corundum with no gem value into material that could be marketed in large volumes. At about the same time, a new type of diffusion treatment for corundum using beryllium entered the market, but it was undisclosed and sold as heat-treated sapphire. This led to a lack of confidence in the sapphire market once the true nature of the treatment was revealed.
Treatment is just one aspect of the fascinating world of colored stones. And if you approach the topic correctly, it isn’t a barrier to sales. Most consumers readily accept gem treatments if they’re ethically disclosed and explained in a positive way.
