Sapphire: Under the Microscope

I recently inherited my late grandfather's microscope and reacquainted myself with the wonderful world of gemstone inclusions. Of particular interest in the first week was the nature of sapphire inclusions. 95% of the world's sapphire supply has been heated and the process often leaves behind very distinctive features within the stone. Have a look sometime if the jewelry store you frequent has a microscope on the counter.

Why heat?

Why settle for this

when you can have this?

Discoid Fractures

Sapphires often have other minerals within them. After heating, these little crystals look a little melted and often display a tension halo. This feature is also called a discoid fracture. They're pretty easy to spot under 10-30x magnification.




















Rutile Silk

Before heating, you might see shiny needles of rutile silk within the stone.



















The heating process dissolves the needles which can improve clarity. This is an example of "broken silk":
















In some cases, the process releases the titanium into the crystal which will intensify the blue color.










Sapphires from our talented artists:



































The SATeam blog features artisan handmade creations by the etsy starving artists jewelry team. SATeam members create handcrafted jewelry and beads. More information about our team and its current etsy shop owner members can be found at SATEAM.etsy.com

Sources:
http://gemologyproject.com/wiki/index.php?title=Heat_Treatment