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This spall mark, an irregularity on the surface of the ruby, was a result of heat treatment.
When a Mozambique ruby is heated, the silk may start to break down, resulting in a mottled appearance on the platelets.
When a Mozambique ruby is heated, the silk may start to break down, resulting in a mottled appearance on the platelets.
Thin films shine when illuminated with oblique fiber optic light in this Thai/Cambodian ruby.
These thin films on the basal plane indicate the origin of this Thai/Cambodian ruby.
A melted crystal shines in a heated Thai/Cambodian ruby. These crystals begin life as solids, but are turned into glass by heat treatment. Because glass takes up less volume than a crystal, a frozen shrinkage bubble is often found in the glass. Note also the iridescence from the surrounding fingerprint, in shades of red and blue. This is because these are the two colors transmitted by ruby.
These thin films on the basal plane indicate the origin of this Thai/Cambodian ruby.
A melted crystal with a frozen gas bubble betray the fact that this ruby from Madagascar was subjected to heat treatment. Note also the tension fracture around the crystal, resulting from the crystal’s expansion during heat treatment.
A heat-altered crystal with an iridescent decrepitation halo, alongside a surface cavity filled with glass.
Patches of glass on the surface of a heat-treated ruby from the Thai/Cambodian border region.
Heat-altered crystals with decrepitation halos in the basal plane.
Iridescent fingerprint in a heat-treated ruby from the Thai-Cambodian border region. Note that the iridescence is mostly blue and red, because ruby absorbs the other colors of the spectrum.
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