Hyperion • Inclusion Search Engine • Lotus Gemology
When a Mozambique ruby is heated, the silk may start to break down, resulting if mottling or bubbles appearing in the daughter minerals, as seen here.
When a Mozambique ruby is heated, the silk may start to break down, resulting if mottling or bubbles appearing in the daughter minerals, as seen here.
Heat-altered feathers just below the surface of this Mozambique ruby. In unheated rubies from Mozambique, these shallow fissures generally contain yellow-to-orange iron oxide stains.
Rutile silk in Mozambique ruby showing a breakdown of the daughter crystals due to heat treatment.
Rutile silk in Mozambique ruby showing a breakdown of the daughter crystals due to heat treatment.
Rutile silk in a heated Mozambique ruby showing obvious signs of breakdown, with small bubbles appearing in the daughter crystals.
Shallow feathers such as these are produced by heat treatment, where the orange stains found in untreated gems are removed and the fissures begin to heal.
A frosty melted crystal in a ruby from the Thai-Cambodian border.
A thin film inclusion parallel to the basal pinacoid in a heated Thai/Cambodian ruby.
A melted crystal with a trapped gas bubble in a heat-treated ruby from the Thal-Cambodian border.
A melted crystal with a trapped gas bubble in a heat-treated ruby from the Thal-Cambodian border.
This fingerprint in a heat-treated ruby from the Thai/Cambodian border displays the underlying atomic symmetry by the pattern of healing. The healed areas are hexagonal in shape, showing that the fingerprint lies in the basal plane.
Note: Lotus Gemology Co. Ltd. makes these images available to the public for educational purposes only. Each image is copyright Lotus Gemology and/or the photographer and reproduction without the express written permission of Lotus Gemology is strictly prohibited. This includes posting to social media or websites. If you would like to reuse an image, contact us.