Glass-filled ruby with surface fractures and blue-orange flash. AGA Rubies: The Heat Is On Lack of proper disclosure for lead-glass filled rubies challenges consumer confidence in the gem and jewellery trade, finds our US writer Deborah Yonick. reatments to enhance gemstone colour and clarity are nothing new. They have helped to broaden the market of affordable gems and have made mining sustainable, especially for small miners, by giving market value to lower quality stones. But when treatments go undisclosed particularly those that require special care consumer confidence is jeopardised. That s what the ruby market faces in a lead-glass-filled product that many gemmologists label as composite or hybrid ruby. This mix of natural ruby and high lead content glass looks like ruby, but doesn t act like ruby. The treatment is not permanent or stable, lacks durability and requires special care Gas bubbles in glass-filled ruby. AGA 62 INTERNATIONAL november 2011
GIA Treated ruby. GIA It s essential that retailers understand these rubies are not comparable in any way to other treated rubies. Gas bubble inside a treated ruby. GIA Treated ruby. Composite ruby with glass bubbles.
Shane McClure Antoinette Matlins Lead-glass filler Douglas Hucker Most lead-glass-infused rubies contain excessive amounts of high lead content glass from 10% to more than 50%. In many cases, this ruby wouldn t hold together without the glass as it is heavily fractured and included, Matlins says. The product does not meet realistic expectations of ruby in wearability. At the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Shane McClure, that must be disclosed but is not widely and accurately happening through the supply chain. Disclosure that is happening calling the material just treated ruby or glass-filled ruby is misleading, cites Antoinette Matlins, gemmologist, author and consumer advocate based in Woodstock, Vermont. It s essential that retailers understand these rubies are not comparable in any way to other treated rubies. She emphasises that rubies infused with lead-glass are different from those heated with a fluxing agent that results in traces of common glass (silica). Many substances can etch lead-glass and ruin the product s appearance, says Matlins, a board member of the Accredited Gemologists Association (AGA), proactively bringing these issues to light. A routine ring sizing could quickly and irreparably damage the stone if the jeweller is unaware of the treatment. Unlike other types of glass, lead-glass is very soft, so these rubies are more prone to breakage. Lead-glass also adds weight and has a golden hue that augments colour, whereas glass produced during traditional heating is colourless. The term glass-filled ruby came about in the mid 1990s when the gemmological community started seeing a lot of Mong Hsu ruby heated with fluxing agents that produced a glassy residue by-product, explains Christopher Smith, president of American Gemological Laboratory (AGL) in New York. The current leadglass treated ruby is not the same. Composite ruby. director west coast identification services, says the Gem Testing Lab in Carlsbad, California sees a lot of commercial jewellery with small leadglass infused rubies coming in from large retailers. Composite ruby is being used as an opportunity for significant margins and sales slashers, explains Douglas Hucker, CEO American Gem Trade Association (AGTA). For major retailers doing significant business, price is key. Gem manufacturers found a way to fulfil a price point with a product that is not really what it is claimed to be. When you have this situation it wreaks havoc on gems and jewellery. Smith notes that the amount of unheated ruby, even traditionally heated ruby, in the market does not come close to that of composite ruby, which comes from two major sources, Madagascar and Mozambique. It s not an overstatement to say that lightly treated lead-glass filled stones represent less than 1% of this material in the market, he says. I see thousands of stones, from melee to 100+ carats sold at prices below $1 to over $100 a carat. Based on my observations, it is the most dominant ruby product in the market. Because disclosure has been weak, confusion has grown in the commercial market. Buyers are steering away from lower quality ruby that is not treated just to avoid getting caught with composite ruby, reports Stuart Robertson, market analyst for The Gem Guide, published
It s not an overstatement to say that lightly treated lead-glass filled stones represent less than 1% of this material in the market Craig Lynch, GG, Accredited Gemologists Association by GemWorld, Glenview, Illinois. The result: a drop in the demand and prices for non-treated commercial goods. Undisclosed The industry continues to struggle with nomenclature to best describe these treated goods that first started showing up at gem labs nearly a decade ago. The Gemstone Industry & Laboratory Conference (GILC) has been promoting the term compositeruby, glass filled, requires special care. The GIA uses three classifications addressing treatment levels: Case A (natural corundum) would hold together if not filled, Case B (natural corundum with glass) would not hold together if not filled, and Case C (corundum/glass composite) composed of disassociated pieces before treatment. This ruby was dabbed with fresh lemon juice 4 times in 48 hours. AGL took a high-profile position on the treatment in 2007 by coining the name composite ruby to describe all lead-glass treated ruby/corundum, while GemResearch Swisslab (GRS) promoted the term hybrid ruby to distinguish this product from traditionally treated ruby. In a recent statement, AGL and GRS announced their decision to begin harmonising the descriptions of these stones on their respective lab reports. All GRS and AGL reports for lead-glass treated ruby/corundum will read: GRS Identification: Synthetic Glass/ Treated Ruby (GRS-type Hybrid Ruby ). Comments: Heat-treated and filled with a coloured foreign solid substance (including lead). Special care required. Also known as Composite Ruby. AGL Identification: Composite Ruby. Comments: This stone is a composite of natural ruby and a high lead content glass. Also known as Hybrid Ruby. See Enhancements section of the AGL report for additional comments related to the durability and special care of this product. We wanted to let the gemstone and jewellery industries know that GRS and AGL have begun working in a INTERNATIONAL november 2011 65
spirit of collaboration between our labs and we believe that the controversies surrounding how these stones are described in our reports is a perfect venue to demonstrate this, explains Dr. Adolf Peretti, president of GRS Laboratories. Motivating their decision, emphasises Smith, is the need to differentiate leadglass filled ruby from traditionally treated ruby. He says jewellers should be able to identify the material recommending a good lighted loupe or gemmological microscope for inspection. Look for one or more of these basic features: heavily crazed or fractured surface, blue and orange flash effects that induce a hazy appearance, or flattened/spherical gas bubbles. It does not make sense to create different levels of how to describe these stones, as lay people are unlikely to make these distinctions on their own, says Peretti. Regardless of the extent of the lead-glass treatment, these stones all carry the same essential issues of durability and special care, adds Smith. Hucker does not believe the market will bear a process like lead-glass filled ruby that is not stable and requires special care. Case in point: berylliumdiffused sapphire resembling vivid orange hued padparadscha sapphire. The stones, which were initially sold as simply natural or sometimes heated, were not what they claimed to be. Treatment in much of the early material, out in 2000, was only skin-deep, any chips or re-polishing/re-faceting would remove colour. Integrity in balance Gemmologists worry about the integrity of the gem trade if lead-glass filled rubies continue to be sold at retail without proper disclosure. A prime example of what may be in store for jewellers who don t disclose is a class action lawsuit filed against Macy s in January 2010 in San Francisco Superior Court, California. Still pending, the suit accuses the retailer of intentionally deceiving customers, alleging Macy s knowingly sold heavily glass filled, lead glass filled and composite rubies as natural. Brought by consumers Mimi Lowe (a former Macy s fine jewellery department employee who retired in 2004), Mariana Photiou and Anthony So, the suit also alleges Macy s sold black sapphire as black diamond, irradiated and filled diamonds without disclosure, and treated prasiolite as green amethyst. Macy s declined comment on the pending litigation. Cortney Balzan, a San Franciscobased independent gemmologist and appraiser, contracted to do quality control for Macy s West from 1983 to May 2009, reported discrepancies in the gems the retailer was carrying from 2007 to 2009. According to a suit he filed against the retailer in San Francisco Half etched composite ruby. I hear stories from jewellers nationwide and abroad that have lost credibility and have had to refund money because composite rubies were damaged during setting, re-mounting or repairing Superior Court December 2009, Balzan repeatedly warned Macy s officials, who ignored his advice, to disclose the stones quality so customers could care for them properly. The complaint, resolved this summer in mediation, sought damages for breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. In the past two years, Matlins says AGA also approached Macy s to help it resolve these disclosure issues, while exploring complaints from consumers about the retailer. She says Macy s continues to sell the product, using generic disclosure language that some gemstones have been treated in some way and may require special care. Either the company must do a better job of educating sales people to relay information, or provide material at the counter that addresses the specific gem being purchased. Macy s has done neither. AGA representatives have also met with the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, documenting misrepresentation by Macy s and other retail chains selling lead-glass filled ruby, as well as the Federal Trade Commission Jewelry Enforcement Division, which is investigating complaints. While lecturing on lead-glass filled rubies at regional trade shows and group events, Matlins says it s clear to her that more of this material is being sold by retail jewellery chains, as well as independent jewellers. Many retailers are buying these composites unknowingly and passing them on without proper disclosure, says Matlins. I hear stories from jewellers nationwide and abroad that have lost credibility and have had to refund money because composite rubies were damaged during setting, re-mounting or repairing. This issue is one of the most serious to confront the gem and jewellery trade in the last 50 years. If left undisclosed it will undermine confidence in the global ruby market and act as another black mark against all gems and jewellery. n 66 INTERNATIONAL NOvEmbER 2011