Inclusions in Natural, Synthetic, and Treated Ruby

Abstract

See end of article for About the Authors. GEMS & GEMOLOGY, Vol. 53, No. 4, pp. 457–458, http://dx.doi.org/10.5741/GEMS.53.4.457 © 2017 Gemological Institute of America been critical to the development of color and clarity treatments (including heating and dyeing, and now more recently introduced processes) and synthetic gems. In the early 1900s, over five million carats of synthetic ruby were produced annually by the flamefusion, or Verneuil, method (Hughes, 2017). Innovative new treatments have also played a major role in satisfying the continued demand for ruby. In the early 1990s, gemological laboratories saw the introduction of chromium-diffused rubies (McClure et al., 1993). In the early 2000s, lead-glass filling of low-quality rubies reached international markets and became one of the most widespread—and most