How can I enhance my gemstone jewelry appearance?

Gemstones can be treated in various ways to enhance their appearance and their visual appeal. Almost every gemstone, whether they be semi-precious or precious, can be treated. With the development of new technologies, gemstone attributes and qualities have been greatly improved. In fact, it has become quite commonplace for gemstones to undergo enhancing treatments before being set into luxury jewelry. Artificial gemstones aren't the only ones being treated. Natural, mined gemstones have also been subjected to the various treatments used to enhance the natural beauty and color of these precious stones. Nowadays, it is increasingly difficult to tell the difference between treated gemstones and gemstones which have not undergone any enhancing treatments. For example, when aquamarines undergo heat treatment, their natural green tint disappears, and they become an intense blue. However, this process can happen in nature without any artificial involvement. Thus, with gemstones such as aquamarine, it is virtually impossible to detect whether the gemstone has undergone any enhancement treatments. Gemstone treatments are numerous and varied. Here are a few examples as to what kind of treatment you could apply to your faded gemstones:
1. Heat treatment – Heat treatment is used to alter the gemstones' chemical compositions and structures. While undergoing heat treatment, the gemstone is heated to overwhelming temperatures, and then is rapidly cooled. The heating treatment causes the enhancement of the gemstone's color by forcing the stone's natural inclusions to meld and reform, which improves the intensity of the gemstone's hue. This treatment is considered to be a form of natural treatment, since this process can sometimes occur naturally while the gemstone is still underground. However, heat treated gemstones are still not considered as prestigious as natural colored stones. Therefore, jewelry items set with heat treated gemstones would have an attached certification, stating that they were heat treated, and vendors selling heat treated gemstone jewelry are required (by law) to report that the items were artificially treated. Heat treatment is an affordable way of enhancing your gemstone jewelry's appearance, since the process is relatively simple and does not require a lot of work done. This particular treatment is relatively permanent, so you would not need to have it re-done. The only exceptions are kunzite and yellow sapphire, whose heat enhanced colors fade over time.

2. Gemstones can undergo irradiation treatment which changes the electron dispersion within the gemstone's crystalline structure, thus enhancing its optical properties and significantly intensifying the stone's hue. Gemstone irradiation treatments can cause a gemstone to turn from colorless to a wide array of colors (for instance, it can turn colorless beryl to yellow, colorless zircon to brown and red, colorless topaz to blue or green, etc.). The irradiation process is especially recommended when one wishes to enhance the color of pearls. Irradiated pearls turn a grey black or grey blue hue, which is an extremely rare color of pearl, and is virtually imposable to find in nature. Irradiating treatments are less recommended than heat treatments since they are more complex and expensive processes, which require special technologies and machinery. Also, colors enhanced by the irradiation process can sometimes fade rather quickly, when exposed to intense heat and humidity.

3. Gemstones are often dyed with specialized products. This is a relatively simple and inexpensive way of enhancing a gemstone's color, however, dyed gemstones don't look anywhere near as natural as irradiated gemstones or heat treated gemstones. Also, dye is not a very permanent solution, and can easily wear off as time goes by.

4. Certain gemstones (such as turquoise and aquamarine) are usually sealed so that the wearer's natural body oils are unable to corrode the gemstone's natural tinge.
5. Bleaching - certain chemicals are used to lighten the natural color of the gemstone. If the gemstone has a cloudy color, bleaching can help clear up the gem's murky look, resulting in a cleaner, high quality looking gemstone.
6. Filling - a gemstone's fissures and scratches are filled with oils, waxes, glass, or plastic. The filling process causes the gemstone to appear undamaged, void of any inclusions.
7. Diffusion - During the diffusion process, chemicals are used couples with intense heat exposure to improve the gemstone's hue. .

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