Ring sizing is difficult. The actual work, accomplished with traditional saw and torch or with modern lasers, may be straightforward or not. The ring itself may be complex. The woman’s hand and ring finger(s) are always complex. The cost may be minimal, as in sizing down a simple white gold band a half size for $15. Or, it may be costly. What are some of the issues that create risk and greater cost?

• Maintaining the shape of the bottom of the ring, when the ring is either sized down or sized up multiple sizes.
• Caring for/removing/resetting fragile gemstones which cannot handle the heat of the process.
• Caring for/removing/resetting gemstones in the band itself, which may tend to “pop out” when pressure is placed on them when the ring is sized up or down multiple sizes.
• Working with rings that are engraved inside the shank and or engraved or etched on the outside of the shank.
• Working with rings with wider bands. These are much more difficult to size, whether down or up. The jeweler must take extra care in making proper measurements of the knuckle and back of the finger.
• Working with rings where the shank (band portion) is already thin, whether new or worn for decades), and especially if the center of the bottom of the band is too thin to be professionally sized. The jeweler should require that a new shank or half shank be installed and the ring sized at the same time. This is very important when repairing vintage and antique family jewelry.
• Sizing rings with thin filigree wires atop. Even these an be affected by heat.
• Sizing enamel rings and rings with black oxidized finish (antique type finish).
• Certain metals are more difficult to size. Rose gold, green gold and platinum are more difficult that yellow gold and white gold.
• After sizing any ring that has rhodium plating, including all white gold jewelry, the ring should be re-rhodium plated.
• Engagement and wedding rings which are soldered must be taken apart, each sized, and then re-soldered.

And, how about the hand and finger? We all know that the knuckle is often larger than the back of the finger. Professional jewelers will measure both the knuckle, from the top and sides, and the back of the finger, from the top and sides. The ring must be sized to move over the knuckle, both on and off, and then the goal is for the ring to lie as straight as possible in its final position. This is challenging when there is a difference of more than one size between the knuckle and the back of the finger.

How tight should the ring be, going over and back? There are always 2 answers: The first is that it should be as tight as makes the wearer comfortable, and the feeling of “comfort” is different with every woman. Some women like a ring to fit tight; others find it annoying. Going on the finger, the ring should be a bit looser and going off the knuckle, the ring should be tighter. If fairly tight over the knuckle coming off, the ring has a better chance of laying straight.

Most ring wearers are familiar with “devices” that are installed by professional bench jewelers, to help the ring stand straight on the back of the finger. First, the shape of the shank (the band itself) can sometimes help. If it is “squared off” at the bottom, it will hold in place a bit better. The next device is a temporary ring guard, which is a piece of thin metal installed inside the shank and clamped on both sides around the shank. The guard has “give”; it moves up and down and helps hold the ring in place. It works fairly well when the difference in size is between one and one and a half sizes. It is relatively inexpensive to install.

Additional devices are more expensive, but sometimes work so beautifully that a woman can return to wearing a ring and receive daily pleasure from doing so. Here they are:

• An “inside guard,” made to fit the shank, and actually soldered (not clamped) to the inside of the shank. The two ends of this thin piece of gold or platinum have “give.” They move back and forth and allow the ring to be stabilized on the back of the finger. This works differently depending on whether it is soldered to the base of the shank, or to the top of the shank.
• Movable sizers. This is a category of sizing device. It is actually another shank that is installed in place of the shank of the ring. It usually comes with a movable part which allows the shank to spread apart (open to a larger size so that it fits over the knuckle), and then when it slides to the back of the finger, the wearer closes the shank, and the ring then sits in position. There are several kinds of these, manufactured by different companies in the United States. One of the most popular is called the Finger Mate. There is also a Finger Fit, and others.
• Hinged shank. This is a hand-fabricated shank that is installed in place of the regular shank. This shank is constructed with a hinge. The shank actually opens and closes. The wearer opens it, and then instead of sliding the ring over the end of her finger, she places the ring in its position at the back of her finger, and then closes the shank. Because this is a hand-fabricated piece of gold or platinum, it is generally the most expensive; however in certain kinds of rings and with certain kinds of knuckle sizes, it can solve the problem beautifully.

The expense of these devices is usually outweighed by the enjoyment brought to the wearer. The cost varies with the type of metal, the price of the metal, construction cost and installation cost. A simple temporary “U” guard for inside the ring can be as little as $45. The more permanent inside guard will cost from $70 and up. The category of movable shanks begin at about $175 and are usually from $275 to $575 for most typical rings, and the most expensive hinge shank begins at about $650. Platinum is of course more expensive than gold. Sterling silver is usually not available for the movable or hinged shanks, and is also a difficult metal to use for the simpler temporary and permanent inside guards.

Ring sizing is serious business. It should be handled by an experienced professional, who has had experiences with all the above situations and circumstances, and can advise his client of the proper way to proceed and the likely result.

The 5.88 ct. amethyst is flanked by 8 small, round diamonds, and set in yellow gold.

These stampings often resemble coins, and some are difficult to identify. They may possess the identical gram weight, the same millimeter diameter and thickness and an identical looking picture of an authentic government coin. In fact, the only way to identify these superb copies is by taking a saw, cutting into the metal and examining the internal metallic content. Professional jewelers who are expert in this field will require this as a condition of making an offer to a customer, for the jeweler’s safety and for the customer’s security. The same standard of care is taken by jewelers and coin merchants when they identify and sell gold coins and gold bullion to the public. Just because a 24k yellow gold-looking bar appears to be properly stamped with a well-known name does not mean that the bar is legitimate. The seller must know with 100% certainty how the bar is minted, by whom, its metal content, its weight, and even its external dimensions, along with the precision of its surface markings, and customers should never be shy about asking their sellers about such details.

In most gold-buying businesses, the merchant tests the jewelry and then provides the customer with its weight, its karat content and its cash value as expressed in dollars/gram or dollars/dwt (pennyweight). The merchant usually does not then state his commission, although it may be assumed that his commission is the difference between what he has paid the customer and what he will receive from the refinery, once they receive the metals. How much is this commission? Is it fair? Is it competitive? Is there an alternate method for the customer to use, where s/he will have more certainty of the outcome of the transaction? What would happen if the merchant were to promise to give the customer 100% of the dollars he received from his refinery, less his cost of preparing the jewelry to be refined and less the mailing and insurance expense, and after those dollars are given to the customer, the merchant then gives the customer an invoice for a certain amount? Using this method, the customer learns up front and agrees to the merchant’s commission; however s/he must wait for payment until the refining process is completed and the merchant has the money. This may take some time, so that the merchant collects enough metal to be refined, thus spreading the refining expense among more gram weight of metal.

Of course, many customers are excited when they can walk out with a check or cash, and are not willing to wait, even if their return would be greater. For some clients, seeking a cash value appraisal on their old gold jewelry from an expert not in the refining business can provide good information which will allow the owner the ability to shop for the best deal. The relatively small cost of the appraisal is more than compensated by the owner’s ability to negotiate a “best return price” from the gold refiner, as the owner already knows pretty much what the merchant will receive from the refinery when the transaction is complete.

Amethyst is the purple variety of quartz, and grows throughout the earth in many saturations of purple, from faint mauve to strong reddish violet. Most amethyst is darkened by heat after it is taken from the earth. When you buy it, assume it is heat-treated unless the jeweler tells you otherwise. As an aside, much beautiful yellowish orange citrine quartz starts its life as purple amethyst, and is heat-treated to its final color. The ancients knew this, and there are many references in old texts referring to heating of the family of quartzes.

Amethyst is generally inexpensive, from $1/carat to $35/carat, and often is found with very few inclusions to mar its beauty. However, as with many colored gemstones, there are much rarer and pricier stones. The rarest amethysts on the planet are from the Ural Mountains, aptly named Siberian amethysts. It takes a great deal of knowledge and experience to identify this stone. It is best qualities, it is a medium-deep purple color with substantial rose fire exploding from the top to the eye. It is much brighter and livelier than even the deep rose-violet amethysts from Zambia or from Guerrero, Mexico. The latter stones commanded prices beginning at $60/carat and ending at $125/carat. The best Siberian stones are $500 to $800/carat and worth every dollar. They are seldom available, because jewelers who study and love the best qualities of colored gemstones cultivate clients for Siberian amethysts, and the demand is unceasing.

A final comment to those of you who love mineral crystals, rather than gemstones as jewelry. Amethyst often grows with six-sided pyramids on each end. Some years ago I positioned 5 of these crystals at different angles to one another, and over lapping, and positioned two lights, one to shine through the sides of the crystals and the other to come through the back. The result was breath-taking art on display in the client’s living room. This is just another way to create beauty with gemstones, and the reds and violets which pour from these stones are impossible to duplicate with any other art form, making any home or office into a royal cottage.

- Tom Tivol

The most common garnet in the earth is almandine (or almandite), the orangey-brown or reddish-orangey brown stone. It was named after the city of Cine, Aydin, south-west Turkey, where it was cut in the days of Theophrastus (315 BC) and Pliny, 400 years later. We believe that almandine is the stone named carbuncle, in the Breast Plate of Aaron, Exodus, Chapter 23. It is always inexpensive, and usually fairly deeply colored.

The most expensive garnet has a long name: demantoid andradite garnet. In its magnificent quality, it is a deep yellow-green with yellow and red fire bounding out of the top of the stone. The great stones have always been from Russia, a century ago, and now re-sold in fine vintage and antique jewelry. Large stones are exceptionally rare. It is not uncommon to price a 4 carats demantoid at $6000 per carat, making it hardly a “semi-precious” garnet.

The next most expensive is also green, but a different green from demantoid, and another long name: tsavorite grossular garnet, or just tsavorite. In its best qualities this garnet’s color is a deep almost pure green, with similar fire to the demantoid but not with the same colors exploding from the top. In larger sizes, tsavorite can be $3000 to $5000 per carat, the great stones all coming from Kenya. When I am teach my students the impossibility of identifying a gemstone by its color, I often place a demantoid, a tsavorite, and an African emerald next to one another, to show their similar colors. Buying, selling and just handling these gemstones for many years allows the seasoned buyer to make a reasonable guess; however, as in all gemstone identification, each stone must be tested for complete accuracy, so it can be represented honorably to the public.

The most beautiful pinkish or purplish red garnet is called rhodolite, more commonly found that demantoid and tsavorite, but not nearly as common as almandine. This is a gorgeous gemstone, to rival any of the purplish red stones anywhere in the world. In sizes above 5 carats, it is expensive, beginning at $500 per carat and ending about $1500 per carat.

There is one orange garnet that is so demanded world-wide that it is sometimes difficult to find a stone for a client. This is the “Malia” garnet, a subdivision of the famous spessartine garnet. This garnet may be absolutely pure orange, and when it is cut to hold and explode its light, it is truly like a piece of the sun. There are no gemstones like it … none, in any variety or species ever recorded. The orange is so vivid and bright, you gasp when you see the stone. Naturally, it is also pricey, beginning at $800 per carat and ending at $3500 per carat.

There are half a dozen other types of garnets, not famous as gemstones. And, here is one that even most jewelers are unfamiliar with. It is extremely rare. Ready? It is a blue garnet, blue like Montana Yogo Gulch sapphire. There are very few records of individual stones. Blue garnet appears as an included crystal in diamond. I have sold such diamonds, and the client has purchased the stone because of this fascinating “flaw.” Since we are discussing garnet, another diamond I have sold is one with a red garnet inside, and inside the red garnet was another diamond. Again, the customer loved the idea of a diamond within a garnet within the heart of a diamond, and purchased the stone because of that bright red color in the center.

Finally, nature produces garnet with visual phenonema. There are cat’s-eye garnets, star garnets and garnets which change color, like an alexandrite, when exposed to incandescent and ultra violet light. And in the garnets which change color, one of the colors it becomes is blue, like the blue garnet inside the diamond.

Clearly, garnet has outlived its century-old designation as a semi-precious gemstone. The beauty of many garnets is so astounding as to place them into the precious stone category, even without considering the lofty prices necessary to pay to own one of the extraordinary colors.

Two “blues” define the official birthstones for December, despite the fact that this is one of the most joyous months of the year. Topaz derives its name from the Sanskrit word “tapas,” meaning fire, and its three lovely blue colors remind one of cool lakes in the summertime … thus “fire from the lakes,” in the lore of gemology. Topaz in its pure form is colorless, and for centuries, was used as a substitute for diamond. Its blue color is caused by heat, either from the earth itself or when enhanced by man. The artificial process creates three distinct colors of blue: sky blue, Swiss blue and London blue. The latter is so dark that it is sometimes used as a substitute for some sapphires from S’ri Lanka.

Blue topaz has a powerful market presence, as it has been extensively used the past 40 years by designers of silver and silver and gold jewelry. Brazil, the United States, Pakistan, China and several countries in Africa have large quantities of this gemstone. So prevalent is blue topaz in the 21rst century, that many jewelers and most members of the public have either never seen or have forgotten about the magnificent natural blue birthstone for March, the aquamarine, which exhibits entirely different hues of blue, and which is substantially more expensive. Blue topaz is very inexpensive, comparatively. It has been faceted into beautiful briolettes for pendant necklaces and dangling earrings as well as all the classic shapes of gems for all types of jewelry.

Turquoise, a much older gemstone, is named after the country which paved the way for its introduction into Europe centuries ago … Turkey. In its pure form, turquoise is a luscious “robin’s egg blue color.” Almost all turquoise of that color is mined in Iran, historically and today. If pieces from this region are not enhanced in any way, they can be quite expensive, even as single pieces, and suites of jewelry with matched natural pure blue turquoise are both comparatively rare and pricey. As most Americans know, our southwestern states also produce substantial quantities of turquoise, much of it veined rather than pure blue. Turquoise colors include greens and blues and browns,  based on the amount of copper and other minerals in the gemstone. Pieces of American turquoise often provide the primary gemstone for very fine fabricated pieces of jewelry and jewelry art, designed and made by American Indians over the decades, and some of these pieces are exceptionally beautiful and quite expensive. Turquoise was an important gemstone in ancient times and has been found extensively in tombs throughout the globe.

It is important when purchasing any gemstone jewelry, and especially with turquoise, to discuss with the seller the presence of treatment to the stone, which helps sustain its structure, hide veining and to present a more desirable blue color. Methods of enhancement include dyeing and treatment with paraffin and other waxes. Such treatments may not be permanent and strongly affect the cost and ultimately the value of the gemstone.

Tom Tivol

What is more interesting, and definitely more exciting are the rarer colors of both citrine and topaz, which make them great gems of the world. Pure vibrant rich orange citrine, when beautifully faceted, glows with liquid light. It is radically different from the common citrine and a bit more expensive, from $55 to $110/carat. Topaz also has its “gem” varieties. The rarest is orangey-red, called “imperial,” a term badly over-used to describe inexpensive topaz with a slight reddish hue on the ends of the stone. True orange and red imperial topaz looks like the most beautiful sunset in Arizona; it looks like liquid fire, and prices begin at $250/carat and rise to $850/carat. The other truly exciting color of topaz is violet, or in some stones, pinkish violet. In topaz, the violet color is not as deep as in rare amethyst; however it is clearly violet, like deep sky blue violet that is highlighted with pink streaks of light. Sets of these stones dangling from diamonds or surrounded by diamonds make fabulous one-of-a kind jewels, with prices commensurate with their size, rarity of color and brilliance and fire.

The most important visual feature of jewelry-quality opal is called its “play of color.” These rainbow colors are the result of light hitting sub-microscopic silicon balls and diffracting back out of the top of the stone. The colors which are produced, and what happens to them as the opal is moved, is believed to be related to the size and arrangement of the silicon balls. Gemologists look at the hues themselves, red, orange and yellow being rarer than blue, green and violet. We look at the number of colors, the intensity of the colors, their brightness or dullness, the shape of the colors, whether the colors appear to be on the surface of the opal or appear to be deeper in the stone. We also look at whether and how the colors “move” as we move our heads, move a light over the opal or move the opal in a lighted room. To be considered a multicolor stone, the opal must have at least 3 strong colors, with one predominate. The shapes of the colors are also important. Opal is placed into shape categories. These categories include pinfire, flashfire, broad flashfire, rolling flashfire and harlequin, among others. There are opals where its play of color appears to paint a picture, and there are certain very rare patterns which do not fit any of the standard patterns.

Opal is also classified by type. There are natural opals, natural opals which are enhanced in a laboratory, synthetic opals (entirely produced in a laboratory), opal doublets and triplets (ultra thin pieces of natural opal backed with cement and a piece of a black gemstone on the bottom, and a colorless gemstone on the top), and imitation opals (like glass manufactured to have similar colors). Type is the single most important feature in the determination of opal value.

Base color: When studying the value of opal, once the type is identified, gemologists identify the base color. Base colors include black, black crystal, semi-black, boulder-black, crystal, semi-crystal, gray, white, light,orange, orange crystal, brown crystal, jelly and blue. To identify an opal as “black opal,” the gemstone must have a very dark base color, and there is always debate on what to call the opals with a medium to dark gray base color, rather than a true black base color. It is important to note here that when we talk about base color, we are NOT referring to a dark rock or matrix material that makes up the bottom of the stone. We are talking about an internal color that permeates all the play of color, and deepens and enriches it throughout the stone.

Most opal seen in the jewelry business in the 21rst century continues to arrive from various parts of Australia. Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Idaho, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, California and Utah each produce a bit of opal, and there are opal mines in a few countries in Central and South America, among other geographies. Japanese men and women adore opal, and often prefer it to diamond as the engagement ring gemstone.

Over years of wear on the hand, opal does have a tendency to scratch. When this happens, the top of the stone and its play of color dulls. These scratches are usually easily removed by an experienced opal lapidary, and the opal can almost always be easily reset into the same ring.

Most opal in most jewelry stores has a white or light gray base color, with some bits of bright hues poking through the general cloudiness of the stone. These are common opals. They can be lovely and are always very inexpensive. On the other end of the spectrum are the Lightning Ridge Australia black opals, with super intense play of color, especially those with 5 or 6 colors eye visible, with an emphasis on red. When those colors “flash” across the surface, you are holding a gemstone worth tens of thousands of dollars/carat. Such authentic black opals appear infrequently in the world market, although there are a substantial number of less expensive black opals usually available for selection. Looking at the play of color in any opal where the brightness and depth of color are extraordinary is like taking the jewel colors of paint and placing them on a stainless steel surface with bright luster and high reflection. Nothing else in the gem kingdom approaches this level of beauty … Nothing.

- Tom Tivol

To be able to synthesize diamond, the same heat and pressure that we theorize exists in the earth must be created in a laboratory, with machines built to produce that environment. This was first accomplished by the General Electric Company in the early 1950′s. Since then, the race has been on to develop synthetic diamonds that might be used as gemstones for jewelry.

The first synthetic diamonds for jewelry appeared in the last 10 years. These were primarily rich fancy yellow colors. During this same period, tiny colorless synthetic diamonds were also manufactured. By 2009, larger colorless synthetic diamonds became available, generally under one carat in weight. The race is now on to produce synthetic colorless diamonds from 1 carat and up, to see if the public will purchase them for engagement rings and other purposes, instead of the natural stone.

A synthetic diamond has the same optics, chemistry and structure as a natural diamond … it is essentially the same thing. There are features of these stones however that permit gemologists to safely and accurately identify them. The 2 or 3 companies now manufacturing them in larger sizes are having each polished stone sent to a laboratory for an identification report, which will be given with the stone upon its sale.

So far, synthetic colorless diamonds are fairly expensive, approximately 25% to 35% less expensive than their natural counterparts. It is far too early to know whether a laboratory created diamond at this price will be preferred over a natural stone. The laboratory created diamonds will be very colorless and probably close to flawless. Those features may excite certain buyers, even though once the process is perfected, there will be no limit to the number of stones that can be manufactured. The question whether a synthetic can be returned, traded in, upgraded … all those issues that are part of the marketplace for natural diamonds and other gemstones will need to be worked out over time. Clearly, they will never be good investments.

Historically, throughout the 20th century, the introduction of synthetic colored gemstones had no lasting affect on the desire of the world’s public to purchase, wear and own beautiful natural colored gemstones. Of course, laboratory-created colored gemstones cost a tiny fraction of the price of their natural counterparts, while a synthetic diamond is going to be expensive, at least for the time being.

- Tom Tivol

Blue sapphire grows in an amazing assortment of colors. In fact, as the most popular variety of the mineral corundum, sapphires grows in all colors of the rainbow, with the exception of red, which of course is ruby, the birthstone for July. Even when we limit our discussion to blue sapphire, natures provides us with an astonishing set of hues, from very pale grayish blue to extremely dark bluish black, all part of the blue sapphire group. Somewhere in between, lies the deep pure blues from Myanmar, S’ri-Lanka, and the rarest very slightly violet blues from Kashmir. A moderately good example of these colors can be seen by rubbing a blue magic marker across a highly polished stainless steel surface. The hue that is produced along with the brightness caused by light reflection off the stainless steel approaches rare blue sapphire. If you can retain this color in your mind’s eye, you will have captured it forever.

Sapphires grow in many parts of the globe including multiple countries in Africa, S’ri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Australia, Kashmir, China, Brazil, as well as the Yogo Gulch area of Montana. Like all colored gemstones, most hues are relatively inexpensive with only certain colors being comparatively rare and very very few colors of blue being authentically rare. Authentically rare gemstones would be very difficult to find even when attempted by an expert in that stone. A 5 carat very light blue sapphire from S’ri Lanka may cost $50/carat … a very dark blackish blue or bluish black sapphire from Australia, Cambodia or Thailand may cost $10/carat, while a comparatively rare 5 carats deep pure blue from S’ri Lanka may cost $8,000/carat or more. The top grade of blue from Myanmar in this size about $20,000 per carat, and from Kashmir, about $50,000 per carat.

The geographic origin of sapphire does not affect its value. The exceptions are the top grades of blue sapphire from Myanmar and or Kashmir — but only the rarest stones from those locations.

As the hue becomes pure blue, losing is gray, green and black tones, the cost increases. When the additional modifying colors are added, the cost drops. Like all colored gemstones, the way the stone is cut, meaning its angles and proportions, can create or detract from beauty. Even a gorgeous and comparatively rare blue is not particularly pretty unless it is faceted to explode lots of light to the eye. The same can be said of the many interesting inclusions that grown inside sapphires. When they are too numerous and heavy, the stone becomes lifeless and of minimal value.

Learning how sapphires are artificially treated (enhanced) both before they are cut and sometimes after is extremely important to the purchase decision. Most sapphires are enhanced by heat after they are faceted, as part of their preparation to be sold. Heating a sapphire finishes nature’s task, had the crystal been left in the earth for a few million more years. Heating the stone sometimes rids it of its modifying colors as well as destroys many or most of certain types of inclusions. Heat-treating gemstones is considered almost a normal part of preparing them for sale. However, there is a price difference between natural gemstones and natural gemstones which have been heated. Today’s best jewelers use laboratory reports to identify both heat treated sapphires and those which have no treatment at all. All enhancements to colored gemstones, diamonds and pearls must be disclosed to the consumer at the time of sale, so the buyer may make an informed decision about owning such a gemstone.

There are additional ways of treating sapphires which are far more invasive, and which significantly affect the cost. These methods include injecting material into the stone, to cause light to divert around flaws, thus making them more invisible. There are also diffused sapphires. These are relatively colorless sapphires that have been given almost all their blue color in the laboratory. The entire sapphire appears blue, even though the actual color is centered in a small area at the top of the stone. When this sapphire is scratched during normal wear, and a lapidary polishes that area, the sapphire can suddenly return to its colorless state. This can happen also when the sapphire is cleaned. In-filled and diffused sapphires are both extremely inexpensive … a few dollars a carat or a tiny bit more. Examining these very commonly-available blue sapphires, gemologists debate whether such invasive treatment makes the sapphire similar to synthetic sapphires, which are grown entirely in laboratories.

Typical substitutes for beautiful natural blue sapphires would be those which are severely enhanced, those which are grown in a laboratory, and the faceted glass imitations which have been available for centuries. All of these are commonly available throughout the jewelry industry, in the United States, and world-wide.

As noted above, sapphire is not just blue. It grows in other majestic colors, most all of which are the result of different chemical elements which enter the stone during its growth phases. Of particular interest to the best jewelers are the rare pure pinks and purplish pinks, the large deep golden yellow sapphires, the incredibly intense pure orange sapphires and the comparatively rare sapphires called padparadscha, which are salmon-orange. Each of these color groups includes totally natural sapphires as well as enhanced sapphires using a variety of methods. “Gem” quality pink sapphires of 10 carats can easily reach $15,000 per carat. Colorless sapphires, called white sapphires over the centuries, have been used as diamond substitutes. I find these somewhat frequently in estate and antique jewelry, often identified as diamonds by misinformed jewelers of years ago. Intense golden sapphires are fabulous gemstones, as long as their color is not the result of nuclear irradiation, which causes the color to fade when exposed to sunlight, over time.

While sapphire is one of the hardest colored gemstones, it is substantially softer and less durable than diamond. If worn frequently, it will scratch and chip, making it a more difficult choice for an engagement ring. Regarding its care, natural sapphire or heat treated natural sapphire with normal inclusions may be cleaned with hot water and soap. Natural sapphires with heavier inclusions, which may open onto the surface should be given to a jeweler to be cleaned. Natural sapphires which are enhanced using one of the other methods must be given to a jeweler to clean. No sapphires should be cleaned in an ultra-sonic, ever.

- Tom Tivol
President, Tom Tivol Jewels