Gemstone treatments: heating, filling, dyeing, and more
The treatments the FTC lists, and when a seller should disclose them.
Disclosure: We may earn a commission if you buy through links on this page. It does not change our guidance. Affiliate Disclosure
Ask first
Some diamonds and gemstones are treated. Ask the seller and read the description and report.
Color treatments
The FTC lists heating, which can lighten, darken, or change the color of some gems; irradiation, which can add color to some gemstones and pearls; diffusion, which adds color to the surface of colorless gems while the center stays colorless; dyeing; and bleaching, which lightens and whitens some gems, including jade and pearls.
Clarity treatments
The FTC lists impregnating some gems with colorless oils, wax, or resins, and fracture filling with colorless plastic or glass to hide cracks or fractures.
When to disclose
Section 23.24 says a seller should disclose a treatment that is not permanent or that creates special care requirements, and it recommends that the seller disclose the care requirements. Section 23.24(c) adds a third case; read it at the link below.
Lead glass and other fillers
Section 23.25(d) says products made with gemstone material and any amount of filler or binder, such as lead glass, should not be called by the plain stone name, or a "treated", laboratory-created, "composite", "hybrid", or "manufactured" stone name, unless the listing discloses that the product does not have the same characteristics as the named stone and requires special care.
Fading color
The FTC says that if a treated stone's color will fade over time, the seller should say the stone was treated, that the treatment is temporary, and that the color will fade.
FAQ
General information only. We are not a jeweler, appraiser, or gemological lab, and we do not grade, appraise, or verify any stone or metal. Before you buy, read the seller's full description, including whether a diamond is mined or laboratory-grown, any treatment, the metal's karat or fineness, and the weight, and check any grading report with the lab that issued it.
Next: diamond treatments
When a treatment should be disclosed.
