# How Do I Have a Gemstone Tested? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-have-a-gemstone-tested/485717 "2009-02-13T18:25:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-have-a-gemstone-tested/485717/1 "2009-02-13T18:25:57Z")
To see if it is geniune? I recently bough a cut blue sapphire on EBAY, from a dealer who has an excellent reputation. I paid a very low price, and the stone is beautiful-clear and a perfect light blue color. The cutting is flawless-no incorrect cuts or chip-outs. So, is the stone real? can I take it to a jeweler for testing? suppose it turns out to be a synthetic-was i ripped off? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-have-a-gemstone-tested/485717/2 "2009-02-13T18:58:56Z")
Yes, you can have it tested. Can’t see where you are, but find a jewelry store that has somebody on staff with a certification from the Gemological Institute of America (are you in America? if not, there likely is an analogous association wherever). Synthetic sapphires are not terrible things, but if you were misrepresented, you should get your money back. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-have-a-gemstone-tested/485717/3 "2009-02-13T19:21:16Z")
If it has _no inclusions_ it is almost definitely man made - any jeweler could tell you with a loupe. To be clear if it is synthesized, it isn’t any less of a sapphire. Chemically/physicially, it’s completely a sapphire. It’s just not mined. Different from, say a CZ or Moissanite, which is NOT a diamond chemically (hence they are known as “diamond simulants”). ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-have-a-gemstone-tested/485717/4 "2009-02-13T20:08:36Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > …a perfect light blue color. Shouldn’t a sapphire be dark blue? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-have-a-gemstone-tested/485717/5 "2009-02-13T22:16:25Z")
> [@](#): > > So, is the stone real? can I take it to a jeweler for testing? > suppose it turns out to be a synthetic-was i ripped off? A synthetic sapphire is real. Whether it’s less valuable is something for you to decide. > [@](#): > > Shouldn’t a sapphire be dark blue? Sapphire can be any color at all other than red, and the only reason it can’t be red is that if it is, we call it ruby instead. Pure sapphire is colorless; the colors all come from various impurities. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-have-a-gemstone-tested/485717/6 "2009-02-13T22:49:14Z")
Take a look at [this bracelet](http://www.sundancecatalog.com/mgen/catalog/test.ms?args=%2236518%7CPROCESSION+OF+SAPPHIRES+BRACELET%7C.jpg%22&is=336,336,0xffffff) to see various shades of sapphires. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-have-a-gemstone-tested/485717/7 "2009-02-13T22:52:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Sapphire can be any color at all other than red, and the only reason it can’t be red is that if it is, we call it ruby instead. Pure sapphire is colorless; the colors all come from various impurities. One of my college teachers collected rocks. He had a quite-large star sapphire, part white, part light blue. It was just gorgeous. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-have-a-gemstone-tested/485717/8 "2009-02-14T00:23:43Z")
> [@AudreyK](#): > > Take a look at [this bracelet](http://www.sundancecatalog.com/mgen/catalog/test.ms?args=%2236518%7CPROCESSION+OF+SAPPHIRES+BRACELET%7C.jpg%22&is=336,336,0xffffff) to see various shades of sapphires. Another clue that your stone is man made is if it is a _bright_ blue (like this [cultured sapphire](http://www.moissaniteco.com/bmz_cache/0/081c85dc77322e9cb518045e4e3e61a9.image.300x300.jpg), for example. As is apparent from **AudreyK** ’s link, mined sapphires are normally in the steel blue -\> navy blue range. Really bright blue stones are rare and valuable. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-have-a-gemstone-tested/485717/9 "2009-02-14T00:32:38Z")
Sorry, I missed the edit window. A natural sapphire of comparable color is $800 for 0.64 carat, as seen here: > **[Blue Sapphires | The Natural Sapphire Company](https://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/blue-sapphires/)** > > We offer a large variety of the beautiful blue sapphire. Between different hues and tones, you'll be sure to find the perfect blue sapphire here. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-have-a-gemstone-tested/485717/10 "2009-02-14T03:01:41Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Different from, say a CZ or Moissanite, which is NOT a diamond chemically (hence they are known as “diamond simulants”). Moissanite is a rare mineral form of silicon carbide. It exists naturally (it’s more rare than diamonds) as well as synthetically created. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-have-a-gemstone-tested/485717/11 "2009-02-14T04:39:41Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Moissanite is a rare mineral form of silicon carbide. It exists naturally (it’s more rare than diamonds) as well as synthetically created. True but all jewelry-sized stones are manmade. Natural crystals are minute. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-have-a-gemstone-tested/485717/12 "2009-02-14T06:57:27Z")
And most moissanite jewelry isn’t billed as real moissanite, but as fake diamond. Of course, there’s also such a thing as genuine synthetic diamond, and depending on the circumstances of their manufacture, they can be more valuable than the natural ones. For instance, there are companies that will extract the carbon from a person’s cremated remains and process it into a diamond, which would surely have great sentimental value for anyone who would have one made. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-have-a-gemstone-tested/485717/13 "2009-02-14T15:42:49Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > If it has _no inclusions_ it is almost definitely man made - any jeweler could tell you with a loupe. A small note caution: If an average kind of person wanders in to an average kind of jewelry store and presents a flawless sapphire, the jeweler is likely to pronounce the stone synthetic simply on the assumption that such a person would not be likely to have such a perfect natural stone. If an obviously wealthy person goes in to a very high-end jewelry store and presents the same flawless sapphire the jeweler would want to have an appraisal done by a gemologist.