Gemstone Enhancements

Gemstone	Code	Enhancement Method	Use	Stability	Care	Notes
Alexandrite	N	None	N/A	N/A	Normal
Amethyst	H	Heated to Lighten Color	Occasional	Excellent	Special	Some unheated stones may fade in color
Aquamarine	H	Heated to remove yellow	Usually	Excellent	Normal
Beryl-Red	H or O	Colorless Oil to fill fissures	Common	Very Good	Special	Avoid High Temperature
Beryl-Pink	H	Heated to remove yellow	Common	Excellent	Normal
Chrysoberyl	N	None	N/A	Excellent	Normal
Chrysoberyl-Cats Eye	R	Irradiated to Change Color	Occasional	Excellent	Normal
Diamond-Colorless	LC	Laser drilled to improve appearance	Common/Occasional	Very Good	Normal
Diamond-Colored	LC,F, or R	Laser drilled to improve appearance  Irradiated for fancy color	Very Good   Occasional	Very Good    Fair/Poor	Normal   Special	Steaming/Ultrasonic may affect color/appearance
Emerald	H or O	Oil, Wax or Resin to improve appearance	Common	Fair/Very Good	Special	Avoid Chemicals/Ultrasonic
Garnet	N	None	N/A	N/A	Normal
Kunzite	H	Heated to improve color	Common	Fair	Special	Avoid strong light/ultrasonic
Opal-White,Black	N	None	N/A	N/A	Special	Avoid Heat/Ultrasonic/Chemicals
Opal-White,Black	O	Impregnated with Oil	Rarely	Fair	Special	Avoid Heat/Ultrasonic/Chemicals
Opal-Boulder	N	None	N/A	N/A	Normal
Opal-Boulder	O	Infusion of colorless substances	Occasional	Fair	Special	Avoid Heat/Ultrasonic/Chemicals
Opal-Fire	N	None	N/A	N/A	Special	Avoid Heat
Pearl-Natural	B	Bleached to improve color	Common	Very Good	Special	Avoid Chemicals
Pearl-Natural	D	Dyed to produce grey/black	Rarely	Good/Very Good	Special	Avoid Chemicals/Ultrasonic
Peridot	N	None	N/A	N/A	Normal
Peridot	H or O	Improve appearance	Rarely	Good/Fair	Special	Avoid Heat/Ultrasonic/Chemicals
Ruby	N	None	N/A	N/A	Normal
Ruby	H	Improve color/appearance	Usually	Excellent	Normal
Ruby	D or F	Improve color/appearance	Common	Good/Poor	Special	Avoid Heat/Ultrasonic/Chemicals
Ruby	DI	Artificial color	Occasional	Good	Special	Avoid repolishing
Sapphire	N	None	N/A	N/A	Normal
Sapphire	H	Improve color/appearance	Usually	Excellent	Normal
Sapphire	DI	Artificial color	Common	Good	Special	Avoid repolishing
Sapphire	R	Intense yellow or orange color	Occasional	Very Poor	Special	Fades quickly in light/heat
Spinel	N	None	N/A	N/A	Normal
Tanzanite	H	Heated to produce blue/violet color	Usually	Excellent	Special	Avoid temperature changes
Topaz-Blue	R/H	Heated/Irradiated for color	Usually	Excellent	Normal
Topaz-Yellow/Orange	R	Intensify color	Occasional	Fair	Special	Avoid heat/strong light
Topaz-Pink	H	Heated for color	Usually	Excellent	Normal
Topaz-Green	R	Irradiated to produce color	Usually	Good	Special	Avoid repolishing
Tourmaline	N	None	N/A	N/A	Normal
Tourmaline	H	Heated for color	Common	Excellent	Normal
Tourmaline	R	Irradiated to intensify color	Common	Good	Normal
Zircon	N	None	N/A	N/A	Special	Avoid abrasives
Zircon	H	Heated for color	Rarely	Good	Special	Avoid abrasives/strong light

B Bleaching-Artificial Color                                        DI Diffusion-Chemicals and High Temperature-Artificial Color

D Dyeing-Artificial Color                                           WO Waxing Oiling-Colorless Wax or Oil Introduced for Clarity

F Filling-Durability/Appearance                                  LC Laser/Chemicals-Laser Chemicals to alter inclusions

H Heating-Color/Clarity                                            PI Plastic Introduction-Durability/Appearance

R Irradiation-Color Enhancement                               WO Waxing Oiling-Appearance      

O Oiling/Resin Infusion-Appearance                           HP Heating/Pressure-Color/Clarity 

N None 

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