Introduction
Our beautiful gemstones add extra value to our jewelry. Sometimes gems or jewelry made from them get damaged by fire or exposed to high temperatures. It can eventually ruin your mood and days. In this blog, you will learn whether firing damages a gem or not.
Our beloved gems are used around the world for ritual, worship and healing purposes. Human values and beliefs have long been associated with this. We are all surrounded by their powers.
All gemstones deteriorate at different temperatures. A sudden change in the temperature of your gemstone jewelry is also not so good for them. It can break your favorite stone. For example, your pearl jewelry may break and lose its color if its moisture dries up.
After the gems are mined, they are treated with certain chemicals to enhance their luster and luster which can also easily attract fire. Most of all gemstones doesn’t have the same tolerance of heat like metals.
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Why Do Gemstones Are Heated?
Using fire on some gemstones may increase their shine of colors and beauty. But not all gems love the fire. In some stones it actually helps them to lighten and darken some colors present in them. The process of heating is done after the process of cutting and before polishing.
The market value of unheated gemstones are much higher than the well heated and polished ones. Nowadays, most of the jewelry makers use this practice
Now a simple question arises how will somebody know that their gemstones are treated with fire. If you want to know then you need to see the little stress fractures inside your gemstones, if you see these fractures then it is proved that it is treated with heat.
There is also another way of finding that your gemstones is treated with heat or not is that if you see small halo formations in it then it will be proved that your gemstone is treated with fire.
What Gemstones Are Heat Resistant?
There are some gemstones that have good resistance to heat are lab grown gemstones, Ruby, garnets, diamonds, and sapphires. Here are the some stones mentioned below with their melting points:
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Diamond
It has the highest melting point which is 7280 Degrees Fahrenheit among all the gemstones in the gemstones universe. After melting your diamond will convert into liquid carbon. This high exposure to fire will change it’s whole structure. While heating you will see the diamond to begin to cloud up slowly slowly.
Lab-Grown Gemstones
Lab-grown gemstones melts at the 2,000 degree temperature. this melting point can go little up and down depends on the type of gemstone. This type of gemstones are hard from inside. Natural stones are not free from flaws but most of the lab grown gems are free from natural flaws.
Ruby
Ruby also have a high melting point which is 3,400 degree temperature and quite high. They can handle heat very well to a good extent.
Sapphire
This beautiful stones also shows a good resistance to fire. It can easily resist 3,000 degree temperature and it’s melting point is near about 3711 degrees.
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Would Fire Damage A Gemstone?
There are many gems that get damaged by fire. Different fires can damage gems in different ways. Each fire has a different effect on the gems. Some stones are also damaged by solar light. But don’t worry not all gemstones are sensitive to fire.
Exposure to heat causes some gemstones to discolor and too much heat can seriously damage your stone. Gemstones that are more prone to fire are pearls, amber, ivory, opal, emerald, coral, topaz, jade, amethysts, and tourmaline.
White colored gems are more prone to fire and their damage can be easily seen. On the other hand, black colored gemstones have less risk than white stones as their damage is not much visible. Strong fire can change the color of gems and also make them transparent.
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Pearls and ivory can turn white, amber gems can turn darker and opals can turn white and black when exposed to the sun for a long time. Here is the table that will quickly give you the damage requirements for a specific gem.
| Gemstone | Temperature Required To Damage | Time For Torch |
|---|---|---|
| Peridot | 800°C | 3 minutes |
| Sapphire | 899°C | 2.5 minutes |
| Ruby | 900°C | 5 minutes |
| Labradorite | 650°C | 4 minutes |
| Hematite | 900°C | 3 minutes |
| Moonstone | 600°C or 650°C | 2 minutes |
Conclusion
Now you know that the gems will be damaged by fire and in how many minutes at what degree temperature. Hope this guide helped you find the answer you were looking for. See gemstones can melt, so it is essential to take care of them. Fire is not bad to our favorite gemstones because it enhances their beauty.
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My advice would be to you that you should keep your gemstones away from high temperature and exposure to it. Our every beloved deserves our precious care.