Gemmological Characteristic of A Certain Type of Beryllium-Diffused Ruby

Beryllium diffusion treatment has been used for corundum colour modification for nearly twenty years. In recent years, studies of yellow, orange and blue beryllium-diffused sapphires have widely been seen while the beryllium-diffused ruby has not been paid enough attention even though it has also appeared in the market. The characteristics of beryllium-diffused ruby are essential for lab testing. A type of beryllium-diffused ruby was tested using microscope, FTIR, GEM-3000 jewelry detector, LA-ICP-MS and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry to study its gemmological characteristics, spectral characteristics and chemical compositions. The results showed an orange-red hue that is different from natural ruby, which more attention should be paid. Magnification observation revealed that the irregular shape crystal inclusions were accompanied by blue haloes, which indicated that it had experienced high temperature environment. LA-ICP-MS analysis readily identified the presence of beryllium, over 4.4 ppmw, in both two samples, which indicates that LA-ICP-MS is an effective way to test this sort of beryllium-diffused ruby.