Fake Gemstone Rings on Ebay: Quench-Cracked Flame Fusion Synthetics?

In 2013, I wrote THIS post about fake gemstones being sold as "natural" gemstones on Ebay.  I wrote it as a "buyer beware" in an effort to help unsuspecting buyers from being "suckers", even though these huge-carat gemstone items are $25-$50 or so. 

17.6-Carat (!)  "Ruby" For $49

Someone sent me an email regarding a $25 "Ruby" ring they purchased from Ebay (Bulran) and claimed they had it "tested" and it was a real ruby, and because the "labor is cheap" in Thailand for stone cutting, they're able to offer inexpensive rubies.  Wow!  Imagine finding a genuine mined ruby, 6 carats or more, that is natural and unheated (or perhaps even heated) and having it set into a ring, for $25!!  What a deal!!  And then this person threatened me because I *dared* to say that a 6-CARAT ruby for $25 was not a genuine ruby gemstone!!




Hahaha!  OK, I'll stop with the sarcasm.  I can't believe I need to say this but here goes:

16.22 Carat "Ruby" - $9.99!

There is NO SUCH THING as a genuine, natural ruby that is 6 carats or so, set into a sterling silver setting, with a halo of stones surrounding it,  for $25.   Could you ever possibly even FIND a 17.6 carat genuine Ruby like pictured above??   To the right is another ring---16.22 carats ("natural from Madagascar"!) for only $9.99!!  First of all,  large gem quality rubies can be more valuable than comparably sized diamonds and are certainly rarer!  For a 6-ct. round-cut VVS2 diamond, the price is: 6 x $106,444 per carat = $638,664 (approximately).  A 6-carat ruby would cost a FORTUNE and would certainly be set in platinum or solid gold, not sterling silver!  What would a 17-ct Ruby be worth??  A million dollars, or more?

If you search all these "ruby" rings on Ebay, it's surprising how similar these all look---EXACT same color, same cloudy or feathered webby "inclusions", same huge size...

There are lots of created rubies (synthetic) grown in various ways, and although those would test as a genuine corundum (ruby), any gemologist would instantly know it isn't natural.  ANYONE would know a ruby that size wouldn't be natural!!  Especially when a ruby is SO large and so red and so clear!!  And from Ebay!?!   It is 100% unethical and unlawful to sell a gemstone and NOT disclose treatments (such as heating, irradiation, oiling, glass filling, etc.) and NOT disclose that a gem is synthetic or just a simulant!!

Quench-Cracked Flame Fusion Synthetic

Because synthetic (man-made) gems are generally thought to be too perfect or too flawless,  and therefore obviously man-made, there is a way to introduce flaws into the synthetic gems to give them "fingerprints" or other naturally-occurring flaws.  Flame fusion synthetic rubies can be heated and then suddenly plunged into cold fluid so they crack internally, producing what looks like natural fingerprints or feather inclusions which are found in natural rubies.  To the right is a picture that clearly shows these web-like inclusions introduced to this synthetic stone via heating and then quenching.  This looks almost EXACTLY like the very inexpensive "rubies" sold on Ebay.  Could they be flame fusion synthetics that have been quench cracked?  Could they be dyed quartz?  They could certainly be---but for sure, they aren't natural rubies.

Lab-Created Ruby at riogrande.com

A created ruby is beautiful and perfect, and great to wear, but they are not worth anywhere near the price of a genuine mined ruby.  A 5mm created ruby (.65-carats), on riogrande.com, is $360, for example.  That's a good deal, but not exactly cheap.  And as you can see (left), the color is of course perfect (pinkish red) and is flawless.  A GENUINE ruby that has been mined from the earth costs about $2,000 a CARAT for a 5mm stone--and UP.  Here is a natural, untreated ruby that is .90-carats and it sells for $12,000. 
If  you scroll down that page, you'll see a 7-carat ruby for $50,000 a carat--$350,000 for a natural ruby. 

Those are examples of genuine rubies and how much they are sold for.  A lab-created .65-ct. ruby alone (unset) is $360 and that's a wholesale price for jewelers.   What do you think you're really getting from Ebay for $25?

If the ring is pretty and you love it, then buy it.  Jewelry is FUN and fabulous, to be worn and admired and enjoyed.  But know that you are not getting a huge genuine Ruby (or Sapphire, or Emerald, or Aquamarine, etc. etc.) for $25. Or $50.  Is it really quartz, or glass, or some other gem simulant---I don't know for sure.  But I DO know that it's not a genuine precious HUGE real natural  ruby for that price!