UNTREATED.
IMPREGNATION-TREATED.
IRRADIATION-TREATED

Jadeite cabochons are cut from the beautiful green portions of boulders.
Polymer-impregnation treatment, which began in Hong Kong in the early 1980s, is used to bring out a green color in the other, less beautiful portions. These are sold as “B-jade.” Available quantities of “B-jade” are much greater than those of untreated “A-jade,” and their value is less than one-tenth. A polymer-impregnated jadeite carving measuring 30 X 18 millimeters purchased recently in Beijing listed a retail price of 100 yuan (about US $12). If this were “A-jade” (untreated), the price would have been fifty times that. The price of impregnated jadeite will most likely continue to decline as the supply of treated material increases.

Diamonds with surface-reaching fractures can be filled with leaded glass to make the flaws less noticeable. It is also possible to use laser treatment to explode black inclusions in diamonds, again to make them less visible. Especially, there is no need for such treatments in high-quality gemstones, but in low-quality material and stones with defects, even diamonds are being subjected to these types of treatments. These gems may be sold as long as proper disclosure is made, but it is doubtful that accurate information about treatments will be passed on with the jewelry after decades of use.

Among colored diamonds there are many irradiation-treated stones, and caution is advised. Their value is just a fraction of that of natural diamonds with the same beauty. Additionally, practically all of the blue topaz on the market is irradiation treated. It is doubtful that anyone would want to give jewelry to their parents, siblings, children, or other loved ones, knowing the gemstones are irradiation-treated. Jewelry is a matter of pleasure and taste. There is no need to wear gemstones that have been artificially treated by irradiation.