Treatment Guide

This resource lists and explains each treatment or enhancement used on gemstones, pearls and other jewelry-making materials sold by Fire Mountain Gems and Beads®.

We use the following symbols to designate natural, enhanced, synthetic and imitation (manmade) gemstones and other materials. All of the symbols used are those described by the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA), of which we are charter members. These codes are also used to indicate changes or enhancements to bone, wood, shell, leather, seeds and more. They are abbreviated in our catalogs to save space, and written out on the website for clarity and ease of understanding.

It is the practice of Fire Mountain Gems to disclose all treatments (also known as enhancements), to the materials we sell (with the exception of normal cutting and polishing). We also disclose the method of treatment, if known. This disclosure will appear both in the material's advertising and on the invoice. For the benefit of your customer and your company, we strongly suggest that you follow these guidelines when you sell gemstones, jewelry-making materials and jewelry made from them.

(ASBL) - Assembled: Products made of multiple layers or combinations of manufactured and/or natural materials joined together. Example: opal triplets, multi-shell pendants.

(B) - Bleaching: The use of chemical agents to lighten or remove a material's color. Often applied to pearls, bone and mother-of-pearl shell.

(C) - Coating: Surface treatments to improve appearance, provide color or other special effects. Sometimes used to stabilize softer gemstones and materials and improve their durability. Example: mystic topaz (effect), selenite (stability).

(D) - Dyeing: The introduction of coloring matter into a gemstone or other material to give it new color, intensify present color or improve color uniformity.

(E) - Enhanced: This indicates that this type of gemstone or material is routinely enhanced. Since many treatments are difficult or impractical to prove definitively, the approach taken in our printed materials and invoices is to assume, unless otherwise indicated, that such treatment has been done to the particular gemstone or other material being described. If the particular type of treatment is known, that treatment symbol will be stated, rather than the "E" symbol.

(F) - Filling: As a by-product of heat treatment, this is the presence of solidified borax or similar colorless substances which are visible under properly illuminated 10x magnification.

(G) - Gamma/Electron Irradiation: The use of gamma and/or electron bombardment to alter a gemstone's color, which may be followed by a heating process.

(H) - Heating: The use of heat to effect desired alteration of color, clarity and/or phenomena. Example: carnelian.

(I) - Infilling: The intentional filling of surface-breaking cavities or fractures usually with glass, plastic or Opticon® with hardeners and/or hardened foreign substances to improve durability, appearance and/or add weight.

(IMIT) - Imitation: Manmade products, fabricated in such materials as glass, ceramic or plastic designed to imitate or resemble the appearance, but not duplicate the characteristic properties, of a natural gemstone or other material.

(L) - Lasering: The use of lasers and chemicals to reach and alter inclusions in diamonds.

(MM) - Manmade: Fabricated products.

(N) - Natural: Stones and materials which are not currently known to be enhanced.

(O) - Oiling/Resin Infusion: The intentional filling of surface-breaking cavities with a colorless oil, wax, natural resin or unhardened manmade material into fissured transparent/translucent gemstones to improve appearance. Example: emeralds.

(R)- Irradiation: The use of neutrons, requiring an environmental safety release from the NRC, with the combination of any other bombardment and/or heat treatment to alter a gem's color.

(S) - Stabilization (Bonding): The use of a colorless bonding agent (commonly plastic) with a porous gemstone or other soft material to give it durability and improve appearance.

(SYN) - Synthetic: These are manmade materials which have essentially the same optical, physical and chemical properties as a naturally occurring counterpart.

(U) - Diffusion: The use of chemicals in conjunction with high temperatures to produce color and/or asterism (star-like) inclusions.

(W) - Waxing/Oiling: The impregnation of colorless wax, paraffin and/or oil in porous opaque gemstones and other materials to improve their appearance. Example: wood beads are often waxed for smoothness.

Additional Notes: If you resell gems or other jewelry-making materials obtained from us, or any gems and materials for that matter, it is your responsibility to provide all information pertinent to the treatment of a gemstone at the time of sale. If a stone or other material is manmade, it is the seller's responsibility to disclose that fact. This information is required by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Failure to identify treatment of natural gemstones and materials when present, is an unfair trade practice. Such information is required at each and all levels of jewelry commerce. Failure to inform buyers could subject violators to civil as well as administrative remedies. Anyone who is uncertain about these requirements may write the American Gem Trade Association, 3030 LBJ Freeway, Suite # 840, Dallas, TX 75234.