By Erika Winters
It's a never-ending saga when it comes to gemstone treatments, and GIA's latest discovery presents us with a new first, a lead glass-filled, flame-fushion synthetic ruby. Lead glass-filled "natural" ruby is common in the marketplace, but as gem treaters attempt to dupe consumers, they have sunk to what GIA describes as a "new low."
In the September 2012 Gems & Gemology eBrief, GIA reports that an 11.52-carat purplish-red stone was examined at the Carlsbad laboratory. The stone tested to be a flame-fusion synthetic ruby with lead glass filling.
