Glossary
Lead-glass filling
Heavily fractured rubies may have their fissures filled with lead-bearing glass. The stone then looks clearer but becomes more delicate – for example to heat or acids at the jeweller’s bench. Laboratories always disclose this treatment explicitly. Such stones form a separate, much lower-priced market segment and are not comparable with untreated or merely heated rubies.
Read more
- KnowledgeHow to read a gemstone dossierA dossier brings together everything that describes a stone – from the laboratory report to custody. Here is how to read it in the right order.Read more
- Laboratory reportsUnderstanding a laboratory reportA laboratory report is a gemstone's most important document. Which information it contains, how to read it and what it does not say.Read more
- GlossaryAbsorption spectrumWhen light passes through a gemstone, the stone absorbs certain wavelengths – the rest make up its colour.Read more
- GlossaryAfghanistanAfghanistan is an old source of ruby and emerald; both are mined in the mountains of the Hindu Kush.Read more
Updated 2026-10-06
