Glass-filled ruby scam in Madison, Wisconsin
In January a woman came to Studio Jewelers with a 6.43 carat ruby that her husband had given her for an important anniversary. She wanted it appraised and set in a custom ring. The ruby was an attractive red color but quite cloudy in appearance due to numerous small inclusions. The customer stated her husband had purchased the ruby from a man he met socially, and had been told it was a natural ruby. He had paid $1,500 cash for it and was told he should insure it “for at least $7,500”. She didn’t identify the seller except to say he traveled a lot, claimed to be in the jewelry business and dabbled in selling gemstones.
Because the range of possible value in a large ruby is so great (depending on whether it’s synthetic, natural, heat treated, color enhanced by beryllium diffusion, or fracture-filled) Hanna sent the stone to the Gemological Institute for certification of origin and treatments. The GIA found the ruby to be extensively glass filled, which put its retail value at well under $300.
This scammer was able to take advantage of this couple’s ignorance of the natural ruby market as well as a common misapprehension about exorbitant margins in the jewelry business, implying that a markup of 500% or more would be normal. The undocumented cash purchase leaves the consumer little recourse.
For more information on this topic, please read the article on glass-filled rubies on “The Gemologist’s Page”.