Gemstone Enhancement, Second Edition

Gemstone Enhancement, Second Edition by NASSAU, KURT. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780750617970.

This is the second edition of Nassaus important work on the methods of modifying and enhancing gemstones and of treatments available to enhance the colour and appearance of gemstones. This includes various types of irradiation and heat treatment, colourless impregnations, bleaching, dyeing, diffusion and other processes. Some of these processes date back at least two thousand years; others are of quite recent origin. The book covers such advances as glass and plastic filling of diamonds and other gemstones, the large expansion in the use of both heat and irradiation treatments and the efforts to keep up identification procedures with the advances in treatments. Gemstone Enhancement is written for gemmologists to simplify their work: by knowing the details of the possible treatment techniques, the treatments that have been applied to the gemstone under study can be more readily recognized. Collectors, dealers, jewellers, appraisers, pawnbrokers and others interested in gemstones will also gain added insight from knowing the range of possible treatments. All the fundamental concepts are covered, so only a general knowledge of gems is required of the reader.