18/10/2025
Treatments Workshop – A Huge Thank You! ✨
A heartfelt thank you to Dr. Çiğdem Lüle for her incredibly professional yet friendly presentation, sharing such a vast wealth of knowledge and expertise on common gemstone treatments.
We were delighted to see so many eager faces after a really busy 3-day conference, Lee-Ona Long reviews the day:
The day began with an in-depth lecture covering the most encountered treatments, including:
🔹 Dyeing
🔹 Coating
🔹 Clarity enhancements
🔹 Irradiation
🔹 Heat treatment
🔹 Diffusion treatment
Her presentation was packed with fascinating imagery, helping us clearly identify treatment indicators across a wide variety of gemstones. This visual insight proved invaluable when we moved into the practical session.
🔬 With over 250 gemstone samples to examine, we worked in pairs under the microscope — from untreated corundum to glass-filled composites, oil- and resin-treated emeralds, synthetics, and a final set of coated beryls, tourmalines, and moissanites.
Conclusion?
One day was nowhere near enough! Çiğdem delivered an incredible depth of knowledge in such a short time that we were happy to skip breaks just to absorb more.
I am already looking forward to Part 2 next year! 💎
Kitty Kimber was equally impressed with the workshop ...
💎 I was lucky enough to attend Çiğdem Lüle’s workshop on gemstone treatments on the Monday of JVA Annual Conference weekend.
Çiğdem has carefully collected samples showing different treatments in almost every type of gemstone. After a short presentation, we got hands-on access to these samples — an incredible opportunity to see the treatments under the microscope with guidance from an expert! 🔬✨
It was slightly terrifying at times, as it made me question everything I thought I knew 😅, but I learnt a huge amount. I now feel so much more confident spotting treatments, including the different levels of heat treatment.
Absolutely fascinating — huge thanks to Çiğdem for sharing her knowledge and Shirley and Lee-Ona for organising such a brilliant workshop! 💎
