The authors have encountered hundreds of polymer-filled aquamarines in the Chinese jewelry market. This treatment can be identified with a standard gemological microscope, since it has characteristics such as a flash effect and relief lines. In addition, some of the filled fractures fluoresce chalky white to long-wave UV radiation. FTIR spectroscopy reveals diagnostic features at ~3100–2850 cm-1 that are related to benzene and ethylic C-H bonds in a polymer.
The authors have encountered hundreds of polymer-filled aquamarines in the Chinese jewelry market. This treatment can be identified with a standard gemological microscope, since it has characteristics such as a flash effect and relief lines. In addition, some of the filled fractures fluoresce chalky white to long-wave UV radiation. FTIR spectroscopy reveals diagnostic features at ~3100–2850 cm-1 that are related to benzene and ethylic C-H bonds in a polymer.