A surge of altered rubies flooding gemstone market

The global gemstone market is being flooded by a wave of altered rubies. Untold numbers of consumers who spent thousands of dollars on what they thought were the real thing are unwittingly flaunting almost worthless stones, some of which bought at major retailers Macy's and Bloomingdale's, gem experts told Consumer Ally.

"They are surfacing in department store chains, mass-merchandisers, jewelry store chains, independent jewelers, on the Internet, on television shopping channels and at auctions," says Antoinette Matlins, a professional gemologist, board member of the Accredited Gemologists Association and author of the book, Colored Gemstones. "Almost any place that sells ruby jewelry could be misrepresenting them as rubies. There is far more on the market than anyone realizes and the trade is going to snowball if someone anyone doesn't get a handle on it ASAP."