@xavier_exelle: "Only buy untreated gemstones." That's good advice. But only if you know what you're buying for. The question is not whether untreated is better. It is. For investment, for long-term value, for anything serious, untreated stones are the correct answer and there is no ambiguity on that point. We only buy untreated at Exelle. If I am buying for myself, I buy untreated. The rarity argument is clear and the appreciation trajectory follows it directly. But the advice breaks down when it's applied as a universal rule, because not every purchase is an investment decision. If you are acquiring a stone to hold value over time, untreated is non-negotiable. The scarcity is real and structural. Natural heat treatment cannot be replicated at scale, the supply is fixed, and as demand from high jewelry and collectors grows, the price gap between treated and untreated material will widen, not narrow. If you want something that holds reasonable value but aren't making a pure investment case, even certain heated stones do not collapse. They are less rare than untreated, but they are not worthless. A well-cut heated sapphire in top color still has a market. It will not appreciate the way an untreated stone will, but it does not lose value the way commercial material does. And if you want a beautiful ring that looks exceptional and you have no intention of reselling, the entire rarity argument becomes irrelevant. A lab-grown diamond in that context is a completely rational choice. The aesthetics are there. The cost is a fraction. The buyer is not pretending to hold an investment. They are buying what the object looks like, which is what most jewelry buyers are actually doing. The mistake is applying the same framework to all three situations. Know what you are buying it for. The answer to "should I buy untreated" depends entirely on which of those three conversations you are having.

Xavier Exelle

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Thursday 18 June 2026 14:56:56 GMT