During flux healing, as the process continues, contraction bubbles form and then become larger as the void becomes more spherical. The degree of healing in flux-healed Mong Hsu rubies is so great that the flux remnants are often quite rounded, complete with contraction bubbles. Imagine a synthetic corundum crystal that has a long, thin hot-dog shaped gas bubble in it. If we heat that crystal to a high temperature, the hot dog will break up into a row of spherical bubbles, a process known as “necking down.” This image vividly illustrates the necking down of a void in a flux-healed Mong Hsu ruby.
Natural Ruby • Myanmar (Burma); Mong Hsu • Enhancements: Heat + Fissure Healing (H-FH) • Lighting Conditions: Dark Field + Shadowing
Photographer: Richard W. Hughes •
Image Number: A-003-4251-1 • Date Posted: 31 July 2019
Hughes, R.W. and Emmett, J.L. (2004) Fluxed up: The fracture healing of ruby. The Guide, Vol. 23, Issue 5, Part 1, Sept.–Oct., pp. 1, 4–9; RWHL*.