~ALOHA ESTATE JEWELRY~
  • Home
  • Our Collections
  • Make An Offer
  • Purchasing, etc.
  • Jewelry Blog
  • About Us
  • Contact

what are lab-created gems?

12/11/2019

 
First some definitions
  • Synthetic – Synthetic gemstones are gemstones that are man made in a laboratory but have a natural counterpart. They possess the same physical, chemical and optical properties as a natural stone.
  • Imitation or simulant – These are gemstones that try and look like real natural gemstones but are made of an entirely different material.
  • Natural - These are minerals that have been mined from the ground and cut into gemstones.
Natural Gemstones
Natural gemstones are minerals that have been mined from the ground and cut into gemstones. They can be treated with different techniques to improve the color and clarity such as heating, but the main mineral must come from nature. Natural gemstones can take millions of years to create and people have been mesmerized by their beauty since the beginning of time.

Synthetic Gemstones
Synthetic (opposed to Imitation or Simulant) gemstones are those which exactly mimic and are chemically identical to natural gemstones but are man made in a laboratory.   Gems grown in a lab are identical to naturally occurring stones in every sense: chemically, physically, and optically. Costly and rare natural jewels, such as sapphire, emerald, and ruby, are favorite lab-created stones. 
  • About the Creation Process 
The mineral composition of lab-created stones is created with a process similar to what nature does beneath the earth over millions of years. However, it is done in a lab in a fraction of the time and for a fraction of the cost of mining. 

  • What’s the Benefit? 
The average person would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between most natural and lab-created stone. It takes a trained eye, high magnification, and other instruments. The result is a high-quality, lab-created stone at a price that’s significantly lower than the natural gemstone counterpart.  

Whatever your consideration when buying jewelry, lab-created gems are always an excellent option. 
Imitation or Simulant Gemstones
Imitation or simulants are gemstones that attempt to look like the real thing. The most common simulant or imitation gemstone found on the market are those that try to replicate a Diamond. Simulants such as synthetic Rutile or Strontium Titanate have been used for decades to try and replicate the sparkle of Diamond. Even though these gemstones are man made they do not have a natural counterpart and this is why they are not classified as high quality synthetics. Glass and plastic are other common imitations that can be found. Blue glass is often offered as blue Sapphire to unsuspecting buyers while plastic beads can be sold as natural pearls.

Aloha Estate Jewelry Policy
At Aloha Estate Jewelry where diamond is the principal gem, or the jewelry item advertised to be diamond, the piece will include only genuine, natural, earth mined, diamonds.  Never synthetic, simulant, or imitation diamonds.  

Where small "accent" stones, typically 1 millimeter in diameter or less, were used to highlight a colored gem (e.g., Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Topaz) and found to be synthetic or simulant we will fully disclose this in the item description.

Our 14 day no-questions-asked return policy assures your complete satisfaction with every selection and acquisition of fine estate jewelry.  
 


Comments are closed.
    Picture
    Our Jewelry Blog
    Use the Search Box to search our Blog for articles of interest.
    Picture
    Let's Talk Jewelry
    Have a question that you would like us to answer about Estate Jewelry?  Drop us a note using the form on our "Contact" page with your question and we'll do our best to post your question and our answer here.
    Picture

    Archives

    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019

  • Home
  • Our Collections
  • Make An Offer
  • Purchasing, etc.
  • Jewelry Blog
  • About Us
  • Contact