Artificial Stones
Synthetic Stones
These are gems reproduced in a lab that have an exact match in Nature, they have the same Chemistry, Crystalline structure and the same Hardness as their Natural counterpart. The first Synthetic stone created, with a size great enough to cut gems out of it, was made by A.V.Verneuil in 1888 obtaining a synthetic Ruby Boules (Corundum). In the years to follow other people with the same process also managed to synthesize: Sapphires, colourless Corundum and others in various colours, synthetic Asteria Rubies and Sapphires, etc; the list is very long and to date there has been no stop in the attempts and laboratory research, trying to synthesize even the most complex gems.
Reconstructed or Restored Stones
Composite Stones
Generally it is a Gem consisting of 2 (doublets) or 3 (triplets) different materials, parts of Natural, Synthetic, Artificial gems, assembled together with colourless or coloured glue, depending on the composition and the desired effect. You obtained a single gem that seemed Natural, having a pleasant aesthetic effect, which could be set in a piece of Jewellery. It is a method used more in the past than today, as in recent years the production of Synthetic and Artificial Gems, provided the material necessary to obtain stones suitable to be set in Jewellery. Composite gems, at the moment have a very limited presence on the market.
One of the most used composite gem present and used at the moment is the Opal doublet or triplet.
- Opal Doublet: Opal on the top part – lower part in a dark background material, e.g. black Onyx or other (Dark base).
- Opal Triplet: top part in Glass, Quartz Rock Crystal (colourless Quartz) or a transparent material – a thin layer of Opal in the middle part – lower part in a dark background material, e.g. black Onyx or other (Dark base).
The natural Opal is and remains one of a kind, imitations might come close but Cannot reach the same beauty and quality; you can find a wide variety of colours, so great it is sometimes difficult to have a pair that is exactly the same.
Most important Artificial Stones
In the majority of cases we are talking about Artificial gems whose appearance mimics the Diamonds, but hardly ever equal their splendour and beauty, while in other cases, we can grow very close, as with synthetic Moissanite and synthetic Diamonds, having by now reached levels of excellence.
Let’s talk a moment about the 2 Artificial stones that are the most popular and widespread in the Jewellery and costume Jewellery market, Rhinestones and Cubic zirconia.
Rhinestones
The goal is to have the maximum effect “possible” at a very low price, the application and fixing of these “stones” takes place using glue, in this way it is very quick to put together objects even with several dozen rhinestones .The effect, durability and beauty of the “jewel” in itself, is not comparable with other types of products, they are low-end products. The possible maintenance of rhinestone “jewels” is fast and cheap, should it be necessary to replace some rhinestones.
Cubic Zirconia ("Zircon")
Cubic Zirconia has had in recent years a very large circulation and significant productivity improvement, to date we have achieved an excellent production quality.
There are however different degrees of quality in the market, we talk about 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice, where those in the 1st choice are the most beautiful and absolute brightest.
Fortunately one uses the 1st or maximum the 2nd choice, but over the years many Jewellery manufacturers have progressively raised the quality, very often using Cubic Zirconia of 1st choice.
Commonly when we talk about Swarovski stones, gems or jewellery (or sometimes simply Swarovski), many mean or think about stones, jewellery of great effect and brightness, without distinguishing well the actual product; we need to point out that Swarovski is among the best producers, both of Rhinestones and of Cubic zirconia, but not the only one !.
Swarovski has become known over the years for the high quality of its “crystals” and was among the first to produce 1st choice cubic zirconia, considered among the best.
We all know, the market adapts easily and to date in addition to Swarovski there are also other manufacturers of 1st choice cubic zirconia.
Synthetic Moissanite
It is a synthetic gem that definitely requires further explanation, suffice it to say for the moment that among all gems, synthetic Moissanite (“Moissanite”) is the one that comes closest to the Diamond (except for synthetic diamonds), for Brilliance, Resistance and Hardness, with White shades that are comparable to those of H-I-J Diamonds.
Synthetic Diamonds
As already explained the Synthetic gem features the same Chemistry, Crystal qualities and Hardness of the corresponding Natural gem, so it is recognizable only with complex analysis and professional equipment.
Currently the high production costs in the difficulty to obtain beautiful and large crystals, creates a cautious peace of mind regarding the arrival of large quantities of gems born from this Synthesis. Peace of mind and serenity, comes when you purchase Trademarks / Brands or anyway from serious and professional sale channels, where it is possible to identify a preparation not only due to experience, but to the important professional training and to an adequate supporting equipment that can help the verification and analysis.
The “figure” of the Gemmologist is and will be increasingly important not only due to his preparation but also to the informative and cultural aspect that he can provide; let’s hope this professional “figure” is more and more present and widespread in the future.
Using known and safe channels gives peace of mind due to the fact that quality controls are carried out along the production chain, the higher the value of the stone the more frequent the testing, nothing is left to chance.
I would never give up the pleasure of buying a piece with particularly beautiful Natural gems, these transmit a deep emotion that goes beyond the appearance of the “simple” gem or of its commercial value.
So let’s use them all, without limits, without worries or particular problems.
Sophistications and Treatments
All one needs to know is basic information to understand the topic of which we will explain some basic points.
Many commercial gems, not all, are improved with heating treatment, annealing, filling and various “embellishments”, many solutions to obtain more beautiful and valuable gems, some treatments only intensify the colour and speed up those processes that can occur even in Nature, others instead are profound changes that modify greatly the initial appearance of the gem.
In the case of heating and annealing, many now consider it, a standard and normal treatment since it helps the stone intensify colour and transparency (sometimes), but it is not considered a “heavy” treatment, some have defined it, saying: a help from man in completing what nature didn’t finish doing !. So commonly considered like a conventional and recognized treatment.
In some large Diamonds, in the case of single dark and well visible inclusions, one can apply laser perforations, clean up the dark inclusions and then fill the cavities with an optical material with features similar to the Diamond’s, to make the process invisible to the eye and almost invisible to the magnifying lens.
This treatment, is applied to Diamonds whose commercial value can vary a lot, depending on whether these inclusions are visible or not to the naked eye, properly marketed, these diamonds will never have a list price of a natural diamond of equal size and
