What is a Synthetic Sapphire

I decided to write this post because I mentioned something to my husband about a sapphire in a piece of jewelry, I was looking at being so perfect that it looked synthetic and he had no idea what I was talking about.  I felt like I had failed him!  Luckily if he had been inspired to do a little impromptu gift giving and just waltzed into a jewelry store, the salesperson would have been legally required to give him an education.  Synthetic gemstones are created in a laboratory, but have the same chemical and physical properties as a mined gemstone.  They were originally created for industrial applications in industries like telecom and electronics manufacturing where you need hard materials that can handle high temperatures and friction without melting.  In jewelry, they allow many more people to experience the beauty of a sapphire, ruby or emerald at an affordable cost.  Their use in jewelry is more recent, it wasn’t until the 1960’s that wearing colored gemstones became more mainstream and therefore desirable, but synthetic ruby was in use by the late 1800’s.  Distinguishing natural vs synthetic material is extremely important as the value of the two materials are worlds apart, as are the complexities involved in mining natural stones versus laboratory production.  Synthetic ruby and sapphire, both of the gem species corundum just different varieties, can be produced relatively inexpensively.  Other gem materials require more complex processes and their retail values will reflect that.  Below is an example of the cost difference of synthetic material vs mined material.  The photo on the left shows a synthetic sapphire ring offered for sale by Jared The Galleria of Jewelry for around $700.  Using the dimensions provided for the synthetic sapphire to find a comparable stone, the sapphire on the right is an example from The Natural Sapphire Company of a natural 3.86ct sapphire that is available for $11,715.

As with most things, there are many iterations that exist between the synthetic sapphire and the natural stone shown here, but the example serves to show that while for many, the cost of the natural sapphire may be out of reach, the synthetic stone could be a suitable alternative.  While it is illegal in the United States for anyone to sell you a gemstone and not disclose that it is synthetic, it’s up to you to be vigilant.  You can have this example in the back of your mind and if you’re shown a stone where the price seems to good to be true, it may be synthetic. 

Although synthetic and natural stones share the same chemical and physical properties, gemologists have ways they can tell them apart.  All gemstones have inclusions, which are internal characteristics that are related to the growing conditions when the crystal was formed.  Under magnification, a trained gemologist can review the inclusions in a stone and determine if the stone is natural or synthetic, as well as which synthetic process was used to manufacture the stone.  According to the FTC, it is illegal to use the word “gemstone” to describe a synthetic gem unless it is immediately proceeded by the term “lab-grown”.  When shopping for estate jewelry, always work with the salesperson or jewelry specialist as every blue stone in a nice piece of jewelry is not necessarily a natural sapphire.  You always want to be sure that whatever piece you are buying will meet your expectations. 

The Gemological Institute of America has a great article that gives more history on the development of synthetic gemstones as well as overviews of the various processes used.  You can review it here.  In general, a lot of the big three colored gemstones, Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, that you see in mainstream jewelry stores will be synthetic, because the cost to inventory these stones in large sizes is prohibitive.  Many of us have a picture in our minds of what a sapphire should look like, and that’s usually the look that synthetic gemstones are trying to achieve, at a cost that is accessible to more people.  They often remind me of pieces of candy.  In truth, sapphire hue and saturation varies from stone to stone and the specific shade that appeals to me, may be different than what appeals to you.  If you are really interested in a colored stone purchase, work with your independent designer or jewelry store so they can bring in a variety of responsibly sourced gemstones for you to spend time with and choose what most appeals to you.     

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