NATURAL GEMSTONES

All stones under the category of Natural Gemstones are 100% all natural, meaning they grew in nature over tens of thousands or even millions of years.
All of my rough stones (the stones from which I create faceted gemstones) are ethically sourced from non-conflict regions of the world through reputable dealers.
Some gemstones can be Treated to enhance or even change their colour. They are still considered “Natural”.

TREATED STONES

Natural Gemstones can be and often are Treated by one of several means.
They may be Irradiated (nuclear radiation) such as to get Blue coloured Topaz although some natural Topaz can be naturally blue also. Most of these irradiated stones are “cooled-down” for 2 or 3 years so as to not present a danger to the wearer’s health, however not all irradiated stones have been sufficiently cooled down and may still have increased levels of radiation over that of normal, regional background, radioactivity levels. I have my stones locally tested to ensure their safety. Trust me, I don’t want to glow from faceting either !

Other treatments can include Heat which can totally change the colour of a stone or produce colour when there was none to begin with. Of course, heating can also result in an Opaque stone which is useless for faceting purposes so there are inherent risks to heat treatments. Other Heat Treatments may include the introduction of atomized or gaseous elements that will affect the colour as well.

In the case of some of the more precious gemstones such as Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, are often “Oiled” or even “Glass-filled” to hide surface blemishes and/or internal fractures. These gems should be Labelled as having been Treated but sadly, that is not always the case because their value is reduced when treated by these and some other methods.

Zircons (for example) can be naturally transparent or even opaque but also come in colours such as clear (white), brown, red etc and can also be heat-treated to result in a brighter, more beautiful, blue colour.

Other gemstones (semi-precious gems) such as Madeira Citrine or Oro-Verde are Heat-Treated Amethyst and/or light-coloured Citrine. Prasiolite is also heat-treated Amethyst although Prasiolite and some lighter coloured Citrines can be naturally coloured as well. All of these are simply different types of Quartz and are generally NOT labelled as “Treated”. In fact, when Amethyst is treated to result in
colours of Citrine, Prasiolite and Oro-Verde, their value is actually increased unlike the precious gem treatments mentioned above. Rather than being identified or labelled as “Treated Quartz”, they are simply given their own specific name such as Prasiolite, Oro-Verde, Citine, etc.

MAN-MADE GEMSTONES

Humans have long since tried to synthesize or otherwise create gems and minerals in a lab setting and have come up with several ways to produce facet rough that is as beautiful as any natural gemstone but are usually far less expensive. Of those man-made gems, there are two main types of gem materials produced. One is identified as being “Synthetic” and the other is called a “Simulant”.

While Simulants bear little if any comparison to any specific Natural gem, they may have the same colour as well as other characteristics found in natural gems.

They are often meant to “look like” a specific natural gem but are not the same chemically or molecularly. An example of a Simulant is CZ (Cubic Zirconia) which “mimics” the brilliance of a Diamond and hence is often used in place of an expensive diamond however, it is not nearly as hard as a Diamond nor even remotely as expensive.

In fact, CZ is one of the least expensive faceting materials available. Another form of simulant is called “Laser Glass” which is a type of glass used in the Laser Light Industry and unlike normal glass, has a higher Refractive Index than simple Glass or even Quartz (for example). Laser Glass comes in many colours and can even have “Colour-Change” properties (known as Pleochroism) which is only found in some natural gemstones. Similar to CZ, Laser Glass can have a higher Refractive Index (R.I.) than normal glass, leaded glass, Quartz or even Topaz.

There are some simulants that come very close to the natural stone they were meant to synthesize such as a material known as “Siamite” which is an advanced glass-ceramic material that has many of the same, natural characteristics of gems such as Kunzite but is not chemically nor molecularly identical to natural Kunzite. It may mimic the colour and hardness of Kunzite (and other minerals) as well as other specific characteristics but the crystal formation and/or chemical formulation is often very different but may also be more stable to cut than natural minerals such as Kunzite which is very challenging to cut due to fracture plains. Of course, Siamite is much easier to source in quantities and far less expense and therefore, it is often used in place of gems like Kunzite while producing equally gorgeous and very similar-looking gemstones. Another man-made simulant is called “Nanogems” or “Nanosital” which like “Siamite” mimics many gemstone materials in many ways but is not a chemical or molecular copy of any specific gem or mineral. On the other hand, like Synthetics these Simulants come in very many colours and hardness and often have a much higher Refractive Index than the gems/minerals they are intended to simulate.

On the other hand, Synthetic gems are Man-Made Replicas of specific minerals. A Synthetic Gem is a genuine mineral and a perfect and economical substitute for naturally growing crystals. A Synthetic gem is both chemically and molecularly identical to its natural counterpart mineral/gemstone. For example, man-made, Hydrothermal Quartz is, in every way Genuine Quartz. The only difference is that it is grown in a lab over the course of months rather than potentially, millions of years.

Many minerals are synthesized such as Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, Quartz, Garnet and Spinel among others. Most gemmy minerals have been either synthesized or have a simulant version. The latter is generally much less expensive than the alternatives but even synthetics offer a huge savings over natural gemstones and are identical in every way except for where they are formed and the amount of time taken to create them. There are many formulations and methods used to produce Synthetics but that is a topic for another occasion.

Faceted Gemstones produced by Gemstones by Chris are categorized and/or labelled to identify their material source. There is no trickery here. I am completely transparent (much like my gems – pun intended) with all of my products and the prices also reflect the same transparency.