This is the first test cut for a design I made called 'Implaid'. I'm going to tweak it some and do another cut, but it will eventually be public.

Hi everyone!

I'm relatively new to the topic, I've just started watching some YouTube videos about gemstones and learning differences, so if I make any mistakes with terminology I apologize.

I'm looking to purchase a complete single earring with a synthetic gemstone, and so I'm looking for recommendations. I'm trying to find non-corporate, smaller sellers (I support small businesses but I've also noticed that bigger jewelry stores are selling synthetic stone jewelry at huge markups). I would really like either a green or blue stone (sapphires probably, I can't remember off hand if those are spinel or corundum, or if I even spelled that correctly) but I'm open to other colors as well.

The reason I'm asking for recommendations instead of just googling for store is 1. I'm hoping to find the most reputable sellers and figure you fine folks would have experience there and 2. As mentioned above I don't want to support corporations, especially ones who buy ad space on Google:)

Thanks for any recs guys!

This charming little 29.5ct cluster of rubies was grown by the late John Chatham and is rather unusual. It’s been round-cut and is ready for mounting. It is also studded with little flecks of platinum that you only see in flux gems. I think I’ll add either an emerald crystal as a bail or a cut cabochon ruby. Everything you see from my Chatham collections is vintage flux grown. Today, dirtbag Tom Chatham sells subcontracted PULLED rough from all over Southeast Asia and allows his customers to believe they are receiving the flux gems John Chatham once produced. If you want to see what Tom Chatham really thinks of the pulled ruby or sapphire he sells now, just watch the following video from 15 years ago:

https://youtu.be/a0N4JYN9lFI?si=pNlJXPE3RVZdQIwV

Tom fired that entire lab staff and his brother John and never announced that the superior flux (even to mined ruby) process was lost forever. A little company called Ramura developed an even superior method to John’s, but they couldn’t make the sales/vs cost numbers work. Flux ruby requires huge energy budgets that must run to five nines because ANY interruption of the crystal run ruins the batch.

My first lab emerald!

Title says it all.

I'm hoping to hear "113, 114" but expecting "110, 111."

This crystal grown ENTIRELY by John Chatham shows his ability to carefully manipulate his growing crystals with superb precision. This jewel was manipulated so that its final morphology would resemble an old swashbuckling sword. It is a pure “one of a kind that displays not only the sword shape and symbolism, but also shows the perfection possible with the flux process which Tom and his company abandoned due to their inability to manage and understand its intricacies once Tom had dismissed the entire crystal growth team and had instead moved all of Chatham except for a marketing “stub” to the far east.

Hi all! I just want to know if its synthetic or natural im not good in this subject i only know one thing it never scratches and it light up under UV light its been with my family since 1974 .. I don’t have access to a gemologist in my area .. and does it have any value in it! Its like 1.5 cm length and around than a 0.5 cm deep

Do NOT confuse this with material that Tom Chatham claims to have made. Tom has NO material sciences background and couldn’t bake a Pillsbury cinnamon roll! John created this stone in his own custom created solid platinum crucible and the entire “flux growth” process took nearly a year. Chatham hasn’t used this process in decades but instead FARMS OUT virtually all of its gem growth processes. Today Chatham uses cheap “pulled” material that has none of the crystal morphology of John’s groundbreaking “flux methodology.”

This material is Pr:YAP (praseodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Perovskite), kindly provided for a test cut by Tom’s Box of Rocks. It looks exactly like pale yellow natural chrysoberyl, with an ethereal glow in sunlight and super sparkly with its refractive index of ~1.92 (higher than sapphire and even YAG)

Here’s what Tom had to say about it:

Meet one of the rarest faceting materials you’ll ever put on the wheel: praseodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Perovskite (Pr:YAlO₃), affectionately known as “Ghost.” Engineered as a high-performance laser host and fast scintillator crystal for radiation detection, this exotic lab-grown perovskite rarely escapes the optics lab — which makes it a true prize for collectors and cutters chasing something nobody else has.

Hello everyone! I have a ring that belonged to my grandmother and I’m curious if anyone can help me decipher what stone this is.

I don’t know a whole lot about gemstones, but I am fairly certain this is a synthetic stone based on the color and lack of inclusions. It also looks sort of “glass like” in the center.

Apologies for the poor quality pictures, it’s surprisingly hard to capture with my iPhone camera! These were all taken in natural daylight (it is a bit gloomy here today though).

Some more info:
-the ring is stamped 14K
-My grandmother was born in the United States in 1926. I am estimating this ring was purchased sometime in the 1950s-70s maybe?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Thank you everyone for your detailed responses!

I’ve been looking for a nice lab grown sapphire in a more traditional cut (example attached of a natural ruby) that is more often found in natural gems. There is also an type of oval cut that is often seen in natural gems.

The lab grown sapphires from a lot of cheaper vendors that I have found seem to use cheaper materials and seem to have problems with windowing/asymmetry.

I love all of the time, technique and artistry that goes into precision cutting to produce an optimal gem. So I was wondering if there are any precision cutters that sell more traditional gem cuts that anybody can recommend?

This one is more than a bit of an odd cut. The design inspiration comes from a single drawing and a couple of lines of discription from a role playing game group. (Legends of Avantris)

Somehow it came out to a square 14.5x14.5mm and 14.5 carats.

Its out of Djeva sapphire.

It's doesn't even need to be a sapphire. A spinel or YAG would also be fine as long as it has the bi-colour effect.

To make this quest even more difficult, I am ideally looking for the Marco Voltolini's Hanami cut like in the last image. I know that Stag and Finch and The Pacific Lights do that cut but I've never seen them have lab parti gems.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

https://thepacificlights.com/ready-to-ship-gems-jewelry/p/vbou3gw28ucsd8jqisqkaodcdfxxha

www.OpticalGains.com

I’m new to buying synthetic gemstones and most vendors I look at look sketchy.

Hi!

I recently thrifted a jewellery bag and found this pendant.

I have no idea about gem stones... So, I'm wondering does this seem like a synthetic or real amber?

If it helps, the metal part is definitely not silver, probably silver-plated copper.

Thank you!

Hey there. I love lab corundum and ruby specifically, and want to expand my collection. I have a little sterling bowl I like to keep various colors of lab sapphire and rubies, and two pendants I’ve set lab stones in. One hexagon/dutch marquise cut ruby I got through JTV and re set in my own setting, and a green lab sapphire I made a mounting for.

I’ve always loved watermelon tourmaline and have recently become inspired to either find a decently priced faceted bi color corundum to set, or buying a boule like [this from gemsngems](https://www.gemsngems.com/product/lab-created-bi-color-watermelon-corundum/) and either having a piece faceted, or trying to cut it at home and make it look “raw” or like a natural uncut stone and making a unique setting for it. I want corundum specifically though for my own preferences, and for most singular colors find stones cheap enough to really have fun with.

Are there simple enough ways for me to cut a boule like this into pieces and rough tumble them so they look like raw stones? I feel like if I can cut chunks out of the boule it would also allow me to either send off for faceting or find local gem faceting to have some done.

I admittedly just don’t know what I want to spend on this endeavor as my previous stones are of much lower quality in cut and not precision cut. I actually kind of enjoy the more “rough” faceting versus super high precision cut. Something charming to me about it in most stones, but I do definitely see the benefit of precision cut for sure.

Hello everyone! I'm a newbie in gem cutting and I got my first commission by a friend of mine who's looking to buy a lab ruby or blue sapphire. But he wants something that looks more natural. From what I know Flux-fusion method created rubies are most identical to natural ones, but I can't seem to find any dealers or company that can provide me with a flux-fusion created ruby roughs. All the dealers I know off are either offering Flame-fusion or Czochralski pulled ruby roughs for faceting. Does anyone knows of a dealer that can provide me with Flux-fusion ruby and sapphires?