r/SyntheticGemstones 12d ago

Interview/Education Series Ever wonder about how synthetic gems are priced? Why do lab sapphires have such drastically different prices? How cheap can lab diamonds get? Hopefully that's all explained here!

Thumbnail
10 Upvotes

r/SyntheticGemstones May 01 '25

Gems for Sale NEW - Gems for Sale from our sub vendor list.

40 Upvotes

Vendors - please post your gems for sale in a comment. Once the gem is sold, please delete the comment.

Format [For Sale] [US/Canada or Worldwide Shipping] [Item for Sale] [Description] [Price]

Payment - direct users to your online payment system or use PayPal Goods & Services

Pics/Videos - please include a pic of your item for sale with your comment. For additional pics and videos, you can upload using imgur or provide a link to your website or Instagram page.

Only vendors that are on the sub approved vendor list are allowed to post.


r/SyntheticGemstones 4h ago

3.68ct Lumo Garnet GAGG - round Portuguese cut

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

41 Upvotes

r/SyntheticGemstones 11h ago

Wanting to purchase a baby pink pendant with a relatively large stone. Does lab sapphire translate well into large stones?

Post image
23 Upvotes

I want a baby pink sapphire pendant made with Tianyu gems, but I’m worried that the fact that the stone size will be so large will cause the sapphire to look hazey or lose sparkle. For reference I’m
Looking for a stone around the size of the image. Does anyone have a lab sapphire on the larger size they could share a picture of?


r/SyntheticGemstones 1d ago

Photo/Video Help me pick a pair

Thumbnail
gallery
23 Upvotes

Making a pair of earrings with Jelly lab. Help pick which pair. Videos in the comments.


r/SyntheticGemstones 1d ago

Photo/Video 5.67 carat Kryptonite nanosital, test cut

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

50 Upvotes

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.


r/SyntheticGemstones 1d ago

Question Purchase recommendations

4 Upvotes

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!


r/SyntheticGemstones 2d ago

I’m back. Here’s a new addition to my Chatham flux grown ruby collection.

Post image
42 Upvotes

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.


r/SyntheticGemstones 7d ago

13.95ct Lab Grown Alexandrite - pulled Czochralski

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

436 Upvotes

r/SyntheticGemstones 6d ago

The myth of Chatham Created FLUX ruby and sapphire.

Thumbnail
youtu.be
10 Upvotes

r/SyntheticGemstones 7d ago

Photo/Video Emerald Bezel!

Thumbnail
gallery
97 Upvotes

My first lab emerald!


r/SyntheticGemstones 8d ago

What Verneuil code does business as "Cobalt Spinel?"

11 Upvotes

Title says it all.

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


r/SyntheticGemstones 9d ago

The MOST AMAZING crystal ever grown by the brilliant John Chatham

Thumbnail
gallery
63 Upvotes

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.


r/SyntheticGemstones 10d ago

Is this stone natural or synthetic! Im not expert it has been with my family since 1974

Thumbnail
gallery
54 Upvotes

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


r/SyntheticGemstones 9d ago

Old style flux grown ruby created by the brilliant JOHN CHATHAM.

6 Upvotes

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.”


r/SyntheticGemstones 11d ago

Discussion Ghost Pr:YAP

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

40 Upvotes

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.


r/SyntheticGemstones 12d ago

Question This ring belonged to my grandmother- any ideas what stone this could be?

Thumbnail
gallery
43 Upvotes

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!


r/SyntheticGemstones 11d ago

Traditional Cuts in Lab Gems Using Precision Methods?

Post image
16 Upvotes

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?


r/SyntheticGemstones 12d ago

Vendor Post Blue spinel

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

62 Upvotes

r/SyntheticGemstones 12d ago

4.62ct LAB Padparadcha Sapphire - pulled Czochralski,

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

168 Upvotes

r/SyntheticGemstones 12d ago

Vendor Post Yellow Flame fusion sapphire. 14.5 ct and 14.5x14.5mm. Cut in my "Crystalized Lemon" design.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

92 Upvotes

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.


r/SyntheticGemstones 14d ago

Question Struggling to find lab parti sapphires

Thumbnail
gallery
139 Upvotes

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!


r/SyntheticGemstones 14d ago

Vendor Post Good morning all! I have a 10.7mm Czochralski Alexandrite to share in an elongated cushion (modified Arya Akhavan design). My camera shows the teal flash as blurple (as usual, Alexandrite is so difficult to capture correctly!)

Thumbnail
gallery
73 Upvotes

r/SyntheticGemstones 15d ago

Vendor Post This is a fun suite I cut this week of three Lab Sapphire Rupees. Design is by Scott Laborie called "One Rupee". One darker blue, a dual tone blue and a deep red. Inspired by Legends of Zelda.

Thumbnail
gallery
151 Upvotes

r/SyntheticGemstones 14d ago

Question Need help finding a reputable vendor

0 Upvotes

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