There has always been a lot of debate surrounding the value of synthetic gemstones.
Are they worth anything at all?
Or are they just cheap imitations that are trying desperately to pass for the real thing?
Here is a fair question to answer before you move on to dismiss synthetic gemstones: Did you know that synthetic gemstones can be made so well that the common jewelry store sometimes cannot tell them apart from real ones without the help of a gemologist, a microscope, and all the equipment at their disposal?
In this article, we will explore the value of synthetic gems and try to answer that question once and for all about their value.
We will look at the pros and cons of using synthetic gemstones, as well as how to tell them apart from natural gemstones.
So, are synthetic gems worth anything? The answer may surprise you!
Table of Contents
What Are Synthetic Gemstones
A synthetic gemstone can be best described as one “ that is made in a laboratory, but which shares virtually all chemical, optical, and physical characteristics of its natural mineral counterpart, though in some cases, namely synthetic turquoise and synthetic opal, additional compounds can be present”.
Say what?
If these lab grown babies share all the physical and chemical characteristics of their natural mineral counterparts, then why are there so many price discrepancies between them?
One would think that having the same characteristics of the natural would automatically result in the pricing being very much competitive as earth mined are, but this simply is not the case.
Why?
Well, because people are the ones who decide how they prefer to value an item rather than allowing labs to decide it for them.
Adding to that is the idealization that humankind has done since the beginning of mining, that something “natural” is better than something mimicked.
Boom, there it is.
If we are being honest, and we are, we must admit that we have seen some synthetic gemstones that have had such natural looking inclusions built right into them and were made so convincingly well that we were forced to send them to GIA for testing just to verify what it is and where it came from.
This is impressive to say the least.
We have also learned to train our eyes over the years to instantly identify a bad reproduction of a natural stone and can spot many of them from a mile away.
How Synthetic Gemstones Are Made
Lab grown or synthetic gemstones have been made since the late 1800’s, the first type being a ruby that was successfully seeded and was of faceting quality.
Seeding means that a small piece of naturally mined material is taken and “grown” really fast.
The growing process is speeded up by thousands of years in order to bypass the natural time that is typically needed to grow.
When there are not enough gemstones for jewelry making in an area, or where natural mined stones are far too expensive and difficult to get, then jewelry manufacturers have the option to turn to synthetic or lab grown stones in order to keep churning out their wares.
During the last century, there have been many different ways to create gems in the laboratory, most of these are from two categories: the melt process and the solution process.
Melt Process
The chemical composition of the melt process results in a crystal having the same genetic makeup of the seed that was used to start it.
This process is used on stones like sapphire, alexandrite, and spinel.
The method of growing them in the lab is simply to take the natural seed crystal and place it in a crucible with other materials that have the same composition.
The entire mixture is then melted and held at temperatures that can range from 2000-4000 degrees Fahrenheit until it becomes fully molten.
But in the solution process, there is a different chemical composition that the resulting crystal has.
Solution Process
One process takes longer than the other to grow a gemstone, but it is the solution process that results in the most impressive gems, and it is also the most expensive to do.
This is the method that is used to grow emeralds, aquamarines, and topaz.
The solution process begins with a crystal seed being placed into a chemical bath of other materials.
The bath is held at temperatures around 1800 degrees Fahrenheit until the molecules of the seed begin to displace those in the solution and eventually completely dissolve.
The different processes of creating synthetic gemstones both require high temperatures, cooling and chemical nutrient powders that are taken from the natural earth mined material.
Think of these as “starters” like you would think for making yogurt, sourdough bread or kombucha.
While not all lab growing processes are equal as far as the time it takes to create gemstones, the end result is still the same in that they still have the exact chemical composition as their naturally mined counterparts.
They are still synthetic, even though they test as authentic in their composition on a Presidio gem tester.
What Are Synthetic Gemstones Used For?
The primary purpose for the use of synthetic gemstones is in jewelry making.
Generally speaking, synthetic gemstones will be set in gold or platinum to reduce the cost that using a real gem of the same size, type and color would make too expensive.
*These stones are not to be confused with “simulated” gemstones. Simulated gemstones are cheap and made of materials like glass, cubic zirconia or even plastics that only resemble the look of a natural gemstone.
They have the basic look of the synthetic gems but do not have the atomic makeup of their natural counterpart that they are trying to copy.
Synthetic gemstones were not created to fool the public as some cynical people might think. Yet, surely there are those who would try to use them in order to do just that.
We do have laws that require a synthetic gem must be disclosed when being sold.
These gems are created as a prototype in order to make jewelry more affordable and still have a psychological edge of being able to say that their ruby is ruby or their emerald is indeed emerald, because the only real difference besides the cost and clarity is that a natural stone spent thousands of years in the ground and the other spent a year in a lab.
Types of Synthetic Gemstones
You can find commonly synthesized gemstones which will include:
- alexandrite
- corundum (aka ruby, sapphire)
- diamond
- emerald
- opal
- spinel
- and the colored varieties of quartz
Several can be made by the same process. Others must use a different process, but the results are remarkable.
Pros and Cons of Synthetic Gemstones
Given that synthetic gemstones are exactly the same as natural stones in terms of chemical composition, why aren’t they more popular?
Could it be that jewelry lovers enjoy the romantic connotations of a gem being uniquely formed by nature, with its own inclusions and flaws that set it apart from another gem?
Could it merely be sheer boorish elitism?
Synthetic gems have been given a bad reputation right out the gate due to their origins, and it seems as though the minute that they successfully began to be made and appeared on the scene as a beautiful alternative for what would have been unaffordable, a war broke out between jewelry manufacturers and has been raging ever since.
Here we will state just a few of the most common pro’s or cons for synthetic gemstones.
Synthetic Gemstones Are Affordable
This is the most common pro for using synthetic gemstones.
You can find a one-carat flawless diamond for $3000 or less on the market today. The same size, weight and quality in a natural stone would cost you no less than $15,000.
Because synthetic gemstones don’t have all the labor costs and time involved in mining them, the price is much cheaper for the same quality.
Synthetic Gemstones Are Conflict-Free
The majority of natural gemstones on the market have been mined in countries that are in conflict. This is a nice way of saying slave labor and war zones.
Did you know that there are an estimated 40,000,000 people enslaved throughout Africa, Asia, and the Middle East? Do you even care?
The Kimberly Process was designed to help control the diamond trade and prevent conflict diamonds from entering the market, but it has been estimated that as many as 15% of all natural diamonds on the market are still conflict diamonds.
When you purchase a synthetic gemstone, you can be confident that no one was harmed or exploited in the making of your jewelry.
Synthetic Gemstones Are Better for the Environment
The mining of natural gemstones has a devastating effect on the environment. Entire mountains have been leveled and ecosystems destroyed in the search for precious stones.
The chemicals used to process these gems (mercury, sulfuric acid, etc.) are also very harmful to the environment and to the miners themselves.
When you purchase a synthetic gemstone, you can be confident that no damage was done to the environment in the making of your jewelry because it was made in laboratory by a dude in a white lab coat carrying a clipboard.
Synthetic Gemstones Are Real
There is a common misconception.
Just because a gemstone is synthetic, does not mean it is fake. Synthetic gemstones are made of the same materials as natural gemstones and have the same physical, chemical and optical properties.
Except for one property, fluorescence, all other properties are the same.
The only difference between a natural gemstone and a synthetic gemstone is how they were created.
A natural gemstone is created by nature over the course of hundreds or thousands of years. A synthetic gemstone is created by man in a laboratory over the course of a year.
But, at the end of the day, they are both real gemstones.
All the laboratory has done was prove that gemstones don’t need millions of years to form.
Synthetic Gemstones Devalue All Gemstones
Unfortunately, because we can now create gemstones in lab and manufacture them at an industrial scale, the value of all gemstones has been devalued.
This is particularly true for diamonds.
The diamond industry has been trying to control the supply of diamonds on the market in order to keep prices high, but with the advent of synthetic diamonds, they can no longer do that.
The result is that the value of all gemstones is inevitably going to continue to go down as more and more synthetics are introduced into the market.
If we could just make gold in a laboratory, the price of gold would plummet and it would no longer be valuable. Just like our money supply when the government prints more.
The only thing that makes a diamond valuable is its rarity. And with synthetic diamonds on the market, diamonds are no longer rare.
Synthetic Gemstones Don’t Hold Their Value
Because of the reasons we just mentioned, synthetic gemstones do not hold their value. This is because there is an unlimited supply of synthetic diamonds and the market is becoming saturated with them. So, if you’re thinking of buying a synthetic diamond as an investment, think again.
How To Tell Synthetic Gems Apart From Natural Gems
Something to remember is that because real gemstones are natural, they are going to have flaws, while synthetic gems will look more perfect.
Also, fake gemstones tend to sparkle and shine better than real gemstones because real gemstones might not have a good cut or will have clarity issues.
Weight of Gemstone
Another way to quickly determine whether a gem is real or not is by how much the gemstone weighs.
Normally, synthetic stones are going to be denser than real stones and therefore will be heavier for the same measurements.
The difference should be noticeable by just holding the stone in your hand, but of course, you would have to have loose ones of the exact same size to try that experiment.
Price of Gemstone
The most surefire way that can help you to determine whether or not a gem is synthetic or not is the price.
But oops, not so fast, we have seen Moissanite diamonds that were priced nearly as high as some earth mined diamonds were too!
Think about it this way; if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Synthetic stones are a lot less valuable due to the stigma that happens in any marketing war, and therefore are generally cheaper than natural mined gemstones.
Because natural gemstones are rare and limited, they are going to cost you more until market sentiment eventually shifts to valuing synthetic gemstones. If you come across a price that seems rather low, don’t be fooled into thinking it’s a real gemstone.
ASK for proof.
If you want to go a little further than just weight and price, there are some tests for common gemstones you can do to make sure you are getting an authentic and natural earth mined gem.
Beyond that, it is against the law for a jewelry store to sell a synthetic stone as though it were earth mined and naturally grown in nature.
With that in mind, just ask.
The Value of Synthetic Gemstones
Not to beat a dead horse, but we think that our customers who want synthetic gemstones should always be able to find and buy them.
We do not discourage or promote either because this is not about us, but instead it is about our customer. We can see the value of buying and having both.
Don’t try to split the baby in half when you can have your cake and eat it too.
Buy both!
Are They Worth Anything At All?
Synthetic stones are worth to you every bit of what you were willing to pay for it.
It is that simple.
As long as you knew what you were buying and found yourself happy and fulfilled with the purchase then they are worth your happiness.
If you are wondering about resale value, then this may be the only area of disappointment because they will never bring you back what you paid for them, but again, that was not the intent when you made your purchase in the first place.
Market sentiment is the thing that would need to change in order for synthetic stones to be worth more money.
And that could happen, but it would take a seismic market event for that to ever happen on any large or widespread scale.
We don’t see that happening anytime soon.
Final Thoughts
We hope that this article has helped to answer some of the questions that you may have had about synthetic gemstones.
They are beautiful, unique, and definitely have a value – even if that value is only sentimental.
So, go out and buy those lab-created beauties with confidence knowing that you are not overpaying or undervaluing them. As long as you are happy with your purchase, that is all that matters.