The difference between lab-grown gems and natural gems

Laboratory-cultivated gems are becoming more and more popular. They are also recognized by jewelry industry organizations and favored by European and American fashion giants. The number of people buying them is also increasing year by year. I believe you have a lot of confusion, these artificial laboratory grown gems and natural gems what is the difference? From the following aspects to help you analyze.

So let's start by looking at what's the difference between the two?

Laboratory creation of red sapphire, more commonly used flame fusion, flux and hydrothermal methods. Flame-melting is the cheapest way to create any gemstone, while hydrothermal is the most expensive and is a cultivation technique that mimics the formation of natural gemstones most closely. Hydrothermal processes, in which minerals are subjected to high temperature and pressure in a "pressure cooker", mimic the conditions in which red and sapphire are naturally formed.

Natural VS lab grown

1. Chemical composition: Both have the same main composition

2. Mineral type: Both belong to the same mineral, corundum

3. Crystal structure: both belong to tripartite system

Chemically and physically, the same materials make up natural and lab-grown gemstones with the same atomic structure and crystal habits. Gemological laboratories identify both lab-grown and natural gemstones as corundum forms. The lab-grown gems are real gems.

Lab-grown gems grow faster?

Laboratory-grown gems are much faster. Using advanced processes, technicians are able to replicate the conditions under which gems naturally form in the earth's crust and create them at a much faster rate in highly controlled laboratories. It takes about three months to cut a one-carat gem. Once it grows, it goes through the same process as any mined gem, through the four Cs, cut, color, clarity, carats. The better you cut it, the more it shines.

Cheaper lab-grown gems?

Natural gems are buried deep in the earth's crust, and some of them are so rare and hard to obtain that they are expensive to mine. Lab-grown gems not only take less time to grow, but also cost a fraction of what it costs to mine them. For the price of a 1-carat natural gem, you can buy several or even a dozen lab-grown stones of the same quality.

Are both authenticable?

Yes, now international authoritative certification institutions, such as GIA, IGI, HRD third-party certification institutions can be certified. There is a difference between the two certificates. The certificate for lab-grown diamonds will be clearly marked with the word "Laboratory Grown".

Is there any way to tell them apart?

It's hard to tell natural stones from lab-produced ones with the naked eye, but there are testing devices on the market that make it easy to tell them apart. If your cultured gem is certified by a reputable third party certification body such as GIA, IGI or HRD, you will see the gem laser-etched as a cultured gem.