GEMSTONE: NATURAL OR SYNTHETIC, "real or fake"

As a gemologist the most frequent question I am asked is “is it natural or synthetic?” or the more common one “is it real or fake?”. To qualify these questions, take natural and real as the same but a stone can be natural and heavily treated and be a “real” stone.  Now synthetics can be a “real” ruby or sapphire and not be “natural”, in other words synthetics are man-made copies of natural stones. They may be in all practicality Identical to the natural stones and very difficult to distinguish between them. They may have all the chemical, physical and optical properties of the naturals but they are made in a lab. Now what I consider fakes are what are known in the business as “simulants”, mostly synthetics that are made to look like a natural gem. There are even natural stones that are simulants, like Zircon is to Diamond.

So what is the answer to this confusing set of words and definitions? How can we distinguish between a Natural Gem and a Synthetic and a Simulant? Examples of each:

The synthetics are made in three popular methods of manufacture, Verneuil, Flux Fusion and the Czochralski Pull method. The Verneuil process first made synthetic rubies in 1837, So grandmas ring can still be a “fake” even if it was made in the 1800’s. Today the Flux Fusion process produces the best Emeralds and Rubies and nearly perfect Gems. It is also the best synthetic process that is close to the way these gems are formed in nature with all the natural inclusions. The process for Synthetic Diamonds is also like nature, produced under extreme heat and pressure like that generated about 100 miles below the earths surface. They have just speeded up the process, instead of 1-3 million years they got it down to a mater of weeks.

The simulants are the most profuse since all they need to do is imitate the color and look of what they are imitating. For instance cubic zirconia is used in all colors to imitate hundreds of gems and are too good usually to look natural. Glass and Verneuil corundum can do the same. The most popular stimulant in the past was synthetic spinel but it is now out of favor because synthetic corundum which is almost as hard as diamond has taken over. Corundum doesn’t get dull and abraded like the spinel and it looks better because of the higher refractive index. Normal gem lab testing equipment can easily sort out the simulants.

So how do you separate these tricky stones from the naturals? The easy way is to take it to your friendly neighborhood Gemologist and have them Identify it. Or take it to a gem lab and do it there. Those are the two best methods and if you buy one you can request a gem I.D. for the same price. Many stones will have a certificate from GIA or EGL or any of a number of gem labs, this is an assurance for you that it is what the certificate says it is. There are many ways to do it yourself but you would need a few years of experience and hours of gem identification courses to do it.

I am asked over and over to “just tell me what to look for” so that they can tell if it is “real” or “fake”. I can’t do that because it cost me years of hands on experience, months of classes, losing lots of money on my mistakes and keeping up on the current trends in synthetics and treatments, now how can I do that? And they are talking to me on the phone or in an email! I won't do an I.D. unless it is in my hands and I can test it. All I can do is guess and that is not fair to the people who own the gems.

But for a reasonable fee I’ll be glad to do it.

*AOTC (Advanced Optical Technologies Corporation)