Lab-Created Rubies and Emeralds

• Lab-created(synthetic) rubies and emeralds are real but not natural. Real because they have all the same chemical properties as natural rubies and emeralds, (with the exception of certain differences in some of the inclusions), but not natural since these stones are grown in the laboratory and not the ground. By examining the inclusions in each stone, only the trained eye of a gemmologist using proper equipment can distinguish lab-created from natural stones.

Created Emerald

• Like the better quality rubies, emeralds are also created by a flux process. In 1938, Carrol F Chatham announced he had discovered how to grow emeralds in a controlled laboratory environment. Chatham-created emeralds are not imitations and bear the same properties as their natural counterparts. Only the trained eye of a gemmologist using proper equipment can distinguish a Chatham from a natural emerald by examining the inclusions in each stone. Today, Chatham is not the only company producing lab-created emeralds but they were the first.
  
  Natural emeralds that equal the quality of the best grade lab-created stones are very rare. A fine quality emerald of good colour and clarity is so rare that it surpasses a diamond in value. Lab-created stones can be had at a fraction of the cost.