Imitation or Real? Should Created Gems be Avoided?

A luxury

Jewelry is a luxury commodity that serves as a means of displaying one's beauty and wealth. Its value is determined by the principles of supply and demand, with rarer items being more coveted. The perception that natural gemstones are more beautiful and desirable is a matter of personal preference. However, with the advancements in technology, man-made diamonds and colored stones have reached a level of sophistication that makes it difficult for even experienced individuals to differentiate between natural and imitation stones without the use of specialized tools.

Simulant Gems

A jewelry piece produced with man-made stones can be as beautiful as its counterpart made with natural stones. Moissanite, discovered by Henri Moisson in 1893 in its natural form in a meteorite, was synthesized in laboratories and introduced to the jewelry industry in 1998 as an alternative to diamonds. Due to its lower prices compared to diamonds, it made it very popular among consumers. Moissanite is an inimitable mineral that occurs naturally and shares a number of physical and chemical properties with diamonds. It is considered a diamond simulant due to its ability to closely resemble diamonds in appearance. While moissanite is not a diamond, it is frequently used as a substitute for diamonds in jewelry, as it offers a cost-effective alternative that can be difficult to distinguish from diamonds without specialized equipment.

An Emerald-cut Moissonite. Image courtesy of Wikipedia

GIA tools for gems identification.
Image courtesy of GIA.

When the average consumer hears the word Zircon, they immediately associate it with the cheap diamond simulant Cubic Zirconia or CZ. CZ has remained the most economically priced competitor for diamonds since its production which began in 1976. However, a natural Zircon is a beautiful natural gem that can be expensive, desirable, and hard to find. (Gubelin Macro Photos. Zircon. Medium-dark, strong, very strongly greenish blue, 19.307 ct, round-cut, from Thailand.
Image courtesy of GIA.)

Created Gems

Man-made colored stones such as emeralds, rubies, and sapphires can also extraordinarily mimic their natural equivalent. To the naked eye, even the experienced dealer could be fooled. The emerald crystal displayed here are created by Chatham.

Natural Gems

However, a natural-colored stone with no accepted treatment method, in other words, not enhanced, can fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars per carat. They are becoming rarer and rarer by the day, and hence, their demand is high, and the price tag can be so high that only the very rich can afford to buy.

Treated Gems

With fine gemstones becoming scarce and their prices rising, more and more undesirable treatments became acceptable. A few years back, beryllium-treated sapphires were undesirable and considered a hybrid between natural and man-altered gemstones. This type of treatment is becoming more and more acceptable and used in fine jewelry.

Conclusion

The demand for natural diamonds and gemstones has led consumers to prefer purchasing genuine materials, even if the quality is lower than their imitation counterparts. Possessing jewelry with natural raw materials is deemed to be far more valuable than owning pieces with unnatural gemstones. Advising customers to opt for either natural stones or man-made materials is a difficult task as the decision ultimately relies on the buyer's personal preference, purpose, and budget. If the buyer can afford genuine materials, it is recommended to invest in them, as they can become a valuable heirloom item and a good investment that maintains its high value. However, if the buyer cannot afford genuine materials, wearing a "fake" gemstone on a piece of jewelry is not considered a luxury crime.