In conjunction with this year’s Christmas, we are introducing a very special series of modern coloured stone rings called the colours of life collection. As you might have guessed from its name, we have lined up for you nine different rings, each consisting of one or more unique gemstone ranging from diamond, aquamarine, quartz and etc. Like always, we have chosen nothing but the best for you and are confident each ring will only further enhance your personality and style! To add a meaningful Christmas sprinkle to the colours of life collection, each ring is accompanied with a bible verse that would elucidate the true meaning of Christmas to all our supporters.

The world of gemstones is certainly not one that is easy to navigate through and we believe many might have wondered before in some point in life whether a treated gemstone is the same as a synthetic stone or imitation. We hope this month’s musing would help to clarify all this confusion for you!

Natural gemstones are indeed rare in today’s market. This refers to stones that are not subjected to any type of artificial treatment or enhancement. Treatment of gemstones has been increasingly common today as natural flawless gemstone supply is been depleted over time. Such man-made treatments not only help to improve the quality of natural gemstone, but also allow the commoner to possess beautiful gemstones at an affordable price. Some common treatments done to gemstone today include heating, radiation, diffusion and fracture filling. Precious gems like sapphire and ruby are commonly heated to produce better colours and improve the clarity of the stone, while virtually almost all blue topaz found in jewellery stores has been irradiated to some extent to achieve various shades of blue.

Having clarified on treated stones. So what then are synthetics and imitations? A synthetic is not an imitation. The term synthetic indicates that the material is artificially made by using the same chemical ingredients found in natural products. On the other hand, an imitation refers to a gem that is artificially made without using “nature recipe”, so it is very different in terms of its chemical and physical properties from the gem it is imitating, unlike a synthetic stone. A good example would be diamond is found as a natural gemstone, man-made diamond is a good synthetic diamond, while glass could be an imitation of diamond. The benefit of purchasing a synthetic stone is that it serves as an excellent alternatives for buyers unable to afford natural gems of similar quality they desire.

We hope you have become somehow wiser in the world of gemstones after reading our article.

That’s all for November, till we meet again next month!

adapted from Jewellery and Gems by Antoinette Matlins and A.C. Bonanno.