Gemstones are a captivating part of human culture and jewelry design, but not all gems are created equally. Understanding the differences between natural, synthetic, and treated gemstones is essential for informed purchasing decisions and appreciating the beauty of these treasures.
What Are Natural Gemstones?
Natural gemstones are formed by nature over millions of years. Extracted from the earth, they are cut and polished without human alteration other than shaping. These gems often have unique imperfections (inclusions), making them one of a kind.
Characteristics of Natural Gemstones:
- Formed naturally in the earth.
- May have inclusions (tiny imperfections).
- They are more expensive due to rarity.
What Are Synthetic Gemstones?
Synthetic gemstones are man-made in laboratories. Synthetic, lab-grown, lab-created or man-made are the terms used to refer to these gemological materials. They share basically the same chemical and physical properties as their natural counterparts. While they may offer similar beauty, they absolutely lack the rarity that gives natural gems their high value.
Characteristics of Synthetic Gemstones:
- Practically identical to natural gems in composition, structure and physical properties.
- Manufactured in laboratories, in controlled environments.
- Widely available and much more affordable.
What Are Treated/Enhanced Gemstones?
Treated (also called enhanced or modified) gemstones are natural gems that have undergone enhancements to improve their color, clarity, and/or durability. Common treatments include heating, fissure filling and irradiation. Other more severe treatments include dyeing, coating, lead glass filling and other processes.
Characteristics of Treated Gemstones:
- Originally natural, but enhanced by human intervention.
- May require special care depending on the treatment.
- Usually more affordable than untreated natural gems.
- Different treatments can be more or less commonly used for a certain gemstone, and more or less accepted in the market.
Some examples of enhancements that are applied to virtually all gems and do not affect their price are: heat treatment for tanzanites and citrines, fissure filling for emeralds or irradiation for blue topaz.
I contrast, an example of a very serious treatment could be the filling of fissures and cavities with lead glass in a ruby, which practically eliminates its value compared to untreated rubies or those that only have the heat treatment. Other examples are dyeing or coating.
How to Identify the Type of Gemstone
Identifying treatments requires extensive geological knowledge. For each type of gem, gemologists know which treatments can be applied, their relative severity and how they influence the price of that gem. There are treatments that can be identified quite easily in a small gemological laboratory. However, there are treatments that require very sophisticated analytical methods, only available in large laboratories. There are even some treatments that are completely impossible to detect even in these laboratories. For example, heating or irradiation can sometimes be produced in the same way in a natural deposit and artificially by man. In these cases, identification may become impossible or the cost of analysis may far exceed the value of the gem itself.
Key Differences to Look For
- Natural Gems: Unique inclusions and higher prices. (But natural gems can be totally clean too).
- Synthetic Gems: Perfect clarity and lower cost. (But some synthetic gems can have visible inclusions too).
- Treated Gems: Know possible treatments that can be applied for each type of gem, their relative gravity and effect on pricing for each type of gem.
- Rely on gem certificate for the correct gem identification, that includes gem variety, its natural or synthetic origin and treatments applied.
Why Certification Matters
Always request gem reports from trusted gemological laboratory to verify the type and origin of the gemstone. A professional gem report provides transparency and confidence in your purchase.
At Egor Gavrilenko Gems, we only offer natural gemstones without any treatments, or natural gemstones with enhancements commonly accepted in the market for this type of gemstone. We always disclose the enhancements applied to our gemstones in their descriptions and in our gemological reports.
Egor Gavrilenko is an internationally recognized gemologist with extensive experience working in the gemological laboratory of the Spanish Gemological Institute (IGE, www.ige.org), including five years as Director of IGE Gem Testing Laboratory, prior to his departure into the private sector. For all our gems we offer our customers gemological reports issued by Egor Gavrilenko, at no additional cost. These reports can be verified in the Report Check section, following this link. At the customer’s request, we can also organize the certification of the gem you are going to buy in other internationally recognized gemological laboratories.
Explore our collection today at egorgavrilenko.com.
FAQs about Gemstones
- How can I tell if a gemstone is natural or synthetic?
Professional analysis by a gemologist can help differentiate between natural and synthetic gems. - Are synthetic gemstones considered fake?
Synthetic gems have the same chemical and physical properties as natural gems but are created in laboratories. They do not have the rarity that is a fundamental characteristic of natural gems. They can therefore constitute a kind of cheaper substitute for natural gems for some consumers. - Are treated gemstones cheaper?
Some treatments are commonly accepted and do not affect the value of the gem. Others, however, can be very serious and can reduce its value drastically. - Do synthetic and treated gemstones have resale value?
Natural gems typically increase in value over the years, sometimes quite considerably, due to their rarity. Treated gems are still natural gems and, except for some very serious treatments, they follow the trend of untreated natural gems, increasing their value over time. Synthetics may have very limited resale potential. - Is it safe to clean treated gemstones at home?
Most of the commonly accepted treatments are perfectly stable. However, some serious treatments may require special care for the gemstone. For example, lead glass fissure filling in rubies and sapphires can be damaged by ultrasonic cleaning, temperature changes or attack by everyday chemicals.