Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire

How do we make a Diamond Nexus stone

Lab-Created Emerald

Our synthetic Emerald material is created by placing a beryl (emerald) seed in a sealed, pressurized container. The container is also filled with extremely pure water. A "nutrient" containing crushed emerald and other compounds such as vanadium and chromium (emeralds natural coloring agents) is introduced into the hydrothermal environment. An electrical charge is passed through the chamber to ionize the environment and the unit is slowly heated in an autoclave. As the heat and pressure build in the sealed environment, to about 1800 degrees Fahrenheit and 800psi, the environment reaches equilibrium and the molecular de-stasis process begins. Molecules of the nutrient are stripped away and are attracted to and reform on the larger and more solid emerald seed.

These crystals grow at a rate of approximately 0.15mm per day, so a large crystal takes many weeks to form.

Lab-Created Ruby & Sapphire

Synthetic sapphire and ruby share most of the same chemical and optical characteristics. Consequently, the growth techniques and other facets of the creation process are very similar. Both materials are made of corundum, which is a crystalline form of aluminum oxide. The difference is in the introduction of chromium to create ruby.

Our synthetic ruby and sapphire material is produced by the controlled feeding of a powdered mixture of aluminum oxide, chromium oxide and other elements into a stream of oxygen, and then into a stream of hydrogen. It is then ignited at about 3,600f. This hot plasma is then streamed over a corundum "seed", which the crystal grows around. The crystal grows to about the size of 150 carats. At that time, it is rough cut into smaller pieces and carefully checked for quality. Then, like our simulated diamond, it receives a final cut and polish.

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