I was surprised how many bubbles in the real spinel.

I found out earlier that I passed the GemA Foundation! You're videos definitely helped. Into the diploma!

I'm probably one of the few people who loves synthetic spinel more than most other gemstones. Verneuil flame fusion spinel is technically not a true synthetic: (please excuse the lack of proper scientific notation in this next part) natural spinel is MgAl2O4, which can be made by combining MgO and Al2O3 (chemical formula of colourless sapphire) in a 1:1 ratio via a flux growth method, but this ratio doesn't work for flame fusion spinel, so more Al2O3 is added to the mix to help stabilise the resulting boule. This also results in different properties compared to natural/flux spinel: slightly higher hardness of around 8.25 compared to the 7.5-8 of natural spinel, higher refractive index of 1.727 compared to around 1.718 (can be a bit higher in natural spinel due to iron or zinc content) and strong anomalous double refraction, or strain, when viewing flame fusion spinel under a polariscope. Structural similarities between sapphire and synthetic spinel can be seen using advanced lab equipment, but those details are for my research project, so I won't share my findings just yet. :P

I feel like synthetic can be just as good, as long as they're chemically the same I'm happy 😊

Would love to see y'all talk about completely man-made stones, like moissanite and Yttrium Aluminum Garnet, and your thoughts on them and their place in the jewelry market. If you think they're cool or if they're lesser somehow, that kind of thing

Fantastic episode! It's wonderful to learn new things and I learned a LOT of new things with this episode. Thank you for posting it.

I'm so thrilled to come across this channel! (TLDR?😊) My partner and I recently came across a home shopping channel that seems like it could be a SNL skit..it's rather outrageous...but we've found it fun to watch in the background sometimes just for a good laugh. I've often voiced that i truly think they're trying to pawn off faux gems as natural gems, but of course would have no way of knowing without more knowledge of the subject. NOW I have quite a bit more knowledge and am ready to call them to task! 😂 Thank you so much for this 😁💛✨️

I personally would prefer a high quality lab grown than a naturally mined 9/10 because of how hard it is to find ethically sourced gemstones, and even then ethical really only means not as much disregard for loss of life

Love every video from your Chanel i always learn something new about gemstones and minerals ❤

The comparison of Gemstones are awesome, Could you do Natural yellow Citrine vs natural yellow Sapphire and if you had to choose which would you pick. plus pink Topaz vs pink Sapphire Thank you

Yeeeesssss please to more 'cause of colour' videos.

I didn't know emeralds could look so clear 🙂

When we zoomed into the first ruby right away I knew it was synthetic because if the bubbles in it

this was fun and helpful. looking forward to the next one!

Yay first! I love learning about real vs synthetic gems. And let me just say that it is not nice to do to the poor oysters in cultured pearls. Planting an irritant so that it grows larger and more perfect with time. Not nice! And the information on the synthetic emeralds was very interesting. I never realized there were two types of synthetic emeralds. Great info and it was a great episode. Now I want some spinels in that gorgeous blue! Thank you both for sharing!

I think you guys should bring on a guest host to quiz you guys in the “game show”

I appreciate your videos and all the work you put into making them, so mad respect and thanks. My pedantic mini-me wants to nitpick about some of your statements about opal, but I’m giving him a vacation.

Welcome to Gemstones! A place where experts show you how to chew and scratch stones!

Awesome!!

my birthday is in august and I decided to go with the purple spinel (in place of amethyst) for my class ring instead of a peridot because spinel is also an august birthstone and also because I like purple better than that summer grass shade of green

Synthetic = better in every way... IF you can find them.

I'm curious what natural vs synthetic alexandrite is like. My mom has a couple pieces of Alex jewelry that her parents bought for her (it's one of her birth stones). It's highly unlikely that they are natural, but I've always been curious

Gilson makes some really nice varieties of opal... But unless i can't tell the color, but the fake emerald doesn't look like an emerald.

I own more natural opal than anything else gem-wise (my birthstone) and have grown up with a gem collector dad, so I can spot most of these pretty easily but Especially natural opals. And the tri-phase inclusions in the emerald were really cool to show, very cute baby pyrite. I studied hydrothermal mineral formation in grad school, but focused mostly on bi-phase inclusions of quartz and calcite to determine their formation conditions.

A question I have: I am partially colorblind (deuteranomoly) and emeralds always look light blue to me. Emerald inclusions always make it easy to tell whether or not what im looking at is natural emerald, but are there other ways to differentiate high grade or synthetic emerald from blue gemstones like spinel, sapphire, topaz, so on so forth without using the color as an indicator? I suppose this applies to other light green gemstones as well, if you have the time.

Amazing review..

Where would someone buy a synthetic opal like that? I just love it 🤤

what about synthetic emerald doublets? They have a forest green color and glued on top of a quartz piece.

Very interesting to know how they can make so many rock and cristal that they not natural. Personaly i am interested only on made by nature stones and cristals.. no glass, no opalite, no gold "stone" no laboratory made saphyr...

Pigtoe clam shell seeds.... Mississippi river. Synthetic spinel....who knew. Love the color range in the natural stones. Found some small brilliant cut bright red, better than any ruby for earings. Holy textured nacre batman......

Do you guys know anything about Bradford exchange stimulant?? They told me it has zirconium oxide in it and they say it rivals a diamond. I wonder what harness it is because I love my rings!!!

hi guys - a v good lesson as usual ! I have found that there is some confusion around the various things sold as synthetic alexandrite - be great if you could go over the various simulants and synthetics. Also - I have had difficulty finding any which actually mimics the red/green shift in the natural alexandrite - does this exist..? thanks !!

Hi! Is Blue Obsidian stone real or synthetic

any reason why you guys dont talk about rare medals?

Question for any of you that might know. Is it possible for asin, the pearly stain inclusion, to be on synthetic rubies or is it only found on natural rubies?

I’ve been trying to find a pair opal plugs but I can only find opalite

I found lunar stone meteorite iron

I bought a perfect Ruby but when I put it in water it floats that doesn’t mean it is a synthetic does it ?

I would love to find a synthetic opal like the one they showed here, but I can’t find it online or in store. Any leads?

There is a bubble in the natural spinnel?

how can you tell synthetic chrome diopside?

Technically, cuktured pearl is synthetic because it is not 100% naturally made. Maybe both cultured and natural pearl have same amount of time to be created but natural pearl are much rarer because mollusks create pearl only if there is foreign object which is very rarely enter mollusk's body

If you tell the synthetic roughly price per carat it’s will more help for us ...🙏

What about amethyst?

where can i find natural rubies online

that "synthetic" opal is fantastic

What's a reputable online store for gemstone beads?

Is that natural ruby flux healed by any chance?

I want to know if moonstone is synthesized how its look like🤔

Bonjour ;s'il vous plait veillez traduire vos commentaires qui sont très instructifs en Français et Arabe ;traduction parlée et non écrite ;merci infiniment pour vos documentaires.

Does blue topas have air bubbles?

im going to be a gemologist when i finish my exams what jobs will u recomend me to do? Love from United Kingdom

I have a question that I can't find an answer to, Why is celestite never faceted?

Oh how I detest synthetics…

Jimmy Neutron did it first

Are there synthetic garnets such as alexandrite and what are the signs to look for thank you