Is lab-created sapphire real sapphire?
Yes. Lab-created sapphire is corundum, aluminium oxide coloured blue by iron and titanium, with the same hardness (Mohs 9), crystal structure and refractive index as mined sapphire. It differs only in origin and price: it is grown in a factory, usually by flame fusion, and is typically cleaner than a mined stone at the same size. In the US it must be sold as "laboratory-created", "lab-grown", "created" or "synthetic" sapphire; "simulated sapphire" means something else that only looks blue, such as glass.
What it is made of
Pure corundum is colourless. A trace of iron and titanium together gives the blue of sapphire, whether the stone grew in the ground or in a furnace. Lab and mined sapphire behave the same on every standard gem test.
How it differs from mined sapphire
Origin, inclusions and price. A gemologist uses magnification: flame-fusion stones show curved growth lines and round bubbles, flux-grown stones show flux fingerprints and platinum platelets, and mined stones show natural crystals and straight zoning. Lab sapphire is usually cleaner, and costs a small fraction of a mined stone of the same size.
What the label must say
Under the US Federal Trade Commission jewelry guides (16 CFR 23.25), the word sapphire can be used for a lab-made stone only when it is immediately preceded by "laboratory-grown", "laboratory-created", "[maker]-created" or a phrase of like meaning, and only if the stone has essentially the same properties as the mined mineral. "Created" and "synthetic" are the same claim. "Simulated" means an imitation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will lab sapphire pass a gem test?
Yes. On hardness, refractive index and specific gravity it reads as sapphire. Only magnification or laboratory analysis shows it was grown.
Is white sapphire a diamond substitute?
Colourless lab sapphire is used that way. It is hard (9) and durable but has far less fire than diamond or moissanite, so it sparkles less.
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