I’ve been hearing for years that artificial gems (diamonds, rubies, moissanite, etc) cost a ‘fraction’ of the real thing. Is this true? If so, where can I as a consumer buy a handful of this stuff?
Note that I don’t want jewellery-grade gems, I realise that would cost a lot simply due to rejects and labour to cut / polish. I just want stuff I can mess around with for hobbies and crafts.
Buy cubic zirconium then, it’s the cheapest artificial gem which is still jewellery grade (though on the lowest tier, just above high quality glass).
I’d bet you can find them on ebay and if that fails, google a jeweller supply shop in your country. They are very common and affordable.
There are artificial rubies and other gems which aim to mimic the index of refraction of the real gems, they are much more expensive and they exist in different types, but, they are still cheaper than the real thing.
For crafts, get the cubics.
Lab grown gems have almost zero chance of being haunted by the souls of the children that died mining them. Of course they are of a lesser value. Does anyone actually want some lonely soulless rock?
In crushing my opponents, seeing them driven before me, and hearing the lamentations of their women
My fiancee and I both got artificial sapphires in our engagement rings.
Real ones were nearly double the price.
You wouldn’t know they’re lab grown. They look great.
They are a lot cheaper yes, diamond mining companies artificially limit supply to keep the price of the mined diamonds up. We have an abundance of them, so the lab grown ones are significantly cheaper because their supply isn’t artificially limited
My wife and I got moissanite for her engagement ring. It was about 1/10th the price of a diamond of the same size. I think it looks even better than a diamond, personally.
