A ring created at Knox Jewelers is truly a piece of art, tailored to your exact specifications and built from the ground up. Any Knox custom engagement ring can be created around the exact measurements of the gemstone you hand select to feature as its center piece. This ensures that the gemstone you select will fit perfectly into your custom setting, as if they are one. There is no manipulating a ready-made setting, with the risk of an ill fit and potential loosening of your gemstone in the future.
We work diligently to bring together a great variety of diamond and gemstone options in hopes that we can provide the center stone of your dreams. We update our online gemstone list weekly with newly discovered treasures. One center stone choice that is not listed on our available gemstone list, but is still a great option for a beautiful centerpiece, is an alternative lab created gemstone. We have a source providing lab created emerald, ruby, sapphire and alexandrite selections.
Gemstones created in a lab are chemically, physically and optically identical to those mined from the ground. The only thing different from this gem and a genuine gem is that it was created in a lab and not found in the Earth. They have the same chemical composition, appearance, and durability. They may even have a richer color and a higher clarity because they were created with their given gemstone’s optimal characteristics in mind.
Colorful, vibrant gemstones featured in personal jewelry have always created a romantic and one-of-a-kind look. Every color and luster of stone holds its own meaning to the wearer. Unique and saturated colors are to some a badge of wealth or accomplishment. The royal and the famous have always had an appetite for vivid jewels. On a smaller, personal note, a colored stone could represent a birthstone, hold a symbolism or simply be a favorite hue.
Yet some of these gemstones are rarer, harder to get, and quite expensive. That’s why lab-created gemstones are available as alternatives.
The more expensive and hard-to-find natural gems in jewelry, such as sapphire, emerald, and ruby are favorite lab-created stones. They are not gem imitations; lab-created gemstones are the real deal. They are grown in a laboratory, following naturals recipe, and are identical chemically, physically and optically to natural gems.
The mineral composition of lab-created stones is created through a process similar to what nature does beneath the earth over millions of years, but in a lab at a fraction of the time, and for a fraction of the cost of mining. The average person, one not familiar with natural gemstone traits, would find it very difficult to tell the difference between a natural and lab created gemstones. Even for one trained in the gemstone field it usually would take high magnification or other instruments to be completely convince of a natural identification.
The largest difference between the two options is that a natural gem typically has inclusions from the crystallization process during its creations. Gases and other minerals can become trapped during the molten stage of gemstone creation, and become an inclusion in the stone. Because lab-created stones rely on a steady, controlled process of applying minerals, heat and pressure, they usually have fewer to no inclusions.
If you choose to feature a lab created gemstone in your custom created ring, you will receive a high quality stone with fewer inclusions and a optimal rich color with a significantly lower price tag compared to their natural gemstone counterparts. In some cases, like alexandrite, natural options have become extremely rare. Lab created options may be the only way some admirers will ever be able to own a unique color-changing alexandrite. Lab created options allow us the opportunity to set a beautiful center stone into your ring without waiting for mother nature to create the perfect crystal.
Contact Knox Jewelers today to learn more about featuring a lab created alternative as the center stone in your one-of-a-kind custom engagement ring. We will be able to provide you with the current availability of sapphire, ruby, alexandrite and emerald options. A lab created gemstone is a great way to feature a vibrant and clear center in your ring for a fraction of the cost. We would be happy to assist you in building your heirloom quality piece around the center stone of your choosing.