This one’s for the color nerds—because honestly, I don’t think anyone else has the stamina for this saga. If you’ve ever wondered why it’s so hard to match the lab-grown gemstone in your ring to a pair of earrings, buckle up. This might answer some of your questions… or maybe just give you more.
Lab-Grown Gems: Trickier Than They Look?
On the surface, lab-grown rubies and sapphires seem straightforward. They’re just corundum grown in a lab, right? How complicated could it be?
Well, let’s start with the four main growth methods: hydrothermal, pulled (Czochralski), flux (Chatham), and flame fusion (Verneuil). These methods vary wildly in cost, difficulty, and the types of gems they can produce.
Pulled and hydrothermal are pricey but essential for certain gems or colors. Flame fusion, on the other hand, is the most common and affordable method for growing ruby and sapphire. It’s also the one with the most colorful quirk (pun intended): flame fusion boules often have uneven color. We’ll get to why that matters soon.
Now, here’s where it gets messy.
From Growers to Cutters: The Supply Chain Chaos
There are countless companies growing gemstones, from small boutique labs to larger manufacturers. Each has its own processes, priorities, and quirks, and some go in and out of business faster than you can say “boule.” These growers supply the rough material to cutters, who turn it into the gems we actually see.
Some growers use “standardized” colors for their ruby and sapphire rough, which gives me—the ever-hopeful gem buyer—the illusion of consistency. But it’s just that: an illusion.
To illustrate, let me introduce you to a fictional color: Sapphire #420. It’s a deep, dank green (yes, I’m calling it Dank Green). Let’s follow its journey.
The Cutting Process: Where Everything Changes
Once the rough arrives at the cutter, they slice it into thinner pieces, cut those into chunks (called preforms), and finally shape and polish the gemstones. Every choice during this process—how the rough is sliced, what’s discarded, how preforms are oriented, and the final cut—affects the gem’s appearance.
So, I decide to start selling Dank Green. I place an order with one of my trusted suppliers, Righteous Gemstones FakeCorp.
The First Batch: Everything’s Coming Up Green
Three weeks later, my order arrives. Righteous bought the rough in Switzerland, had it cut in Thailand, and sent it to me in the U.S. When I open the package, I’m thrilled. The gems are gorgeous. Most are a mid-toned, leafy olive green—a warm, mellow color. Some are lighter with a faint purple tinge in certain lighting, while others are almost too dark for my taste. But on average? Chef’s kiss.
I carefully photograph them, trying to capture their color as accurately as possible. This takes hours, involving multiple backdrops, lighting tweaks, and, inevitably, reshoots. Once I’m satisfied, I write a detailed product description, condense it into a snappy title (because let’s be real, some people won’t even read the description), and take the listing live.
And guess what? Dank Green is a hit!
The Second Batch: Uh-Oh… Purple?
A few months later, I’m running low on some sizes, so I reorder from Righteous. When the new shipment arrives, I eagerly open it… and my heart sinks. Nearly all the stones are lighter and have a much more noticeable purple tinge.
I email Righteous, asking if I can get the original color. Their response? They’re out of that rough and can’t get more. What they sent me is the last of their stock.
Now I’m in a bind. I reluctantly start selling the new stones. Thankfully, I’d photographed them and mentioned the lighter, purple-tinged variation in the listing. Surprisingly, customers love this shade and even start requesting it in their order notes. But I know it’s only a matter of time before someone complains that it’s not the “main” color. So, I start hunting for the original shade again.
The Third Batch: Mossy Mayhem
Enter Gemstoners FakeCorp. They’ve got it! Or so they claim. It’s pricier, and the minimum order is larger, but Dank Green is selling like crazy, so I take the plunge.
The shipment arrives, and… it’s light mossy green. All the warm tones are gone, replaced by cooler ones. It’s objectively a completely different color.
Now I’ve got a year’s supply of this new shade. I reluctantly list it as a second product—Dank Wintergreen—and email Gemstoners with a polite but exasperated “WTF?”
Their response? The original batch I got from Righteous wasn’t #420 at all—it was #421. Would I like to order some?
The Fourth Batch: A Mixed Blessing
I order #421. A month later, it arrives. Praise be, it’s mostly the original warm mid-tone green! But there’s a catch. The purple-tinged outliers people fell in love with? Gone. And the smaller gems are very light, the medium ones are spot-on, and the large ones are much darker.
The Fifth Batch: Purple Dreams, Slightly Dashed
Finally, I try Devious Gems SpecialtyFakeCorp, who promise they can deliver the elusive purple tinge. They source the rough from a dude in France who’s been hoarding specialty material for decades. When the shipment arrives, it’s stunning—but every single gem is one shade darker than the original purple-tinged stones my customers loved. Close, but no cigar.
Where Did It All Go Wrong?
If you’ve been keeping track, I now have:
- Warm mid-tone green (original batch from Righteous)
- Lighter purple-toned green (second batch from Righteous)
- Light mossy green (from Gemstoners)
- Warm mid-tone green with varying tones by size (from Gemstoners)
- Darker purple-toned green (from Devious Gems)
What happened? It turns out there are two different shades of rough: #420 (cooler, wintergreen) and #421 (warmer, original).
Add to that the quirks of flame fusion boules. These boules naturally have a darker outer rind and a lighter core. Some cutters mix pieces from these zones to even out the color, while others just let the sizes vary in tone.
And why don’t I just ask my suppliers for exact details? Because the people answering emails aren’t the ones doing the cutting. And photos? Forget it. Wholesale suppliers don’t spend hours on color-accurate photography.
The End Result
After much sorting, photographing, and hair-pulling, I create five distinct batches: Purple Aurora, Dank Green, Wintergreen Whistler, Autumn Snickerdoodle, and Frozen Toes. Some sizes are missing, and in certain lighting, Purple Aurora and Frozen Toes can look almost identical. But I did my best to describe them accurately.
And that, dear reader, is how I wound up with three colors of pink sapphire, three colors of ruby, and four shades of blue sapphire.
Final Notes
- I work with high-CRI, color-calibrated lights in a white-walled office and have an eye for color. What I see may differ from what others perceive.
- This article only applies to lab-grown corundum (ruby and sapphire). Other lab-grown gems are their own colorful adventure!
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