| Artificial gem | Artificial gems are not imitations of real gems, but the actual formation by artificial means of the real precious stone, so that the product is identical, chemically, physically and optically, with the one found in nature. For instance, in chemical composition the lustrous diamond is nothing but crystallized carbon. Could we take black amorphous carbon in the form of charcoal or lamp-black and dissolve it in a liquid, and by the slow evaporation of that liquid allow the dissolved carbon to separate out, it would probably crystallize in the transparent form of diamond. This would be a true synthesis of diamond, and the product would be just as much entitled to the name as the choicest products of Kimberley or Golconda. But this is a very different thing from the imitation diamond so common in shop windows. Here the chemist has only succeeded in making a paste or glass having limpidity and a somewhat high refractivity, but wanting the hardness and fire of the real stone. (references) |
