[Jewelry making - Article 00793] - Re: [Orchid] Stones on Demand

[Carol]

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Hi Peter,

    I am going over some old posts on Orchid today, and came across this
    one. There is a story about a visit to the labs where Ramaura
    cultured rubies were grown: http://www.eclecticlapidary.com 

    To answer your question, these rubies were grown under lab
    conditions that created great pressure and temperature during the
    growth phase. The other key is the exact chemical mix that the rubies
    crystallize from. This particular type of cultured crystal is the
    only one not using a seed crystal as a starting point. They called
    Ramaura ruby cultured, because it is identical to natural, but
    produced in a lab. 

    There's a pretty good explanation of the flame fusion and the pulled
    techniques used in making synthetic rubies here:
    http://www.answers.com/topic/synthetic-ruby 

    To answer another of your questions, the equipment to produce the
    Ramaura rubies took a very large laboratory with perfectly
    controlled conditions. Even so, not every batch produced cuttable
    stones, and you could hold the total production of a batch in your
    hands. So space, energy consumption, the development of equipment and
    processes to do it, the time required to form a large object and the
    economic value vs the cost would preclude attempts to make other
    natural stone. 

    And no, it couldn't be 'fluffed up' into pumice-like material.
    That's produced naturally by the presence of gases in molten lava
    that cools. 

    I can't exactly answer your question about the marine strata, but
    you partly answered it yourself. They aren't solid stone because they
    aren't a relatively uniform material formed under conditions of
    great heat and pressure, but by the accumulation of sediments in
    natural bodies of water over the millenia. 

Hope that helps answer your questions,
Carol

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