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CULTURED DIAMONDS
The Charles Collection carries the finest in lab-created fancy diamonds. Our lab-created diamond collection consists of Fancy Yellow, Fancy Blue, and Fancy Pink. We carry the Chatham Created Diamond and Gemstone Line.
Chatham created diamonds are diamonds, exactly the same as those taken from the earth. These are not diamond imitations like CZ (cubic zirconium), Moissanite (silicon carbide), or any of the other vast number of synthetics in the marketplace today. Materials which have similar gemological characteristics to diamond but are not real mined or cultured diamonds are known as diamond simulants. The most familiar diamond simulant to most consumers is cubic zirconia (commonly abbreviated as CZ); recently moissanite has also gained cachet as a popular diamond simulant. Both CZ and moissanite are synthetically produced for use as a diamond simulant. These simulants are very different from our cultured diamonds.
Chatham Created Diamonds possess the same hardness, chemical composition, and crystal structure as mined diamonds. And at a fraction of the cost, without the social and environmental consequences of mined diamonds. After many years of very difficult and frustrating research and a few unsuccessful starts, Chatham is now able to grow brilliant diamonds with very few inclusions. And like the natural diamond, these are forever too!
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Natural Mined Diamond |
Chatham Created Diamond |
| Color |
Variable |
Variable |
| Luster |
Adamantine to waxy |
Adamantine to waxy |
| Composition |
Carbon |
Carbon |
| Crystal System |
Octahedral |
Octahedral |
| Hardness |
10 on Mohs Scale |
10 on Mohs Scale |
| Specific Gravity |
3.5 |
3.5 |
| Cleavage |
Perfect |
Perfect |
| Fracture |
Conchoidal |
Conchoidal |
| Refractive Index |
2.4 |
2.4 |
| Dispersion |
0.044 |
0.044 |
| Fluorescence |
Variable |
Variable |
| Melting Point |
3820 Kelvin |
3820 Kelvin |
LAB-CREATED EMERALDS
Emeralds have long been cherished for their brilliant green beauty. Highly valued and desired, the brilliant green color of emerald has never ceased to dazzle. For centuries only those of great wealth could bestow so priceless a gift, the symbol of faith, kindness and purity. A fine quality emerald of good color and clarity is more valuable than diamonds. In 1938, after years of research, Carroll F. Chatham created the first laboratory grown gem quality emerald. A gemstone bearing all the same physical, chemical, and optical qualities of mined gems at a fraction of the cost. The cut, polished Chatham Created Emerald so clearly duplicates nature’s that special tests are necessary for positive identification. Many of today’s emeralds are strip mined and have been artificially color enhanced. Chatham Created Emeralds are 100% natural color, never treated or oiled.
Other lab-created gemstones carried by The Charles Collection, cultured by Chatham, include: Ruby, Sapphire, Alexandrite and Opal. All of these exhibit the same properties as the mined counterparts and are extremely hard to distinguish as lab-created. Without special equipment and advanced analysis from a trained gemologist, these gems are indistinguishable. This fact has spurred grading laboratories like the GIA to not only develop new equipment for detection, but also to require full disclosure of the source of these gems. The Charles Collection fully discloses any and all lab-created gemstones included in its jewelry.
The Charles Collection offers a lifetime warranty on all lab-created gemstones and diamonds. If your lab-created gemstone should ever chip or break under ordinary circumstances, or in the case of opal, crack or craze, we will gladly repair or replace the item. Normal wear and tear are excluded.
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