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An impressive signet ringA ring with a central plaque on which one’s initials, a seal, or a crest is engraved. that was made in the 1920s in America. It is set with a syntheticA man-made material with essentially the same optical, chemical and physical properties as its natural counterpart, but completely artificial. Commonly used for calibré settings due to the colour matching possibilities. sapphireBlue is the best-known colour for this gemstone but it can be found in all colours of the spectrum. After diamond, sapphire is the hardest gemstone.
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The history of the synthetic gemstone is interesting. In 1873 Auguste Verneuil, who was based at the Museum of NaturalA natural stone is called such because it has not been subjected to any treatments. History in Paris, began to work to synthesize corundum. In 1876, after many experiments, rubyOne of the most valuable gemstones on earth. From the corundum family, the red variety being ruby and the blue, sapphire. With the exception of the diamond, corundum is the hardest of the gemstones on the Mohs scale scoring a 9. synthesis was understood and repeatable although it was not understood how sapphire, called, “bug juice” synthesis took place. The blue corundum colour that was created was not a fine blue colour and the process could not be repeated.
In 1886, Verneuil, a gem expert and Fremy worked together with Jannettez while they were still at the Paris Museum of Natural History. Verneuil came to realize that fusing powdered alumina and chromium with the oxygen hydrogen torch made synthetic corundum.
At some pointA unit of weight for a diamond, being one-hundredth of a metric carat. It is used for weights that are decimal fractions of a carat, and all figures after the second decimal point are, in the diamond and jewellery trade, generally discarded. between 1886 and 1892, Verneuil discovered flame fusion. Later he realized that using different elements would create other synthetic gemstones such as synthetic ruby.
In 1909, Vernueil realized that synthetic sapphires could be created with the addition of iron and titanium and in 1911, he and his employer, the Heller Company, were given two patents for this discovery.
So this was a revolution in the gem industry and many pieces of jewellery made after 1909 and well into the 1920s and later were often set with a mixture of synthetic and natural stones. It was acceptable and was often used to get the right colour match.
In signet rings such as this example the synthetic stone has been beautifully cut with an intaglioAn engraved stone, the opposite of a cameo, with a recessed design cut below the surface of the stone. Intaglio designs are common for signet rings and fob seals. of a crest.
Buying antique jewellery is both ethical and eco-friendly as harmful and destructive mining processes are not needed to make an item yours. So give yourself a pat on the back!
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