Artificial garnet: what is this stone and how to distinguish it from natural?

Garnet is a semi-precious stone, this gem is very popular and beautiful. The stone got its name due to its amazing similarity with pomegranate seeds.

Natural pomegranate, however, can be not only juicy-red, but also with copper, orange, rose, and green ebbs. A variety of colors of real stones allows you to use imitations in jewelry. You can distinguish a fake yourself, but you need to know the properties of the natural mineral. Due to the high cost, artificial, synthetic garnet is becoming more popular. It can not be called a fake, as it is produced in laboratories, using the hydrothermal method of growing from the crumb of natural stone.

Garnets do not have such value as diamonds, emeralds, rubies or sapphires, however, their quality is very high. The mineral stone has the following characteristics:

• durability;
• unpretentious care;
• external showiness.

The stone looks very elegant and noble.

Its rocks are few and resemble a scattering of pomegranate seeds, from which the name came. Shades can be varied, ranging from crimson-burgundy to orange-copper, red-pink, black, purple, green. It all depends on which component of the natural type is included in the breed. Natural stone has the properties of a mineral-crystal. Not all stones are small, there are instances of the size of a chicken egg. A real stone can be both transparent and homogeneous, as well as interspersed.

Pomegranate became popular a few hundred years ago, it was very popular, and even then, dishonest jewelers began to forge a rock.

Today in jewelry stores with products from pomegranates occupy a large area. However, more than half of the stones are artificial. Imitate garnet with cubic zirconias, which are painted in the desired shade. Phianite itself is an artificial stone created in the Soviet Union.

Artificial pomegranate is grown in laboratories and is not related to fakes. Fake stone is usually glass or plastic counterparts. Fake grenades are most often made of cut glass. There is even a special pomegranate glass, which is replaced by genuine stones in jewelry. In order not to buy a product with a banal glass, you need to know the exact signs of not only natural, but also hydrothermal, artificial garnet, which, although grown in laboratories, is not a fake.

Such stones are grown in specialized laboratories from natural material, which remains after the cut of the natural mineral.

Stones have almost the same hardness as natural, they are stored without problems. The cut is very high quality, such a gem is playing with colors, if you substitute it under the light. An artificial specimen has the following characteristic features of crystal growth lines:

• arc-shaped segments;
• annular segments;
• straight lines.

Laboratories began to grow pomegranate and sitall in the middle of the 20th century, technologically it is rather difficult, therefore the price of an artificial grenade is rather big. In the Soviet Union created jewelry with pink, purple, yellow nano-garnets. Production was very widespread.

Sometimes the pomegranate itself acts as an imitation, both natural and artificial. Most often they are used to replace rubies. However, it is not necessary to have any special knowledge to distinguish these two stones:

• the ruby ​​shine is like a diamond;
• a real stone is not magnetised;
• velvet glow, very soft, shimmering type.

There are several ways to determine the origin of a gem, and also to find out if it is a fake. The first - a visual inspection, it will need a magnifying device, for example, a magnifying glass. It is necessary to analyze the stone in the light and determine qualities such as color, degree of transparency, size.

• Colour. The color of a natural mineral is of fragmented type, zones of color are visible, gradations, richness of color is different, different tones of the same color may be present. Artificial stone has a uniform, uniform color and color. The nugget contains small inclusions, hydrothermal garnet does not. If bubbles are present, there is glass in front of you.
• The size. Most often, a natural gem has a size similar to that of pomegranate fruit, after cutting it becomes even smaller. Large stones are often fake. Particular attention should be paid to green garnets, they are the rarest. If you meet a product with a large green pomegranate, most likely it is an imitation. In general, green grenades can only be bought at auction.
• Shine and shine. Natural stone has a muffled radiance, its luster is poorly pronounced, close to matte. The artificial garnet is dazzling. The natural garnet transmits the light partially, the beam is refracted on the faces, which creates the effect of the play of light.

The second method for determining the authenticity of a mineral is mechanical; here we need a characteristic of physical properties:

• natural and synthetic specimens are very hard and easily scratch surfaces of plastic and glass type - if you are fake, it will be damaged in the same way as the surface or even more;
• the natural mineral heats up much longer; plastic and glass heats up the fastest;
• natural gem magnetised and electrified, you can rub it on a wool product, for example.

To avoid trouble, you must purchase jewelry in stores that have all the necessary certificates of conformity. If you are refused to provide documents for the product, it is fake. If you received the product as a gift, as an inheritance or by some other means, you can check it using the methods indicated above. If you have any doubts, take the stone to a jeweler for a full and deep assessment.

How to distinguish a ruby ​​from a pomegranate is described below.