Not only does diamond rough not sparkle when excavated out of a mine, it doesn't just appear on the earth's crust. You know, the big sparkly diamonds jutting out of the dwarves' mine? Wildly misinforming, actually. If you don't know a whole lot about diamonds, the old Snow White version might be playing around in your head. But, scientists say they're pretty confident. We have no know equipment that is able to drill down that far to those conditions. Truth is, we can't actually see it for ourselves. However, it might surprise you to know that this is what we think happens. Graphite is the mineral form of carbon, which is what diamonds made of. Within the mantle, the heat and pressure cause graphite to change its molecular structure. Around 100 miles, to be a little more specific, deep into the mantle of the earth. It takes billions of years for diamonds to form beneath the surface. All of these are real diamonds, but only mined diamonds are considered natural, since they've formed in the ground. Mined diamonds are often referred to as natural diamonds, but it confuses the thought of lab created diamonds, or synthetic diamonds.

This process is actually similar to how lab created diamonds are made. Under those intense conditions, the pressure forces the seed to create sapphire crystals as the mineral solution starts rising. They actually place a tiny seed crystal from a natural sapphire into said chamber. But instead of being deep beneath the earth under pressure and high temperatures, they are put in their own little chamber full of heat and pressure. This process imitates the natural way sapphires form. The solution process is also called hydrothermal synthesis. To create other color varieties of corundum, they add other minerals to it. The melted powder forms into a long teardrop shape referred to as a boule. Aluminum oxide is the main mineral within corundum. It is the very first process they came up with and the most inexpensive.ĭuring flame fusion, aluminum oxide powder is melted by means of a flame. In the melting process, they do what's called flame fusion. Sapphires have two ways of being synthesized: melting and solution.

Sapphires and rubies were actually some of the first gemstones to by synthesized, or lab-grown. Natural white sapphire is very rare, so it's safe to assume that all white sapphire jewelry seen in stores and online will be lab-created by gemologists. White sapphire is the name for colorless corundum. Sapphires actually come in every color of the rainbow, however, there's no such thing as a red sapphire. Sapphire is the commercial name for the polished mineral corundum.

White sapphire stud