There's something about an emerald. That deep, saturated green — the kind that stops you mid-stride in a jewelry store window — has captivated humans for thousands of years. Cleopatra adored them. The Incas worshipped them. Now Emerald can be generated in the laboratory at a lower cost.
You may probably wondering: Is a lab grown emerald a real emerald?
This guide answers all of that.
What Is a Lab Grown Emerald?
A lab grown emerald — also called a laboratory-created, synthetic, or cultured emerald — is a real emerald. Not an imitation. Not a simulant. A “real emerald”.
Here's why: emeralds are a variety of the mineral beryl, with a specific chemical formula (Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈). Their signature green comes from trace amounts of chromium and vanadium. Lab grown emeralds have exactly the same chemical composition, crystal structure, hardness, and optical properties as natural emeralds.
The only difference?
Origin.
Natural emeralds form deep in the earth over “millions of years”. Lab grown emeralds form in a controlled environment over weeks or months. But once they're cut and polished, even trained gemologists often need specialized equipment to tell them apart.
The Federal Trade Commission allows several terms to describe these gems: "laboratory-grown," "laboratory-created," "[manufacturer name]-created," or "synthetic". On this site, we use "lab grown" and "lab created" interchangeably.
How Are Lab Grown Emeralds Made?
There are two primary ways to grow emeralds in a lab: the flux method and the hydrothermal method. Almost all high-quality lab grown emeralds on the market today use the hydrothermal process, so that's what we'll focus on.
The Hydrothermal Process
Imagine recreating what happens deep inside the earth — intense heat, crushing pressure, mineral-rich water — but inside a sealed steel chamber called an autoclave.
Here's how it works, step by step:
1. Start with a seed
A tiny piece of natural or synthetic emerald is placed inside the chamber. This seed acts as a "starter" for the new crystal to grow on.
2. Add the ingredients
A mineral-rich solution is added, containing all the elements emeralds need to grow — including chromium, which gives the stone its deep green color.
3. Turn up the heat and pressure
The chamber is heated to extreme temperatures under high pressure, replicating the conditions found miles beneath the earth's surface.
4. Wait
The crystals grow slowly over “6 to 12 months”. In that time, layer upon layer of emerald forms around the seed.
5. Cut and polish
The rough crystal is removed, cut, and polished into a faceted gemstone.
The result? A crystal that's chemically and physically identical to one that took nature millions of years to create.
Hydrothermal vs. Flux: What's the Difference?
The flux method, developed in 1848, dissolves emerald components in a molten flux material inside a platinum crucible. It's slower — taking up to a year for larger stones — and produces crystals with slightly different internal characteristics.
Hydrothermal growth, by contrast, uses water under pressure. It's more efficient and generally produces larger, higher-quality crystals.
For most buyers, the distinction doesn't matter much. Both methods produce real emeralds. What matters is the quality of the final stone.
