History of Lab-Created Emeralds: A Pioneering Achievement

Question
When were lab created emeralds first available.

Answer
Hi Jan!

Thanks for your question. A scientist who is very famous in the world of synthetic gemstones was responsible for the first laboratory creation of emerald. His name is Carroll Chatham and he achieved this great success in 1938 in his San Francisco laboratory.

If you go to Chatham.com, you can read newspaper clippings from the 1940's about his synthetic emeralds. From reading you will also note that there were synthetic stones produced before this, but they were microscopic and too costly to be practical.

Take care,

David Fortier, GG
Staff Gemologist
Tiptopgem.com