Gemstones have their share of mystery and magic associated with different cultures since many centuries. Humans were always fascinated with gemstones and history stands as witness to many conflicts between countries for just a piece of gemstone.

Actually gemstones are precious and semi-precious natural stones found in nature but their numbers are limited. As demand for gemstone jewelry began to increase rapidly over the years it led to the creation of lab created gemstone jewelry. These laboratory created gemstones are indeed made in a laboratory but looks and feels just like a natural gemstone. Such gemstones are usually called laboratory-grown gemstones and the name of the manufacturer may sometimes be tagged along the gemstone’s original name. Lab created gemstone jewelry has the same chemical, physical and visual properties similar to that of a natural gemstone.

Differences
does exist between natural gemstone jewelry and lab created gemstone jewelry as the gemstones in the latter do not have the rarity and costs less than the natural ones. If you compare both you would find that in appearance there isn’t much difference even though laboratory grown gemstones are made of glass, plastic, or inexpensive stones. Since an average buyer would find it difficult to spot the difference between laboratory created gemstones and natural gemstones it is advisable for such buyers to insist on certification from gemstone sellers when making purchases.

Even lab created gemstones are measured like natural gemstones by its weight and size. For weighing gemstones the carat is taken as the basic unit. A carat is equal to one-fifth of a gram and each carat is divided into 100 units called points. If a gemstone is sold as half-a-carat it would weigh .50 carats or 50 points. The measurement of gemstones is done in millimeters.