For the first time, a “seed” ruby has been grown into a full-sized ruby directly on a platinum ring using a chemical method.
Sofie Boons, a senior lecturer and jewelry design researcher at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, has developed a chemical technique to stimulate the growth of rubies, BBC reported on September 26. This technique allows a tiny piece of ruby to gradually increase in size when placed within a jewelry setting. UWE believes this “in-situ growing” process has never been successfully achieved before.
A large ruby grown from a small ruby placed in a ring. (Photo: Sofie Boons).
Boons began with a “seed” ruby taken from gemstone waste materials. She placed the fragment into a platinum setting, such as a ring, and then used a chemical called flux. This substance lowers the temperature, allowing the gemstone to grow.
Unlike gemstones that are grown from scratch in energy-intensive laboratory environments or mined unsustainably, Boons’ gemstones grow in a furnace from discarded gemstone materials, taking just a few days and 5 hours of energy to develop.
“I am experimenting with growing them in the furnace for 5 to 50 hours. With longer times, I will obtain larger and slightly cleaner crystals. I am working to reduce the time to make this process more sustainable,” Boons stated.
This new method challenges the notion that synthetic gemstones look unnatural. “The unpredictable growth characteristics create stones with natural facets, which I find very interesting as a jeweler,” Boons added.
The process of a “seed” ruby growing. (Photo: Sofie Boons).
According to Rebecca Enderby, a jewelry designer in Bristol, the perception of the value of self-grown rubies is changing. “These lab-grown gemstones are not fake. They mimic what develops underground over thousands of years, so they are a cheaper alternative to mined stones,” Enderby explained.
Self-grown gemstones have the potential to be more environmentally friendly, according to Enderby. “However, they still require a significant amount of energy to produce. Therefore, they should be produced from green energy sources,” she added.
The new ruby growing technique is part of Boons’ doctoral research, which has now secured a second round of funding from UWE. The University of Bristol is also involved in supporting the expansion of this research to other types of gemstones.
