look pretty Christmassy don’t they… sadly they aren’t really tourmaline but are synthetic quartz.

Another internet purchase I bought for my buyer beware box so please take care when shopping for gems or jewellery on the internet.

What’s a synthetic stone and why do I keep using that word – from a gemmologist’s point of view, a synthetic stone is one that is partially or completely made by man but has the same chemical, physical and optical properties as their natural counterpart.

You may have seen synthetic diamonds all over the press in the last couple of years – yes, these are diamonds – they have the same chemical, physical and optical properties as a mined, natural diamond but have been grown in a laboratory or factory. There are a few small differences which can be used to determine whether a diamond is natural or synthetic but if you were looking at a cut and polished stone set in a ring you wouldn’t be able to see these...