Exquisite Chatham Ruby Cluster Pair!

Weight: 7.77 carats

The ruler in the photos is in millimeters.

We discovered a limited number of these beautiful clusters in our inventory

and decided to share them with you.

These dainty Chatham Ruby Clusters are just breath-taking.

Imagine one mounted in your custom pendant or broach setting

in silver, gold, or platinum.

These sell for a bit more than our single crystals.

But they are worth it.

Own a piece of San Francisco memory!

When these are gone, there won't be any more available again.

The lab that grew them has been shut down for several years,

and as far as we know,

there are no plans to ever start it up again.

Be creative.

Buy several for your custom jewelry line (or your private collection).

IMPORTANT: If you plan to place this in a jewelry setting,

we recommend using epoxy or Opticon to stabilize the cluster.

Treat it as you would any fragile crystal cluster.

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Carroll Chatham is best known for his emerald creations. However, he also developed the process for growing beautiful sapphires and rubies, and passed his knowledge onto his sons.

You will note that there appears to be a play of colors depending on background and foreground lighting. This is typical of the Chatham ruby and sapphire gems. It is just one more mark of the excellence which made Chatham famous.

All of our Chatham Ruby Crystals are corundum, just like natural rubies, with a hardness of 9 on the moh's scale. The only noticeable inclusions might be some color zoning (which we think enhances their attractiveness and mystique), as well as small platinum crystals, a result of their long-time growth in platinum crucibles.

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Please pardon the quality of the photographs.

We try to do our best, but we are not professional photographers.

If you need other photos, please contact us before making your choice.

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Some background about our Chatham gems:

Though many types of gemstones have been produced in laboratories to date, most notably sapphires and rubies, some of the finest were developed by a man named Carroll Chatham of San Francisco, California. In fact, up until the 1990s, his laboratory produced some of the most beautiful gems known to the industry. That San Francisco laboratory, now closed, is the source of our emerald, ruby, and sapphire clusters, crystals and rough. The production of these gems has remained a family secret. The process is costly and dangerous. So when you buy from us, you are purchasing an investment that can only increase in value and rarity. Our Chatham crystals were grown by, and directly obtained from, John Chatham, one of Carroll Chatham’s sons.

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A word about lab-created gems

All gems and minerals are a combination of atomic molecules that bond to form a specific chemical structure. Gems that are created in a lab should not be confused with materials that mimic or imitate natural stones, with shapes, colors, and structures that appear to be, but are not, the original material. Sometimes called synthetic, lab-created gems have the same chemical structure and composition as those found in nature, usually with some additional variation so that they can be distinguished from the natural. This variation allows the new gem to be identified as lab created, often to the specific lab it was grown in.

The first successful commercial process for creating gem material is known as the Verneuil or flame fusion process. Chemicals are introduced into a chamber, heated to an intense degree, and allowed to “melt” together to form what is known as boule. Today, this process is performed at many worldwide labs, the best-known in Switzerland, where the process was developed. These gem materials take only a short time to produce, so they are relatively inexpensive.

A similar process for producing synthetic crystals is the Czochralski or “pulled” method. A seed crystal is touched to molten silicon or other material and gradually withdrawn. Using controlled temperatures, a single crystal is formed as the molten material solidifies into boule, some quite large (up to several hundred pounds). This is the process that is used to produce most of the silicon wafers that become computer chips.

Another process is called hydrothermal. This process imitates the natural conditions of intense heat and pressure that form many of the gems that are found around the world. There have been many beautiful gems produced in this way.

A fourth process is called the flux growth method, by which chemicals are brought together ina sort of “soup” at extreme controlled heat and allowed to form into crystalline structures over a long period of time. This is perhaps the most expensive and time-consuming process as these gems are grown in platinum crucibles and require constant monitoring and controlled heat. It is under these conditions that our Chatham crystals came into being.