The presence of these zircon clusters might help separate Ethiopian sapphire from other basalt-related sources.

In the early 1960s, French ceramist and engineer Pierre Gilson succeeded in growing and producing flux synthetic emerald of commercially marketable quality.

Garnets have been known since antiquity. However, it was only during the late nineteenth century that the green variety demantoid—named for its “diamond-like” luster—was discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia.