Recent rumors in the trade and inquiries to the various offices of GIA's Gem Trade Laboratory, Inc., concerning the commercial availability of faceted flux-grown synthetic blue sapphires prompted the writing of this article. Blue as well as orange flux-grown synthetic sapphires are now commercially available from Chatham Created Gems, Inc., in limited quantities as rough crystal groups and single crystals; they have not yet been marketed as faceted gems. In this article, the author examines the gemological properties of Chatham flux-grown synthetic orange sapphires and blue sapphires.
