Researcher Cultivates Ruby In A Ring, Pioneering Sustainable Gemstone Growth‌ ‌

Sofie Boons grew the gemstone from a ruby seed in situ – in a platinum ring. SOFIE BOONS VIA SWNS

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A researcher looks set to transform the jewelry industry after becoming the first to grow – a ruby in a ring.

Sofie Boons grew the gemstone from a “ruby seed” in situ – in a platinum ring.

Sofie is a Senior Lecturer in Design Crafts at the University of the West of England Bristol (UWE Bristol).

She grew the gemstone from a ‘ruby seed’ – which can be produced from discarded gemstones or waste gemstone materials readily available in the industry.

The jeweller-turned-scientist has spent the last four years developing the process to grow this waste material in situ in metal structures.

She hopes to use her groundbreaking research to change negative attitudes towards lab-grown gemstones and make way for a new era of using urban mined gemstones.

Unlike gems grown from scratch in a lab, which can be energy-intensive, or gems mined unsustainably from the ground, these gems require a flux solution to grow in a furnace from pieces of waste gem material or grit – a process that takes just days.

The lab-grown gems are identical to mined ones, with the same structure and quality – the only difference is where they have been grown.

Sofie says: “This is a completely innovative and more sustainable process that could transform how jewelers incorporate gemstones in jewelry, a process that is literally outgrowing traditional practices.

”Usually with chipped gems, jewelers have to cut them even smaller before using them, which therefore lowers the value, but this process enables them to use waste gemstone material to grow gems as big as they need, in situ in metal structures.