| The Chatham emerald was grown by a process discovered by Carroll F, Chatham in 1938. The emerald is a "flux grown" material, it is a crystallization process where the emerald is created over along period of time from a flux solution. The flux consisted of a mixture of oxides, most likely a mixture of lithium molybdate and vanadium oxide. The crystals are grown in platinum crucibles over about a one year time frame. (This is not water chemistry!)
He first marketed the material under the name of "cultured emerald", but this name was disallowed by the Federal Trade Commission. The name was then changed to Chatham Emerald.
The images at the left are lusters of Chatham emeralds as they were grown in their natural state. For further information on the Chatham emerald see their web site: www.chatham.com
Another successful flux process was developed independently by Pierre Gilson. His process grows the emerald on clear beryl seeds.
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