Production of Materials That Can Imitate Gemstones by Metallurgical Methods Using Glass-Ceramics; Determination of Their Mineralogical and Gemological Characteristics and Their Economic Analysis.
Chapter from the book: Yalçın Küçükbayrak, F. (ed.) 2025. Interdisciplinary Studies on Science and Mathematics.

Merve Arıyürek
İskender Işık
Kütahya Dumlupınar University
Murat Hatipoğlu
Dokuz Eylül University

Synopsis

Generally, when it comes to gemstones, the first thing that comes to mind is minerals, but synthetic gemstones and imitation gemstones produced in laboratories are also included in the concept of gemstones. Therefore, gemstones have a very large trade volume in the world. However, it is a known fact that the trade figures of synthetic and imitation gemstones are increasing every year due to the gradual depletion of natural gemstone production resources. It is clear that in order for Turkey to have a say in a market with such a high trade volume, it is very important to research the possibilities of producing both synthetic and imitation gemstones, even at the laboratory level. Glasses, ceramics, polymers, composites and glass-ceramics are used in many areas of industry, and are widely marketed as gemological materials and imitation gemstones. Today, glass-ceramics, which are high-tech products, are the most commonly used materials in the production of imitation gemstones. In this study; glass-ceramics materials were produced in laboratory conditions for the imitation materials of some gemstones and their economic analyses were made. For the production of this imitation gemstone material with glass-ceramic structure, a powder mixture was prepared using aluminum oxide and disodium tetraborate. This powder mixture was shaped by pressing method (pellet) and cabochon shaped biscuits were obtained. In order to color this produced sample, doping process was carried out using cobalt oxide, nickel oxide, chromium oxide, iron oxide, copper oxide and manganese oxide at different rates and followed by sintering processes at 600°C and 650°C for 30 minutes, 60 minutes and 90 minutes. As a result; only opaque materials that can be used as imitation gemstones in green and its shades, blue, black, gray and brownish red were successfully obtained. Among the obtained samples, eight samples that could be the best imitation gemstones were selected and characterization processes (XRD, hardness test, specific gravity measurement, FE-SEM analysis for microstructure, color analysis, gloss measurement and UV-VIS analysis) were performed. According to economic analyses, it has been calculated that these imitation samples obtained will be approximately 25 times more economical than their natural gemstone equivalents and approximately 10 times more economical than their synthetic equivalents.

How to cite this book

Arıyürek, M. & Işık, İ. & Hatipoğlu, M. (2025). Production of Materials That Can Imitate Gemstones by Metallurgical Methods Using Glass-Ceramics; Determination of Their Mineralogical and Gemological Characteristics and Their Economic Analysis.. In: Yalçın Küçükbayrak, F. (ed.), Interdisciplinary Studies on Science and Mathematics. Özgür Publications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.58830/ozgur.pub878.c3589

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Published

October 18, 2025

DOI