I’ve been hearing for years that artificial gems (diamonds, rubies, moissanite, etc) cost a ‘fraction’ of the real thing. Is this true? If so, where can I as a consumer buy a handful of this stuff?
Note that I don’t want jewellery-grade gems, I realise that would cost a lot simply due to rejects and labour to cut / polish. I just want stuff I can mess around with for hobbies and crafts.
I shopped at gems n gems (website) while ring hunting. We’re literally talking a dollar a gem, buy 50 or 100 if you want to make sure you get something you’ll like. I ended up not going with that option because I’d end up needing a local jeweler and wasn’t enthusiastic with my options, but still went synthetic from an online jeweler.