• Principles of crystal growth. 
• Material Stability.
• The crystallization process. Nucleation and growth. 
• Intrinsic and extrinsic factors which influence the crystal forms. 
• Theory of the synthesis processes. 
• Classification of the crystallization techniques. 
• Growth techniques from solutions, flux and hydrothermal. 
• Growth techniques from a melt: Verneuil, Kyropoulos, Czochralski, Stockbarger and others. 
• Characteristics of the synthesis of gem materials. 
• Emerald synthesis. 
• Corundum and spinel synthesis. 
• Diamond synthesis. 
• Synthesis of diamond imitations: TiO2, SrTiO3, YAG, GGG, CZ. 
• Synthesis of quartz and alexandrite. 
• Synthetic turquoise, opal, lapis-lazuli and coral. 
• Gemstone enhancement: theory and practice. 
• Causes of colour. Possibility to modify them. 
• Heat treatment and irradiation. 
• Treatments of beryl, corundum, quartz, diamond, topaz, tourmaline and zircon. 
• Staining gem materials. 
• Coatings. 

In practicals students gain knowledge of synthetic materials, comparison of their features with those of natural gems of the same composition and structure, and distinguishing some of the imitations to be found on the market. 
Four-hour session of work, divided into two independent blocks and in groups of 18 students, with three members of the teaching staff. 

• Preliminary work using instruments with semiprecious stones. 
• Synthetic emeralds (Chatham, Gilson, Lechleitner, Crescent, Biron, Inamori) and emerald imitations. 
• Synthetic corundum, ruby and sapphire (Chatham, Gilson, Ramaura, Knischka, Kashan, Verneuil) and their imitations. 
• Other synthetic materials with refractive index above mentioned 1,81. 
• Other synthetic cryptocrystalline products: opal, turquoise, lapis-lazuli, coral. 
• Synthetic quartz and alexandrite. 
• Revision work on above materials. 
• Staining chalcedony.