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The Shelby Gem Factory is a Michigan company that manufactures artificial gemstones through proprietary processes. The home of an enterprise that makes gems at farflung subsidiary factories, the factory makes more varieties of man-made gemstones than any other in the world. In one facility it grows and facets gems, including simulated diamonds, and mounts them in gold.
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History
ICT Incorporated, trade name "Shelby Gem Factory", is sited in Shelby, Oceana County, on the west coast of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It was founded in 1970 by Craig Hardy and Larry Paul Kelley. Larry Paul Kelley and his wife Jo Kelly later retained full ownership making the Shelby Gem Factory a family business.
The Shelby Gem Factory initially produced only synthetic ruby with ruby lasers being the principal application. However, the greater profit potential of transmuting ruby rods into gemstones led to a change in the enterprise's focus. A colorless variant crystal was developed by experimentation with different materials and proportions. This was the first simulated diamond variety. It became the first business anywhere to mass-produce cubic zirconia (CZ). In the 1970s the Shelby Gem Factory rode a wave of popularity CZ then enjoyed. At its peak, tons of cubic zirconia were produced for the world market. Subsidiary factories were opened in China, India, and Panama to keep up with demand.
Factory
Formerly, factory tours were offered. However, they were discontinued due to liability concerns – due to the "very high temperatures and extremely bright light" – and the unavailability of affordable insurance to cover the risk. Some of the furnaces burn at 5,040 °F (2,780 °C).
The factory features a museum, a showroom, and a theater and is a popular destination for schools, venture tours, and lapidary clubs. The 50-seat Art and Science theater shows visitors the differences between the processes that produce natural and man-made gems. Exhibits on-site include a lapidary machine visitors can try out for themselves to learn about gem cutting and a low-temperature model of a working crucible-furnace, along with many photos of the now-off-limits factory floor.
The public can purchase gemstone jewelry directly from the factory at a prices generally lower than those for mined stones. Jo Kelley, wife of Larry Paul Kelley, attributes the factory's increase in sales between 2008 and 2010 to the weak national economy, postulating that a consumer who would have spent $3,000 on a gift for his wife a few years previously would be motivated to visit the Shelby Gem Factory showroom where he might be able to spend as little as $300 on a comparable gift.
Gem manufacturing
The gems are synthesized in a furnace. It uses an US $85,000 heat resistant iridium crucible heated by surrounding electric coils. Temperatures range from 3,500 to 5,000 °F (1,930 to 2,760 °C). A crystal-producing mix is put into this furnace and melted. Then a slowly-spinning rod, the "seed", is lowered into the crucible, circulating the molten minerals, creating a homogeneous mixture and maintaining an even temperature throughout. Raised slowly over the course of weeks, the rotating rod cools the liquid and allows a large crystal to form. Kelley says it takes several weeks to grow a gem crystal.
The factory does not use the method of "pulling" crystals, using temperature differences like the process that forms an icicle. Rather, it uses small fragments of mined gems, which are then used as seeds to re-crystallize liquid into larger gemstones. This is the so-called Czochralski process, which is akin to chemical vapor deposition. According to Kelly: "As far as I know, we are the only company on Earth that uses the second method."
Shelby Gem Factory craftspeople then cut several dozen rough gems from each crystal using a diamond saw. A rough gemstone piece is placed onto a faceting machine, where over fifty facets are cut and polished to create a finished gemstone. ICT has a master jeweler on staff to mount the finished gemstones in gold settings; Kelley purchases rough gold castings from out of state, and finishes these at the factory to make settings as needed. The crystals made by the Shelby Gem Factory are used in jewelry and scientific industries worldwide.
The Shelby Gem Factory's simulated diamonds have a D color rating, the highest rating for diamonds (as determined by the Gemological Institute of America). Kelley claims their man-made simulated white diamonds are flawless, like expensive real diamonds. In addition to simulated diamonds, the Shelby Gem Factory also manufactures simulated citrine and topaz, along with other birthstone substitutes.