Under FTC guidelines, an artificial product with essentially the same properties as a natural gem is correctly called what?

• A. A natural gem substitute
• B. A laboratory-grown gem
• C. A synthetic
• D. A simulated gem

Answer: (C)

Labeling lab-made gems that truly match a natural version hinges on using a term that communicates both origin and property equivalence. Under FTC guidelines, a gem produced in a lab that has essentially the same chemical, physical, and optical properties as the natural gem is called synthetic. This designation signals that the gem isn’t natural but is the same material and behaves identically in tests and in appearance. A simulated gem would only imitate appearance and not share the same properties, so it isn’t accurate for a gem that truly matches the natural version. A laboratory-grown label describes how it was made, but the standard term for identical properties is synthetic. A natural gem substitute would imply something meant to stand in for the real gem without matching its properties, which isn’t the case here.