Feature Gems & Gemology, Fall, 1987, Vol. 23, No. 3

Inamori Synthetic Cat's-Eye Alexandrite


The world's first commercially available synthetic cat's-eye alexandrite chrysoberyl is now being manufactured and marketed by the Kyocera Corporation in Kyoto, Japan. Kyocera markets synthetic gemstones in the United States under the trade name "Inamori Created." This article reports on a detailed gemological examination of this new synthetic cat's-eye alexandrite. Although most of the gemological properties of this new synthetic overlap those of natural cat's-eye alexandrite, it can be identified by its unique internal characteristics and its unusual fluorescence to short-wave ultraviolet radiation.