A new synthetic ruby and synthetic blue sapphire have been synthesized by Johann Lechleitner of Innsbruck, Austria. This article reports on the examination of one sample of each of these new synthetics and discusses means of identification. Although most of the gemological properties of these two synthetics overlap with those of their natural counterparts, they can be easily identified from natural corundum and from other synthetics by their distinctive internal characteristics: inclusions that are typical of both the flux-growth and the Verneuil processes.
