---
title: "Strontium titanate: meaning in gemology"
description: "Strontium titanate is a colorless man-made material used as an imitation of diamond. It became a popular diamond simulant in the 1950s."
url: https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/strontium-titanate
image: https://digitalgemology.com/img/og-digital-gemology.png?v=d224fb01
---

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[Glossary](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary) · Diamond and simulants

# Strontium titanate

Also called SrTiO3

Strontium titanate is a colorless man-made material used as an imitation of diamond. It became a popular diamond simulant in the 1950s.

## Properties

**Gemological properties of strontium titanate**

| Refractive index | 2.409 |
| --- | --- |
| Birefringence | None (singly refractive) |
| Optic character | Singly refractive |
| Dispersion | 0.19 |
| Specific gravity | 5.13 |
| Hardness (Mohs) | 5 to 6 |
| Crystal system | Cubic |
| Pleochroism | None |
| Absorption spectrum | Not recorded |

Published values. They change a little from stone to stone. Our tools do not model strontium titanate yet. Sources: [GIA](https://www.gia.edu/dam/migrated-assets/docs/doc1/Winter-1997-Gems-Gemology-Synthetic-Moissanite-Diamond-Substitute.pdf) · [Gemdat](https://www.gemdat.org/gem-42918.html) · [geology.com](https://geology.com/gemstones/strontium-titanate)

## In more detail

It shows far more fire than diamond. It is much too soft to serve well as a diamond substitute. It is most often grown by the flame-fusion method.

## Related terms

- [Simulant](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/simulant): A simulant is a material that looks like a gem but has a different chemistry, structure and properties. Cubic zirconia, moissanite and glass are diamond simulants.
- [Synthetic rutile](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/synthetic-rutile): Synthetic rutile is a man-made material used as an early imitation of diamond. It was introduced in the late 1940s and is made by flame fusion.
- [Flame fusion](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/flame-fusion): Flame fusion grows synthetic crystals by dropping fine powder through a very hot flame. The melted drops build up a crystal on a pedestal below.
- [Dispersion](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/dispersion): Dispersion is how differently a stone bends red and violet light. Gemologists give it as the index difference between the B line (686.7 nm) and the G line (430.8 nm).
- [Fire](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/fire): Fire is the flashes of spectral color that a cut stone sends out. In our census, fire is the share of returned light whose colors leave more than 0.6° apart.
- [Diamond](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/diamond): Diamond is a single element, carbon, with every atom bonded to four neighbors in a cubic crystal. It is the hardest gem, Mohs 10.

[All 369 terms](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary)