“The Lab-Grown Gemstone industry wouldn’t exist without Carroll Chatham and his family. Carroll’s persistence in making the impossible possible, through sheer curiosity, open-mindedness, and scientific experimentation, is boundlessly responsible for creating gemstones that are not only equal to earth-mined gemstones in every way, some can argue they are far better.

Tom Chatham continues his father’s brilliant legacy today, and his new book,The Chatham Legacy,is a loving, detailed, humorous account of his father’s life-long work and the Chatham brand, guided by mischief, exploration, and a firm sense of higher purpose.

The book highlights countless motivational lessons, like, never make the same mistake twice, and never accept anything as a final answer. It inspires all those dedicated to advancing innovation, accessibility, and sustainability in their respective fields, myself included.

I came into the Lab-Grown Diamond industry as an early adopter and a very naive 28-year-old, determined to lead the charge toward a more sustainable future for this sector. However, the harsh reality quickly revealed that the path wouldn't be straightforward or easy. I owe an enduring debt of gratitude to Tom, whose friendship and guidance have been instrumental in mentoring me through my nearly two-decade-long journey within the lab-grown diamond industry."

The Chatham Legacy is the complete, behind the scenes story of the American family who pioneered the modern day created gemstone industry.

From the first dream of a young Carroll Chatham to create diamonds in a lab, the Chatham family had to wage an uphill battle on both a scientific level and industry perception level. This book is a rare look at the journey of the Chatham family to go from a basement testing lab to the now world-famous Chatham Created Gems.

The ISG wishes to recognize the enormous support we have received over the years from Tom Chatham and Chatham Created Gems to produce our ISG Created and Treated Gemstones Course.

The donations of knowledge, expertise, and study specimens made our program possible. I guarantee you that reading this book and understanding the history of Chatham will help you understand and prepare for the future of the industry.

It is a must read for every gemologist on every level.

The Chatham Legacy: An American Story, is not only an enjoyable read, it is one that you will not want to put down.

Every chapter is yet another amazing story, told first-hand by Tom Chatham, the son of Carroll Chatham, the first person to grow emeralds. This is a true saga of Chatham created gems, the failures and successes all along the way, whether it’s more details of the story you have heard where Carroll Chatham blows up his family home’s basement, or losing production because of an earthquake, or working with family (and you get the no-holds-barred candid details of hirings, firings, and buy-outs), handling competition the Chatham way in the created emeralds, created rubies, and created diamonds sectors, working with and then incorporating some of the competition, the failed attempts at trying to grow diamonds in Russia, then Ukraine (with all of the dangerous and hilarious traveling challenges of the times), and then success with the Japanese, the marketing fiascos with the Federal Trade Commission and the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, not to mention the wrath they endured from the jewelry industry.It is an amazingly candid first-hand account of the challenges in growing gems, the business of selling created gems, the partnerships that were great and those that went sour, or sideways.

You finish one chapter and wonder what in the world is going to happen in the next?

I promised I would not give away the details, but what I can tell you is that it is a great history of the Chatham family business. It is packed with incredible inside information that every gemologist will want to know.

Everyone in the created business should absolutely read this so they know the history of the man who first created emerald. They will also learn about the son who built not only the Chatham created gems business, but the global created gems sector, and what he went through to give them a huge head start.

It’s enjoyable! It’s fun! It made me laugh out loud – several times! And it made my jaw drop! It’s a detailed insider’s history for which the industry will be grateful to have for many long years to come.

I think it’s a terrific book.

I thoroughly enjoyed every page!

Part history, part biography, part adventure, and part documentary, Tom Chatham’s detailed accounting of the Chatham legacy is a masterpiece.

This is a tell-all story of the genius of Tom’s father, Carroll Chatham, and of the trials and tribulations of Tom himself as he fought the jewelry trade for nomenclature and navigated the vagaries of business to create a now-famous brand in our industry. Written in the first person, you can feel Tom’s emotion in every sentence as he somehow recounts with incredible detail his sought-after recollections of decades of work.

This is a must-read for anyone in the jewelry industry who wants to understand the challenge of creating manmade gemstones, and particularly for those with an interest in the history of our trade who can also appreciate remarkable storytelling.

“The Lab-Grown Gemstone industry wouldn’t exist without Carroll Chatham and his family. Carroll’s persistence in making the impossible possible, through sheer curiosity, open-mindedness, and scientific experimentation, is boundlessly responsible for creating gemstones that are not only equal to earth-mined gemstones in every way, some can argue they are far better.

Tom Chatham continues his father’s brilliant legacy today, and his new book,The Chatham Legacy,is a loving, detailed, humorous account of his father’s life-long work and the Chatham brand, guided by mischief, exploration, and a firm sense of higher purpose.

The book highlights countless motivational lessons, like, never make the same mistake twice, and never accept anything as a final answer. It inspires all those dedicated to advancing innovation, accessibility, and sustainability in their respective fields, myself included.

I came into the Lab-Grown Diamond industry as an early adopter and a very naive 28-year-old, determined to lead the charge toward a more sustainable future for this sector. However, the harsh reality quickly revealed that the path wouldn't be straightforward or easy. I owe an enduring debt of gratitude to Tom, whose friendship and guidance have been instrumental in mentoring me through my nearly two-decade-long journey within the lab-grown diamond industry."

The Chatham Legacy is the complete, behind the scenes story of the American family who pioneered the modern day created gemstone industry.

From the first dream of a young Carroll Chatham to create diamonds in a lab, the Chatham family had to wage an uphill battle on both a scientific level and industry perception level. This book is a rare look at the journey of the Chatham family to go from a basement testing lab to the now world-famous Chatham Created Gems.

The ISG wishes to recognize the enormous support we have received over the years from Tom Chatham and Chatham Created Gems to produce our ISG Created and Treated Gemstones Course.

The donations of knowledge, expertise, and study specimens made our program possible. I guarantee you that reading this book and understanding the history of Chatham will help you understand and prepare for the future of the industry.

It is a must read for every gemologist on every level.

The Chatham Legacy: An American Story, is not only an enjoyable read, it is one that you will not want to put down.

Every chapter is yet another amazing story, told first-hand by Tom Chatham, the son of Carroll Chatham, the first person to grow emeralds. This is a true saga of Chatham created gems, the failures and successes all along the way, whether it’s more details of the story you have heard where Carroll Chatham blows up his family home’s basement, or losing production because of an earthquake, or working with family (and you get the no-holds-barred candid details of hirings, firings, and buy-outs), handling competition the Chatham way in the created emeralds, created rubies, and created diamonds sectors, working with and then incorporating some of the competition, the failed attempts at trying to grow diamonds in Russia, then Ukraine (with all of the dangerous and hilarious traveling challenges of the times), and then success with the Japanese, the marketing fiascos with the Federal Trade Commission and the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, not to mention the wrath they endured from the jewelry industry.It is an amazingly candid first-hand account of the challenges in growing gems, the business of selling created gems, the partnerships that were great and those that went sour, or sideways.

You finish one chapter and wonder what in the world is going to happen in the next?

I promised I would not give away the details, but what I can tell you is that it is a great history of the Chatham family business. It is packed with incredible inside information that every gemologist will want to know.

Everyone in the created business should absolutely read this so they know the history of the man who first created emerald. They will also learn about the son who built not only the Chatham created gems business, but the global created gems sector, and what he went through to give them a huge head start.

It’s enjoyable! It’s fun! It made me laugh out loud – several times! And it made my jaw drop! It’s a detailed insider’s history for which the industry will be grateful to have for many long years to come.

I think it’s a terrific book.

I thoroughly enjoyed every page!

Part history, part biography, part adventure, and part documentary, Tom Chatham’s detailed accounting of the Chatham legacy is a masterpiece.

This is a tell-all story of the genius of Tom’s father, Carroll Chatham, and of the trials and tribulations of Tom himself as he fought the jewelry trade for nomenclature and navigated the vagaries of business to create a now-famous brand in our industry. Written in the first person, you can feel Tom’s emotion in every sentence as he somehow recounts with incredible detail his sought-after recollections of decades of work.

This is a must-read for anyone in the jewelry industry who wants to understand the challenge of creating manmade gemstones, and particularly for those with an interest in the history of our trade who can also appreciate remarkable storytelling.