Gemesis Corp., Sarasota, Fla., has begun placing its lab-grown diamonds in retail stores.

Gemesis’ yellow diamonds, which the company says ranges from “fancy intense yellow to fancy vivid yellow,” are available at a Toledo, Ohio, jeweler, a Scottsdale, Ariz., jeweler, and at a Cleveland jewelry store. Shrode Jewelers, In Saratoga, Fla., will start selling them Dec. 5., the Bradenton Herald newspaper reports. By the end of the year, Jewelry featuring Gemesis stones will be available in about eight different stores around the country by the end of 2003, Gemesis President Carlos Valeiras reportedly said.

“There is a curiosity associated with unique and rare things, which is why the diamond is so admired,” said Gemesis’ founder Carter Clarke in a recent press release.

The company, founded in 1996, has 23 diamond-making growth chambers, each weighing about 4,000 pounds and costing about $50,000 a piece, the newspaper reports. Each chamber produces about eight 3-ct. rough stones per month.

Rob Chodelka, Gemesis’ vice president of operations, said the company has plans to add more diamond-making machines over the next year, the newspaper reports. For now, Gemesis will continue to produce the fancy yellow diamonds and will produce colorless and other colored stones as market demand grows for the product.

JCK