earth science

Shelby Gem Factory

Shelby Gem Factory is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Shelby Gem Factory rather than just read about it. In short: The Shelby Gem Factory was the production facility of ICT Incorporated, a company in Shelby, Michigan, United States, that manufactured artificial gemstones through proprietary processes. ICT began operations in 1970 and closed in December 2019.

Key takeaways

Shelby Gem Factory belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Shelby Gem Factory to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Shelby Gem Factory from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Shelby Gem Factory was the production facility of ICT Incorporated, a company in Shelby, Michigan, United States, that manufactured artificial gemstones through proprietary processes. ICT began operations in 1970 and closed in December 2019.

History

Larry Paul Kelley established ICT (International Crystal Technology) in 1970 with Craig Hardy and Tom VanBergen. Kelley had worked for Dow Chemical in Ludington and at a factory in Ann Arbor that produced laser crystals. The facility was sited in Shelby because the town had a new industrial park. By 2015, Kelley was ICT's sole owner. The Shelby Gem Factory initially produced only synthetic ruby, with ruby lasers being the principal application, primarily sold to firms in California. However, laser technology was in its infancy, and the far greater profit potential of converting ruby rods into a variety of artificial gemstones of various colors led to a change in the factory's focus. Larry Kelley built on Soviet research into cubic zirconia and became its first commercial producer, having solved issues of temperature control that had impeded its production. For a time, cubic zirconia was a lucrative product line; Shelby opened factories outside the United States to keep up with demand. However, the value of cubic zirconia soon declined to the point that it was used as fill when the factory was expanded. In 1983, ICT opened a faceting factory in southern China to create gemstones for jewelry use from the crystals produced in Shelby; this closed in 1991, and separate companies in China and South Korea were contracted to continue faceting. The South Korean market represented up to 40 percent of the factory's sales until a precipitous decline caused by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In 1994, the factory entered the business of recrystallizing rubies, buying low-grade gems from Myanmar to be melted down in the process. A 50-seat theater ran a presentation for visitors, and jewelry was sold on site. The factory closed in 2019 after Kelley was diagnosed in 2017 with Alzheimer's disease. Other issues that contributed to the closing were worldwide competition and online markets. Larry Kelley died on October 24, 2020.

Manufacturing

Some of the furnaces burned at 5,040 °F (2,780 °C). Factory tours were discontinued due to liability concerns attendant to the "very high temperatures and extremely bright light" and the unavailability of affordable insurance to cover the risk. The gems were synthesized in a furnace. The Shelby Gem Factory's diamonds were simulants. The factory also manufactured simulated citrine and topaz, along with other birthstone substitutes.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Shelby Gem Factory

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Shelby Gem Factory claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Shelby Gem Factory before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Shelby Gem Factory ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Shelby Gem Factory

In research: Shelby Gem Factory appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Shelby Gem Factory in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Shelby Gem Factory is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1970 establishments in Michigan, 2019 disestablishments in Michigan, American companies disestablished in 2019, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Shelby Gem Factory outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Shelby Gem Factory in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Shelby Gem Factory means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Shelby Gem Factory out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shelby Gem Factory in simple terms?

Why does Shelby Gem Factory matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Shelby Gem Factory?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Shelby Gem Factory.