Lab created sapphires are made in a laboratory which simulates the environment that natural sapphires are formed in. An extremely hot and high pressure environment is created using machinery that enables sapphires to be formed in as little as a few days, whereas natural sapphires take millions of years to form!
The advantage of vintage and antique sapphire rings is that they are likely to be natural as the machinery used for lab created sapphires was not widely used until the 1970’s. Yet, it is always advisable to go to a certified jeweller to be sure.