Not a lot of people are aware that man made diamonds exist, or that they are available for all types of jewelry. Man made diamonds have many names such as synthetic diamonds, fake diamonds, simulated diamonds, or lab diamonds. Even though these diamonds were not made by nature, they still have some characteristics that resemble the real deal. A lot of the most common features are hardly recognizable as one might think.
Originally created in Sweden in 1953, huge machines were used to create the characteristics of the three dimensional carbon crystals that would closely match a genuine diamond. For many years the process was not known until a company named General Electric or GE decided they would have a go at developing man-made diamonds. Once it was shown how effective GE had been at developing this creation, extensive research had been established and this encouraged other companies to get involved in the process, thus the man-made diamond industry had been born.
The industry that makes the synthetic diamonds is quite large and encompasses such companies as the United States Synthetic Diamond Industry, Smith Mega Diamonds, and Sumitomo Electric Hard Metal to name a few. What is quite amazing is that out of all of these companies over 3 billion carats of synthetic diamonds are made a year, but out of those only 130 million carats are made available for manufacturing gems. The rest of the synthetic diamonds are used for machinery, drilling equipment, tools, sanding discs, grinders, and other areas where there is a need for an extremely hard material.
One of the common methods for created lab diamonds is a process called HPHT – high pressure, high temperature. During this process some material is pressed under extremely high pressure – mimicking the the pressure that is created by the earths crust – which created real diamonds. Once the pressure treatment has begun, then it is taken through an extremely high temperature, to purify and crystallize the remaining stone.
As man made diamond research continued through the years, a method known as Chemical Vapor Deposition was developed (CVD) by a scientist by the name of Enrico Fermi. This process uses carbon plasma that is created on the top of tiny carbon atoms which are derived from lab created diamonds. The resulting gases are then compiled to mimic a diamond growth environment on the top layers which later turn into man made diamonds. These in turn can be used later on for applications such as machinery, gemstones, or compact disc players.
Man made diamonds have many other synonyms, like lab created diamonds, synthetic diamonds, non conflict diamonds, or simulated diamonds. As they are all created by complex manufacturing methods, they are all man made and can be used in the same ways as real diamonds are, without the high price.
Jeff Amasio is an author and speaker specializing in diamonds and diamond alternatives such as cubic zirconia, lab diamonds and other man-made diamonds. Before you buy an engagement ring, be sure you check out his excellent insider report on avoiding conflict diamonds and diamond fraud.
Comments are closed.