Synthetic Diamonds - When lots of people think of diamonds, they often consider them coming straight from diamond mines and going to the jewelers from which they are acquired. Nonetheless, this is usually not the case. The majority of diamonds go through rigorous improvements in order to become exactly what you see in the precious stone precious jewelry situation at your neighborhood jewelers. One sort of diamond which does not come from the mines is a synthetic, or lab-created rock. The adhering to will review synthetics and highlight exactly how they differ from all-natural or mined rocks.
What Are Synthetic Diamonds?
Synthetics are diamonds which are manmade in contrast to being discovered already created in diamond mines. The synthetic diamond is put together by means of lab modern technology. The initial synthetic diamond was created by General Electric in 1955. Synthetic diamonds are not merely for putting on as they are utilized for commercial functions as well, such as for use in surgical tools and reducing many others gemstones.
Exactly how Do Synthetic Diamonds Differ From Natural or Mined Diamonds?
The primary difference in between synthetics and their organic equivalents is the portal which they are made. Whereas synthetic diamonds are produced in a lab by those individuals who are well versed in diamond synthesis, all-natural or mined diamonds are found in the mines already made, albeit they are in a harsh type. The diamonds discovered within the diamond mines are collected and then taken to one of many places where they are made nice for sale through reducing and brightening.
Just how Are Synthetic Diamonds Created?
There are 2 main means in which synthetic diamonds are produced. These include the very high tension high temperature technique and the chemical vapor deposition approach. The high stress high temperature level method takes carbon and makes it into a precious stone by utilizing higher stress and high temperature level to do so. For the chemical vapor deposition, this technique calls for heating hydrocarbon gas along with a metal surface.
Whether to Select an All-natural or Synthetic Precious stone?
When you are trying to choose whether to purchase an organic or synthetic precious stone there are a few factors to consider. Several of these decision-making factors include expense, desired usage for the precious stone and inclination of one precious stone type over the many others. Eventually, both diamonds are real diamonds although they originate via two different methods of production. Although there are ways to tell the difference in between the 2, they are both attractive gems in their very own right.
Synthetic Diamonds
Friday, October 16, 2009
The truth of Synthetic Diamonds
Synthetic Diamonds
Synthetic diamonds are diamond crystals produced in laboratories across the technological process, as compared to natural diamonds, which are produced deep within the earth through geological processes. Synthetic diamonds are not to be confused with fake diamonds, as it is known as diamond-like carbon, which is amorphous hard carbon or diamond stimulants, which are made of other materials such as cubic zirconia or silicon carbide.
Synthetic diamonds are actually real diamonds, but they are produced in laboratories or man-made, and depending on the procedure may be even better than natural diamonds. How to create a synthetic diamond is relatively easier than mining and processing of natural diamonds, which is why these stones are usually used in many industrial applications such as drilling and cutting tools, as well as in electronics.
The production process of cultured diamonds discovered a French chemist Henri Moissan in 1892. This process created a small diamond fragments of coal heating, which is carbon, the extremely high temperatures in the crucible of cast iron.
It is then rapidly cooled by immersing the crucible in cold water, causing it to shrink, which then creates enough pressure to the molten gel into small diamond carbon fragments. After the process Moissan was the first commercial application of synthetic diamond production developed by Tracy Hall for the General Electric Company in 1954.
This manufacturing process is known as HTHP or high-temperature high-pressure management, which was improved and was used to make industrial-diamond to this day. Another major process that is used to create synthetic diamonds is a chemical vapor deposition, or CVD method, which was developed during the first 1980.
HTHP technique applies a combination of heat and pressure on diamond seeds using either four-tetrahedral anvil press or six-anvil cubic press. This is a process that seeks to imitate the natural conditions for diamond formation inside the country. CVD method on the other hand, delivers vaporized carbon-plasma mixture of hydrogen, which is activated on the diamond seed using microwave energy, which then allows the gas to the substrate.
This is a diamond seeds grow in successive layers.
Both processes can produce cultured diamonds in the range of just a few days. These stones may have the same hardness, cleavage, dispersion of light, refractive properties, specific gravity and surface gloss natural diamond, and may even contain small inclusion. Some cultural diamonds are even better than their natural counterparts.
These are just some of the known synthetic diamond producers Apollo Diamonds, Chatham gemstones, Gemesis Cultured Diamonds and Created Gems Taurus.
These companies produce a number of laboratory diamonds, because they are also called, from D colorless diamond luxury diamonds. Most synthetic diamonds will have a slightly yellowish tint because of nitrogen impurities that are present in its manufacture.
These cultural diamonds can be distinguished from natural diamonds by using one of the following: infrared, ultraviolet, or X-ray spectroscopy. UV its heyday can also be measured with the tester Diamond View.
Synthetic Diamonds
Synthetic diamonds are diamond crystals produced in laboratories across the technological process, as compared to natural diamonds, which are produced deep within the earth through geological processes. Synthetic diamonds are not to be confused with fake diamonds, as it is known as diamond-like carbon, which is amorphous hard carbon or diamond stimulants, which are made of other materials such as cubic zirconia or silicon carbide.
Synthetic diamonds are actually real diamonds, but they are produced in laboratories or man-made, and depending on the procedure may be even better than natural diamonds. How to create a synthetic diamond is relatively easier than mining and processing of natural diamonds, which is why these stones are usually used in many industrial applications such as drilling and cutting tools, as well as in electronics.
The production process of cultured diamonds discovered a French chemist Henri Moissan in 1892. This process created a small diamond fragments of coal heating, which is carbon, the extremely high temperatures in the crucible of cast iron.
It is then rapidly cooled by immersing the crucible in cold water, causing it to shrink, which then creates enough pressure to the molten gel into small diamond carbon fragments. After the process Moissan was the first commercial application of synthetic diamond production developed by Tracy Hall for the General Electric Company in 1954.
This manufacturing process is known as HTHP or high-temperature high-pressure management, which was improved and was used to make industrial-diamond to this day. Another major process that is used to create synthetic diamonds is a chemical vapor deposition, or CVD method, which was developed during the first 1980.
HTHP technique applies a combination of heat and pressure on diamond seeds using either four-tetrahedral anvil press or six-anvil cubic press. This is a process that seeks to imitate the natural conditions for diamond formation inside the country. CVD method on the other hand, delivers vaporized carbon-plasma mixture of hydrogen, which is activated on the diamond seed using microwave energy, which then allows the gas to the substrate.
This is a diamond seeds grow in successive layers.
Both processes can produce cultured diamonds in the range of just a few days. These stones may have the same hardness, cleavage, dispersion of light, refractive properties, specific gravity and surface gloss natural diamond, and may even contain small inclusion. Some cultural diamonds are even better than their natural counterparts.
These are just some of the known synthetic diamond producers Apollo Diamonds, Chatham gemstones, Gemesis Cultured Diamonds and Created Gems Taurus.
These companies produce a number of laboratory diamonds, because they are also called, from D colorless diamond luxury diamonds. Most synthetic diamonds will have a slightly yellowish tint because of nitrogen impurities that are present in its manufacture.
These cultural diamonds can be distinguished from natural diamonds by using one of the following: infrared, ultraviolet, or X-ray spectroscopy. UV its heyday can also be measured with the tester Diamond View.
Synthetic Diamonds
Synthetic Diamonds - Almost as Real Ones
Synthetic Diamonds
The first types of synthetic diamond was created in 1954 by General Electric Company. A synthetic diamond is basically a stone possessing admirable qualities of the natural shape of the diamond as refractive index, hardness and durability.
The only difference between natural and synthetic diamonds is that the latter is manmade. A synthetic diamond should not be confused with one of the stimulants diamonds, Moissanite diamonds, glass or even cubic zirconia.
While modern technology in these actually started in 1954, had no points actually made available on the market until the year the 1990th This is because the General Electric Company took many years and experiments before they are able to create a synthetic diamond, which is comparable to the qualities and characteristics of natural diamonds. Ultimately, when GE was able to do it, it was found that production of synthetic diamonds are more expensive than if you would mine and cut the natural shape of diamonds.
Finally Gemesis Corporation, a small diamond company was able to find a method that involved the production of synthetic diamonds with the same quality as natural to them, at a much cheaper price. Gemesis is now the largest producer of synthetic white diamonds and colored damonder. These types of Gemesis diamonds sold for 1 / 3 of the price of natural diamonds. But, right now there is a shortage of these synthetic jewelry. Can you believe that synthetic diamonds were much rarer than natural to them?
Synthetic Diamonds
The first types of synthetic diamond was created in 1954 by General Electric Company. A synthetic diamond is basically a stone possessing admirable qualities of the natural shape of the diamond as refractive index, hardness and durability.
The only difference between natural and synthetic diamonds is that the latter is manmade. A synthetic diamond should not be confused with one of the stimulants diamonds, Moissanite diamonds, glass or even cubic zirconia.
While modern technology in these actually started in 1954, had no points actually made available on the market until the year the 1990th This is because the General Electric Company took many years and experiments before they are able to create a synthetic diamond, which is comparable to the qualities and characteristics of natural diamonds. Ultimately, when GE was able to do it, it was found that production of synthetic diamonds are more expensive than if you would mine and cut the natural shape of diamonds.
Finally Gemesis Corporation, a small diamond company was able to find a method that involved the production of synthetic diamonds with the same quality as natural to them, at a much cheaper price. Gemesis is now the largest producer of synthetic white diamonds and colored damonder. These types of Gemesis diamonds sold for 1 / 3 of the price of natural diamonds. But, right now there is a shortage of these synthetic jewelry. Can you believe that synthetic diamonds were much rarer than natural to them?
Synthetic Diamonds
Synthetic Diamonds
Synthetic diamonds
For people who can not afford real diamonds or want a 100 percent guarantee that their diamonds are conflict-free, synthetic diamonds are a good substitute. For many years, which is the only option was synthetic cubic zirconia, but now consumers can also choose from Moissanite and manmade diamonds.
Cubic zirconia, commonly known as CZ, is a gem laboratory that has been on the market since 1976. It is a hard bead (8.5 on the Mohs scale), but it is not as hard as diamond. On the one hand, CZ compositionally superior diamond. CZ has more shine and sparkle, it is absolutely colorless, and it has no recordings. But most consumers agree that CZ is simply too perfect - it looks artificial, even with the naked eye. Because of this, some CZ manufacturers began to produce the pearl with colored shades and inclusions, so it more closely resembles the diamond.
Moissanite has been CZ largest synthetic rival. Moissanite became available in 1998, and it is even more similar to diamond in composition and appearance. Moissanite is harder than CZ, but at 9.5 on the Mohs scale, it is still softer than diamond. Moissanite's color is pale yellow or green and tint becomes more visible in larger stones. It also has small, stretch-mark-like inclusions, which form during his growing process. Like CZ, Moissanite is more brilliant than diamond, but this quality is considered as a drawback rather than an advantage.
The closest approximation to the synthetic diamond is a man-made diamond. In contrast to the CZ and Moissanite, synthetic diamonds are pure carbon. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) recognizes these as genuine diamonds from a composition perspective. But, the man-made diamonds are not the rich geological history that natural diamonds do. Laboratory simulation of the heat and pressure from the Earth's mantle, which creates natural diamonds. For the synthetic producers and consumers, diamonds come down to a matter of time and money: day to millions of years, thousands of dollars compared to tens of thousands of dollars or more (synthetic diamonds sell for about 30 percent less than natural to them) [source : MSN]. If you want a unique color, relatively cheap diamond (it will cost less than a natural colored diamond) you can find man-made them in the colors orange, yellow, pink and blue. Find a big diamond will be a bigger challenge - the majority of synthetic diamonds weighing less than a carat. If you want the best man has to offer, synthetic diamonds are a no-brain. While jewelers can have trouble telling them apart from natural. To prevent retailers from passing without synthetic diamonds as natural to them, the GIA is selling machines that will help jewelers easily distinguish between the two.
It may come as no surprise that the developer behind these machines is none other than King of the natural diamond industry
Synthetic diamonds
For people who can not afford real diamonds or want a 100 percent guarantee that their diamonds are conflict-free, synthetic diamonds are a good substitute. For many years, which is the only option was synthetic cubic zirconia, but now consumers can also choose from Moissanite and manmade diamonds.
Cubic zirconia, commonly known as CZ, is a gem laboratory that has been on the market since 1976. It is a hard bead (8.5 on the Mohs scale), but it is not as hard as diamond. On the one hand, CZ compositionally superior diamond. CZ has more shine and sparkle, it is absolutely colorless, and it has no recordings. But most consumers agree that CZ is simply too perfect - it looks artificial, even with the naked eye. Because of this, some CZ manufacturers began to produce the pearl with colored shades and inclusions, so it more closely resembles the diamond.Moissanite has been CZ largest synthetic rival. Moissanite became available in 1998, and it is even more similar to diamond in composition and appearance. Moissanite is harder than CZ, but at 9.5 on the Mohs scale, it is still softer than diamond. Moissanite's color is pale yellow or green and tint becomes more visible in larger stones. It also has small, stretch-mark-like inclusions, which form during his growing process. Like CZ, Moissanite is more brilliant than diamond, but this quality is considered as a drawback rather than an advantage.
The closest approximation to the synthetic diamond is a man-made diamond. In contrast to the CZ and Moissanite, synthetic diamonds are pure carbon. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) recognizes these as genuine diamonds from a composition perspective. But, the man-made diamonds are not the rich geological history that natural diamonds do. Laboratory simulation of the heat and pressure from the Earth's mantle, which creates natural diamonds. For the synthetic producers and consumers, diamonds come down to a matter of time and money: day to millions of years, thousands of dollars compared to tens of thousands of dollars or more (synthetic diamonds sell for about 30 percent less than natural to them) [source : MSN]. If you want a unique color, relatively cheap diamond (it will cost less than a natural colored diamond) you can find man-made them in the colors orange, yellow, pink and blue. Find a big diamond will be a bigger challenge - the majority of synthetic diamonds weighing less than a carat. If you want the best man has to offer, synthetic diamonds are a no-brain. While jewelers can have trouble telling them apart from natural. To prevent retailers from passing without synthetic diamonds as natural to them, the GIA is selling machines that will help jewelers easily distinguish between the two.
It may come as no surprise that the developer behind these machines is none other than King of the natural diamond industry
Synthetic diamonds
Synthetic Diamonds - Facts and Advice Regarding on Lab Created Diamonds
Synthetic diamonds
Gem quality synthetic diamonds have entered the jewelry market in recent years and the technology used to create them is improving rapidly. Use the references here to get the facts about created diamonds.
Diamonds From Human Ashes
Created diamonds are becoming more common, but the stones produced by LifeGem are unique. These fancy colored diamonds are made from human remains. Would you wear them?
Apollo Diamond
Apollo Diamond makes synthetic diamonds of up to one carat. They provide the facts about their synthetic diamonds and diamonds in general.
Growing Diamonds
The American Museum of Natural History explains some of the history of diamond synthesis. They include a graphic and text to explain a little bit about how diamonds are created in the laboratory.
Synthetic diamonds
Gem quality synthetic diamonds have entered the jewelry market in recent years and the technology used to create them is improving rapidly. Use the references here to get the facts about created diamonds.
Diamonds From Human Ashes
Created diamonds are becoming more common, but the stones produced by LifeGem are unique. These fancy colored diamonds are made from human remains. Would you wear them?
Apollo Diamond
Apollo Diamond makes synthetic diamonds of up to one carat. They provide the facts about their synthetic diamonds and diamonds in general.
Growing Diamonds
The American Museum of Natural History explains some of the history of diamond synthesis. They include a graphic and text to explain a little bit about how diamonds are created in the laboratory.
Synthetic diamonds
Synthetic diamonds still a rough cut
Synthetic diamonds
The day may come when the diamonds adorning red carpet celebrities come from a factory in Florida instead of a mine in Liberia, but do not expect a huge paradigm shift yet.
Synthetic diamond makers received a boost in January when the Gemological Institute of America - the organization that invented the color, cut, clarity and carat diamond standards 50 years ago - began grading the quality of lab-grown diamonds.
"It gives validity to what investors and manufacturers of gems have been saying for several years," says Stephen Lux, CEO of Diamond Gemesis in Sarasota, Fla. "The alternative to lab-grown diamonds are a reality, and these diamonds are a nice value compared to mined stones which are scarce. "
It takes Gemesis four days to grow a diamond of an average of 2.5 carats. The process begins by placing a microscopic diamond grains in a 4,000-pound machine about the size of a kitchen oven. Having hundreds of thousands of pounds of pressure and at temperatures as high as 2700 degrees Fahrenheit, the nugget grows, one atom at a time. It uses about 20 kilowatt-hours per carat, "says Reza Abbaschian, a materials scientist who helped the company develop its process.
The Gemesis process mimics a diamond development a few hundred miles the ground. Apollo Diamond, based near Boston, takes a different tack, imitating the way diamonds are produced in space. Through CVD, Apollo process pumps gas into a chamber that essentially count the carbon, forming a diamond nugget from a "seed" within two to four weeks.
For now comes the most cultured diamonds in colors, the natural corollary is rare in nature and pricey in stores. Gemesis specializes in yellow diamonds that get their color from a boost in nitrogen. Gemesis' Lux estimates the potential market for yellow diamonds alone to be in the tens of millions of dollars. He hopes to create more colorful and larger gems over the next five years.
Apollo Diamond produces colorless stones from quarter carat to a half carat in size. The company spent most of a decade refining a method that has already created the kind of thin diamond film that gives scalpel and industrial tools a rigid coating.
If you cultivate it, will they buy?
As far as aesthetics go, consumers should not see any difference. Both mined and synthetic diamonds are chemically identical. Neither the naked eye or an ordinary microscope can detect the difference. Dragonflies can tell with a loupe by reading a laser inscription required by the FTC. Otherwise, it takes high-tech equipment that analyzes the crystal structure of diamonds (like a proprietary machine De Beers has) to distinguish.
While some consumers may see an advantage to synthetic diamonds, however, is in the environmental and political arenas. Bryant Linares, CEO of diamond maker Apollo Diamond, predicts that lab-grown gems will fill a niche in the market for jewelry shoppers wary of the ecological damage of mining, and the costs in human lives imposed on the illegal trade in diamonds in Africa . Mining removes several hundred tons of earth to extract one carat worth of diamond. Amnesty International estimates that 3.7 million people have died in Africa in the smuggling of conflict diamonds to fund rebel armies.
And there is a cost benefit to consumers. After being polished, polished and set in jewelry, synthetic stones cost about 15 percent less than comparable diamonds.
Actually Gemesis experiencing rapid growth. It adds a new diamond pressure cooker to its collection of hundreds every few days. Diamond production has tripled since last summer, Lux plans to further expand its 10,000 square meter operation later this year.
Several brick-and-mortar jewelry stores, as well as online retailers, carry Gemesis gems. But not everyone has taken a shine to the lab-made gems. Tiffany and other elite jewelers reprimand synthetic diamond. And the jewelry industry continues to debate whether lab-grown diamonds deserve to be baptized "cultured pearls," like pearls.
Others say the ethical incentives are excessive. Only about 5 percent of people who saw the film Blood Diamond, which showed the ugly side of the mined diamond trade, said they would change their shopping habits to avoid the so-called conflict diamonds, according Jewelry Consumer Opinion Council.
And because the diamond industry has improved its practice to trace the source of each stone through the Kimberley Process, eschews diamonds for human rights reasons is short sighted, says Rob Bates, senior editor at jewelers Circular Keystone magazine.
"When you buy diamonds, you're helping communities in Africa," he said. "When you buy them made by a machine, you're helping 20 guys in Florida."
Bates and others believe that professional grown diamonds do not live up to their hype, and that it may take them a lifetime to represent a viable alternative to mined gems in jewelry.
"There is hardly anyone out there, and those who are out there, mostly fancy colored diamonds for high prices," he said. "We not only are not there yet, we are not even close to that."
Like Bates, claims other industry observers, the demand for man-made diamonds are probably greater than supply. "I would be surprised if there were more than 10,000 carats in single stone in existence," says Liz Chatelain, president of marketing firm that runs JCOC. "Ten years from now when the technology is in place and there is a market around it, it can make a difference enough to really infiltrate the market."
Lab-grown diamonds can fill a niche, especially for those customers seeking colored stones, but they will probably not replace diamonds in the most valuable jewels, "said Chatelain. "If there is something that took 3 billion years and something that took three weeks to do is get to the premium 3 billion."
It does not prevent the diamond makers from dreaming. For now only begin-ups as Gemesis and Apollo seems to produce them for jewelry, although De Beers' Element 6 Division has made diamonds for decades. Diamond-makers look forward to the anticipated increase in demand for diamonds from developing countries, particularly China and India. The relatively low cost of launching a synthetic diamond mine against billions of dollars it takes to cut a new mine from the ground could benefit companies like Gemesis and Apollo in the long run, experts say.
"Man-made diamonds will be with us in many ways, we can only begin to imagine right now that will materially affect everyone on earth," says Apollo's Linares.
For example, as microprocessors continue to become hotter, faster and less in line with Moore's Law, diamonds could replace heat-sensitive silicon. The thermal conductivity, stiffness and transparency of diamonds, also makes them attractive for next generation optics, digital data storage and in nanotek medical equipment. And much further into the future, Linares imagines that diamonds components themselves could clean up toxic waste and lead to ultra-efficient, compact solar panels.
Synthetic diamonds
The day may come when the diamonds adorning red carpet celebrities come from a factory in Florida instead of a mine in Liberia, but do not expect a huge paradigm shift yet.
Synthetic diamond makers received a boost in January when the Gemological Institute of America - the organization that invented the color, cut, clarity and carat diamond standards 50 years ago - began grading the quality of lab-grown diamonds.
"It gives validity to what investors and manufacturers of gems have been saying for several years," says Stephen Lux, CEO of Diamond Gemesis in Sarasota, Fla. "The alternative to lab-grown diamonds are a reality, and these diamonds are a nice value compared to mined stones which are scarce. "
It takes Gemesis four days to grow a diamond of an average of 2.5 carats. The process begins by placing a microscopic diamond grains in a 4,000-pound machine about the size of a kitchen oven. Having hundreds of thousands of pounds of pressure and at temperatures as high as 2700 degrees Fahrenheit, the nugget grows, one atom at a time. It uses about 20 kilowatt-hours per carat, "says Reza Abbaschian, a materials scientist who helped the company develop its process.
The Gemesis process mimics a diamond development a few hundred miles the ground. Apollo Diamond, based near Boston, takes a different tack, imitating the way diamonds are produced in space. Through CVD, Apollo process pumps gas into a chamber that essentially count the carbon, forming a diamond nugget from a "seed" within two to four weeks.
For now comes the most cultured diamonds in colors, the natural corollary is rare in nature and pricey in stores. Gemesis specializes in yellow diamonds that get their color from a boost in nitrogen. Gemesis' Lux estimates the potential market for yellow diamonds alone to be in the tens of millions of dollars. He hopes to create more colorful and larger gems over the next five years.
Apollo Diamond produces colorless stones from quarter carat to a half carat in size. The company spent most of a decade refining a method that has already created the kind of thin diamond film that gives scalpel and industrial tools a rigid coating.
If you cultivate it, will they buy?
As far as aesthetics go, consumers should not see any difference. Both mined and synthetic diamonds are chemically identical. Neither the naked eye or an ordinary microscope can detect the difference. Dragonflies can tell with a loupe by reading a laser inscription required by the FTC. Otherwise, it takes high-tech equipment that analyzes the crystal structure of diamonds (like a proprietary machine De Beers has) to distinguish.
While some consumers may see an advantage to synthetic diamonds, however, is in the environmental and political arenas. Bryant Linares, CEO of diamond maker Apollo Diamond, predicts that lab-grown gems will fill a niche in the market for jewelry shoppers wary of the ecological damage of mining, and the costs in human lives imposed on the illegal trade in diamonds in Africa . Mining removes several hundred tons of earth to extract one carat worth of diamond. Amnesty International estimates that 3.7 million people have died in Africa in the smuggling of conflict diamonds to fund rebel armies.
And there is a cost benefit to consumers. After being polished, polished and set in jewelry, synthetic stones cost about 15 percent less than comparable diamonds.
Actually Gemesis experiencing rapid growth. It adds a new diamond pressure cooker to its collection of hundreds every few days. Diamond production has tripled since last summer, Lux plans to further expand its 10,000 square meter operation later this year.
Several brick-and-mortar jewelry stores, as well as online retailers, carry Gemesis gems. But not everyone has taken a shine to the lab-made gems. Tiffany and other elite jewelers reprimand synthetic diamond. And the jewelry industry continues to debate whether lab-grown diamonds deserve to be baptized "cultured pearls," like pearls.
Others say the ethical incentives are excessive. Only about 5 percent of people who saw the film Blood Diamond, which showed the ugly side of the mined diamond trade, said they would change their shopping habits to avoid the so-called conflict diamonds, according Jewelry Consumer Opinion Council.
And because the diamond industry has improved its practice to trace the source of each stone through the Kimberley Process, eschews diamonds for human rights reasons is short sighted, says Rob Bates, senior editor at jewelers Circular Keystone magazine.
"When you buy diamonds, you're helping communities in Africa," he said. "When you buy them made by a machine, you're helping 20 guys in Florida."
Bates and others believe that professional grown diamonds do not live up to their hype, and that it may take them a lifetime to represent a viable alternative to mined gems in jewelry.
"There is hardly anyone out there, and those who are out there, mostly fancy colored diamonds for high prices," he said. "We not only are not there yet, we are not even close to that."
Like Bates, claims other industry observers, the demand for man-made diamonds are probably greater than supply. "I would be surprised if there were more than 10,000 carats in single stone in existence," says Liz Chatelain, president of marketing firm that runs JCOC. "Ten years from now when the technology is in place and there is a market around it, it can make a difference enough to really infiltrate the market."
Lab-grown diamonds can fill a niche, especially for those customers seeking colored stones, but they will probably not replace diamonds in the most valuable jewels, "said Chatelain. "If there is something that took 3 billion years and something that took three weeks to do is get to the premium 3 billion."
It does not prevent the diamond makers from dreaming. For now only begin-ups as Gemesis and Apollo seems to produce them for jewelry, although De Beers' Element 6 Division has made diamonds for decades. Diamond-makers look forward to the anticipated increase in demand for diamonds from developing countries, particularly China and India. The relatively low cost of launching a synthetic diamond mine against billions of dollars it takes to cut a new mine from the ground could benefit companies like Gemesis and Apollo in the long run, experts say.
"Man-made diamonds will be with us in many ways, we can only begin to imagine right now that will materially affect everyone on earth," says Apollo's Linares.
For example, as microprocessors continue to become hotter, faster and less in line with Moore's Law, diamonds could replace heat-sensitive silicon. The thermal conductivity, stiffness and transparency of diamonds, also makes them attractive for next generation optics, digital data storage and in nanotek medical equipment. And much further into the future, Linares imagines that diamonds components themselves could clean up toxic waste and lead to ultra-efficient, compact solar panels.
Synthetic diamonds
Thursday, October 15, 2009
What are Synthetic Diamonds used for
Synthetic Diamonds
Synthetic diamonds, or cubic zirconia, are man-made diamond-like crystals that possess many of the same properties as natural diamonds. Because of their availability, characteristics and cost effectiveness, they are used in a number of applications that previously employed natural diamonds. These include abrasives, cutting and polishing tools, and use in heat sinks--and more applications are being developed every day. Synthetic diamonds are also used in the jewelry industry, as they are very difficult to distinguish from the real thing.
Industrial Applications
With their unparalleled hardness, synthetic diamonds are used in a variety of industrial capacities, such as machining and cutting. As the hardest known material, synthetic diamonds are used to tip drill bits and saw blades. The dust from synthetic diamonds is used as an abrasive for polishing. Synthetic diamonds are actually preferred over natural diamonds for these purposes because they are easy to produce and have consistent quality.
Consumer Electronics
Synthetic diamonds are also valued for their ability to conduct thermal energy while retarding electrical conductivity. This characteristic is invaluable in electronics applications, where the diamond is used as a heat sink for high power devices such as semiconductor lasers and high power transistors. The diamonds facilitate the dissipation of the immense amount of heat put out by these devices, thus extending the devices' life.
Optical Applications
Synthetic diamonds are hard, chemically inert compounds that can conduct thermal energy without expanding or deforming. This makes a perfect compound for creating a "window" for transmitting infrared or microwave energy. Synthetic diamonds are starting to replace older, less efficient materials in the construction of output windows of CO2 lasers.
Semiconductors
Research is being conducted on the use of synthetic diamonds as semiconductors, because they can be contaminated with impurities such as boron and phosphorus. Diamonds have shown promise in the consumer electronics industry because they have greater resistance to heat breakdown than silicon devices. They are also resistant to chemical and radiation damage.
Jewelry
Of course, synthetic diamonds are used in the marketplace as an alternative to natural diamonds. Synthetic diamonds can be manufactured in a variety of colors. They are visually identical to natural diamonds to the naked eye. Special equipment can be used to detect the differences in crystal formation. Synthetic diamonds offer consumers the same brilliance, hardness and beauty of natural diamonds for a fraction of the cost.
Synthetic Diamonds
Synthetic diamonds, or cubic zirconia, are man-made diamond-like crystals that possess many of the same properties as natural diamonds. Because of their availability, characteristics and cost effectiveness, they are used in a number of applications that previously employed natural diamonds. These include abrasives, cutting and polishing tools, and use in heat sinks--and more applications are being developed every day. Synthetic diamonds are also used in the jewelry industry, as they are very difficult to distinguish from the real thing.
Industrial Applications
With their unparalleled hardness, synthetic diamonds are used in a variety of industrial capacities, such as machining and cutting. As the hardest known material, synthetic diamonds are used to tip drill bits and saw blades. The dust from synthetic diamonds is used as an abrasive for polishing. Synthetic diamonds are actually preferred over natural diamonds for these purposes because they are easy to produce and have consistent quality.
Consumer Electronics
Synthetic diamonds are also valued for their ability to conduct thermal energy while retarding electrical conductivity. This characteristic is invaluable in electronics applications, where the diamond is used as a heat sink for high power devices such as semiconductor lasers and high power transistors. The diamonds facilitate the dissipation of the immense amount of heat put out by these devices, thus extending the devices' life.
Optical Applications
Synthetic diamonds are hard, chemically inert compounds that can conduct thermal energy without expanding or deforming. This makes a perfect compound for creating a "window" for transmitting infrared or microwave energy. Synthetic diamonds are starting to replace older, less efficient materials in the construction of output windows of CO2 lasers.
Semiconductors
Research is being conducted on the use of synthetic diamonds as semiconductors, because they can be contaminated with impurities such as boron and phosphorus. Diamonds have shown promise in the consumer electronics industry because they have greater resistance to heat breakdown than silicon devices. They are also resistant to chemical and radiation damage.
Jewelry
Of course, synthetic diamonds are used in the marketplace as an alternative to natural diamonds. Synthetic diamonds can be manufactured in a variety of colors. They are visually identical to natural diamonds to the naked eye. Special equipment can be used to detect the differences in crystal formation. Synthetic diamonds offer consumers the same brilliance, hardness and beauty of natural diamonds for a fraction of the cost.
Synthetic Diamonds
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