The Truth About Synthetic Diamonds

Synthetic diamonds are diamond crystals manufactured in laboratories through a technological process, versus natural diamonds, which are produced deep inside the earth through a geological process.

Synthetic diamonds are not to be confused with fake diamonds as we know it, like 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; only they are produced in labs or are man-made, and depending on the process, can even be superior to natural diamonds.

The procedure of creating a synthetic diamond is relatively easier than mining and processing 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 process of producing these cultured diamonds was first discovered by French chemist Henri Moissan in 1892. This process created small diamond fragments by heating charcoal, which is carbon, to an extremely high temperature in a cast iron crucible.

It is then rapidly cooled by immersing the crucible into cold water, causing it to shrink, which then creates enough pressure to crystallize the molten carbon into tiny diamond fragments.

After Moissan's process, the first commercial application of synthetic diamond production was developed by Tracy Hall for the General Electric Company in 1954.

This production process is known as the HTHP or high-temperature high-pressure, a procedure that has been improved upon and has been used to make industrial-grade diamonds to this day. Another main process being used to create synthetic diamonds is the Chemical Vapor Deposition or CVD method, which was first developed during the 1980s.

The HTHP technique applies a combination of heat and pressure on a diamond seed by using either a four-anvil tetrahedral press or a six-anvil cubic press. This is a process that attempts to replicate the natural conditions of diamonds formation inside the earth. The CVD method on the other hand, adds a vaporized carbon-plasma mixture with hydrogen, activated on the diamond seed using microwave energy, which then allows the gas to substrate.

This makes the diamond seed grow in successive layers.

Both procedures can produce cultured diamonds in a span of just several days. These stones can have the identical hardness, cleavage, light dispersion, refractive properties, specific gravity, and surface luster of a natural diamond, and may even contain small inclusions. Some cultured diamonds are even superior to their natural counterparts.

Just some of the known synthetic diamond manufacturers are Apollo Diamonds, Chatham Gems, Gemesis Cultured Diamonds, and Taurus Created Gems.

These companies create a range of lab diamonds, as they are also called, from colorless grade D diamonds to fancy diamonds.

Most synthetic diamonds will have a slightly yellowish hue because of nitrogen impurities that are present during its manufacturing.

These cultured diamonds can be distinguished from natural diamonds by using any of the following: infrared, ultraviolet, or X-ray spectroscopy. Its UV florescence can also be measured with a Diamond View tester.