diamonds

[einsteinsdog]

Will commercially manufactured diamonds one day replace mined diamonds?

[brachiopod]

A difficult one, that depends on many variables. Economics; costs of overheads; the price the article fetches on the market; consumer perception etc.

In terms of quality, it is now possible by a process called CVD (or Chemical Vapour Deposition) to make gem quality clear synthetics, that are described as 'perfect'.

It is in fact this 'perfectness' that enables CVD's to be distinguished from naturals. (de Beers spend a colossul amount of money developing ways of testing diamonds to distinguish naturals and synthetics.) These CVD synthetics are capable of exhibiting all the clarity, brilliance and flawlessness of a DF grade natural.

Although there is a test, and synthetics and naturals can therefore be distinguished, it is only the larger and more valuable stones that actually go for testing. Smaller, generic stones (and let's face it, these make up the bulk of the gem-quality diamond market) are not tested. It is in this area that a drop in consumer confidence as to the origin of the gem, could lead to a colllapse in the market.

Alternatively, a carefully orchestrated marketing campaign by de Beers, together with a definitve test(ie sufficiently cheap method so that all sizes of gem could be tested and certified as a natural), could increase the value of naturals by increasing the cachet of owning 'the real thing'.

Something along the lines of "Girls, do you want a 100% natural de Beers diamond, or a perfect synthetic one from Elizabeth Duke at Argos?" should probably do it.

[jake-the-peg]

Hopefully, De Beers are not a nice company.

They were asked to stop supplying Nazi Germany with industrial diamonds which would have severely hamperred German arms production in the war - which they refused to do.

They also have a history of blackmailing competetors including governments like the Australian government.

Such a shame when titanium nitride killed the industrial diamond market!

But gemstones are more about image and brand than real value so I think unfortunately there's life in them yet

[einsteinsdog]

good answers thanks everyone for the research

[WoWo]

Simply - No.

It's not a question of the quality of the diamond, the colour or the cost.

Why are diamonds expensive, not only because they are a nice colour and shiny, but because they are rare. It's this that is the prize which goes beyond it's physical attributes.

A man made diamond just doesn't have that and therefore in terms of "value" it will never be considerd in the same way as a "real" diamond.

[StevenJameson]

It won't. They may have the same look or the same beauty but nothing beats the original mined diamonds which is formed by nature. I don't have one but they are priceless.