Manmade Diamonds
July 21st, 2006 @ 5:48 pm by Mrs. Bee
Miss Ant’s earlier post about diamonds reminded me of the new manmade diamonds, which may one day render DeBeers obsolete.
Diamonds are the hardest substance on earth - perfect for lasers and computer chips - so scientists have been trying to replicate their properties for decades. While pursuing those projects, Apollo cofounder Robert Linares accidentally discovered how to replicate gems.
Apollo Diamond now “grows” diamonds in a lab that are virtually indistinguishable from those mined from nature. They have plans to sell their diamonds at Tiffany - at perhaps one-third the cost of mined diamonds. Of course they’re being met with opposition by the only name in the business:
De Beers launched a public relations campaign and an education program for jewelers, all aimed at portraying mined diamonds as real and eternal - and CVD* or Gemesis** diamonds as fake and tacky.
Both Apollo and Gemesis want to market their gems as “cultured diamonds,” taking a cue from cultured pearls. De Beers is fighting that label. “It’s misleading and unacceptable,” says De Beers executive Simon Lawson. “It makes people think (manufacturing diamonds) is an organic process, and it’s not.”
Even highly trained diamond experts find it almost impossible to tell a CVD diamond from a mined one. De Beers is determined to help by making machines that can detect the slightest difference in the way the two materials refract light.
* chemical vapor deposition - the process by which Apollo manufactures their diamonds.
**A Russian company which manufactures yellow diamonds.
An Apollo manmade diamond
Would you care whether or not you had a DeBeers diamond or an Apollo diamond if it were a fraction of the cost and indistinguishable from a mined diamond?
(source: usatoday)
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42 Responses to “Manmade Diamonds”
Apollo diamonds… i wonder what the pricing will be…
Takara diamonds also sells man-made 100% diamonds. They come in fancy colors like pink, yellow, and BLUE *drooooool*
I have to wonder if the apollo diamonds will go up in value like real diamonds do. I didn’t get a DeBeers diamond. I pointed my fiance to one of the reputable onilne diamond dealers, and we got it was waaay cheaper than I would have it we had gone to Tiffany, Cartier or wherever. I’m fine with it being a no-name diamond! 
I’d take the replica- especially if it’s substantially cheaper & more politically-friendly
I have several people telling me that diamonds are actually quite abundance in Africa, and what De Beers do w/ pay people to cover up those diamond mines to keep to supply limited, thus keeping the price high.
My ring isn’t a diamond. It’s moissanite
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moissanite#Gemstone
Which is much cheaper, nearly as hard, has a higher refractive index, and exactly what I wanted. =) Saved us a ton of money, and I never worry about losing it. And no one can tell by looking at it that it is not a diamond.
I prefer the cultured diamonds, since warring over diamonds has caused a lot of needless hardship for the countries in which diamonds are mined. DeBeers has a lot of business practices that are sketchy at best - I’d rather not support them.
I don’t think I would mind. I can’t tell the difference. Then again, I don’t know that much about diamonds…
Part of me feels guilty for wanting a real diamond versus a manmade one, but I don’t like the idea of a sterilized lab created one either. It seems to take the personality out of the gems. However, morally I find it appalling how DeBeers rules the diamond industry. Maybe other precious stones will become fashionable again!
I’d take the cultured diamond–can you find us some listings for cultured diamonds?
Im not sure how I feel When my fiance and I started looking a while ago we looked at Mosinite which is similar I wasnt sure in the end and I guess Im not sure still My diamond however isnt a DeBeers one
thank you so much for posting this! miss. ant’s post has had me thinking all day and i was trying to think of alternatives but i love the diamond look too much to completely give it up… so this is a great alternative!
Wow, i want a pink diamond! How cool is that!?
I wonder if manmade diamonds will decrease the price/value of natural diamonds…? Since diamond usually rise in value due to rarity… will this continue if there comes an overbundance of manmade diamonds? hum.. Thanks for the post!
I saw this on the news too a while ago. Personally, I side with De Beer. To me, it’s not about whether you can distinguish the two (mined diamonds and man-made diamonds) or not. It’s about the fact that man-made is exactly that.. man-made. When it comes to diamonds, what has always made it special and “valuable” for as long as diamonds exist is exactly that it is created from nature, over a LONG period of time, not from a LAB. You can’t get it EASILY overnight. When you man-make it, w/only a *fraction* of the time that it takes to create real diamonds, it loses that inherent unique-ness and quality that is only done possible by “nature”. Yes man made diamonds cost a lot cheaper, and you most likely will not be able to tell the difference. You can insist on the fact that it *looks* just the same as mined diamonds, but come on, we know it simply is not. No offense to anyone who supports man made diamonds, to me, it almost feels like cheating. My personal choice is still mined diamonds.
Oh just to clarify, when I say I side with De Beer, I don’t mean it as in for the sake of their BRAND name. It can be a completely different company, even a no name one, my position is simply on the generic side of *mined/nature made diamonds*.
apollo or de beers - it doesn’t matter to me. after getting mine and being engaged - it’s not about the quality or size of the rock - it’s about the love and if you guys will last.
yeah, i think ceana said it best! girls, we gotta stop getting mesmerized by those nice, sparkly things. yeah, i know it’s hard..
Sounds like a great alternative when I want to get a huge canary diamond!
My vintage diamond–I wonder if it can be considered a conflict diamond since it was “found” almost 100 years ago. I don’t know–I guess I will have to do some research.
There’s no such thing as a “De Beers diamond” per se. De Beers used to have a near monopoly on diamonds. But in the past decade or so, their market share has been erroding. De Beers sells uncut diamonds to a handful of wholesalers and then the diamonds pass through various wholesale/retail channels. There’s really no way of knowing whether a particular diamond came from a de beers owned mine once it hits the retail market.
De Beers as a retail brand (at least in the US) is a fairly new phenomenon — they opened the store on 5th and 55th a couple of years ago.
More info on De Beers is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Beers
http://www.answers.com/topic/de-beers
Would i ever get a man-made diamond? … um … right after I buy a prada bag off the street (i.e. never)
a diamond is a diamond.. it’s natural and unique just as J wrote. i’d rather my fiance buy me a smaller diamond than to buy me something man made. it just doesn’t seem right to me.
i always say i’ll know my man is the right one when he knows not to get me a conflict diamond. i would love a man-made diamond!
I definately wouldn’t care. DeBeers is getting worried. 
And Ceana is right. An engagement isn’t about the size of the diamond (or whatever kind of stone you get), it’s about the relationship. Yeah, the ring is pretty, but I’m not about to make my b/f go out and buy me something outrageously expensive.
DeBeers is just another diamond cartel, feeding the world blood diamonds without remorse.
A great post about it: http://www.xanga.com/AristotleForDummies/509177023/diamonds-and-genocide-are-forever.html
just because you bought your diamond online, from blue nile or any other place, doesn’t mean it didn’t come from a mine owned by debeers.
i’m really really glad to hear that others are interested and thinking about lab created diamonds.
I’m still rather divided on the issue–as a human I’m definitely against all the conflict revolving around DeBeers, but at the same time I sort of have to be on their side–high-quality mined diamonds are really rare, and if they can be reproduced in a lab that’s fine for some, but that really seems to take the “specialness” out of the stone. Personally, I always get a kick out of looking at my stone and thinking about how it was formed (beauty in nature, etc.). If I had a created diamond I would be missing out on that awe.
It’s sort of like created gemstones–I worked in a jewelry store for three years during high school, and when we started carrying created pink sapphires I was really excited ’cause they were soooo pretty, but then I started to look down my nose on them a bit, just because they were too clear, too big, too artificial-looking. In short, they lacked the unique and special look of natural pink sapphires. I still think they’re fine for anyone who doesn’t care or can’t afford the real deal, but I don’t think I’d ever be happy owning one.
i think i can care less where it comes from
I agree with the other poster who said that the appeal of diamonds are patially the fact that it’s a natual stone, and not manmade, but almost like a work of art. Also, keep in mind, not all diamonds are “conflict” diamonds, or blood diamonds. http://www.kimberlyprocess.com is a group of 99.8% of the global production of rough cut diamonds. Also certain diamond graders are including in the information cert. given when a certain diamond is bought the origination of the diamond, to know where your diamond is from. I doubt diamonds will ever be out of style or favor, because consumers seem to have short memories regarding conflict issues. Like there are some people who will drive an SUV instead of an energy efficient car, or some who will buy real fur as opposed to faux. There will always be a market for everything, whether some are opposed or not.
I wouldn’t mind at all. I’ve actually asked my boyfriend to propose with a manmade diamond or a different gem entirely. This is partially because of my two lovely roommates who themselves will have manmade diamonds in the not-so-distant future. They’ve done a ridiculous amount of research on the diamond industry, and don’t want to support it at all, and I agree. I don’t want to support an industry that takes such huge advantage of so many people. Also, the price. My roommate’s boyfriend recently spent less than $500 on an amazing ring that was exactly what she wanted. I don’t want to be wearing 3 or more years of rent money on my finger. What matters is the commitment, not the stone that you use to symbolize it.
I can understand that whole “work of art” arguement, but the man-made diamonds aren’t perfect, either. Further, the cut of the diamond is entirely divorced from the creation process, and is as important to the look as the color and clarity (which is, after all, the major parts that are influenced by the creation process).
And I have a diamond. Because my finance really wanted me to have a diamond. I did educate him a bit on what to look for. Man-made dimond would be fine, but I’d rather have had no stone than CZ. YMMV (Your mileage may vary)
hmmm…i feel like i’m gonna get slammed for my opinions here. diamonds that are naturally made are special, and i wouldn’t want anything that was man-made, because even if an expert wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, i would know. i also dont think its fair to compare man made diamonds to cultured pearls. the only difference between cultured pearls and natural pearls is that natural pearls would be very rare, as oysters did not always make pearls. cultured pearls are still made the same way by oysters, only we put a foreign object in the oyster to get the process started. man made diamonds are not made the same way as natural diamonds - which is why it seems like its “cheating” or not special.
Even though I like the way diamonds look, I didn’t want one for social and environmental reasons. I don’t want diamonds and gold as a symbol of love if the blood of innocent people are on it — as is often the case. Nor do I want to fund terrorists.
I also disagree with De Beer’s marketing campaign. As a kid, I remember it was “two month’s salary” for a diamond…now the commercials say three months! I agree with Ceana and K!
Anyways, my FI had a different dilemma when he proposed - rather than worrying about carats, he was worried he wouldn’t be able to find something that would be environmentally and socially acceptable to me.
For wedding bands, I’m pushing for wooden rings - I like the warm colors!
http://www.touchwoodrings.com/
Flawed Kimberly Process - http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/diamond/kimberlindex.htm
Blood Diamonds - http://www.amnestyusa.org/amnestynow/diamonds.html
I side-stepped the whole issue entirely — my ring is white and blue sapphires. I definitely did not want to support conflict diamonds, and I could not be sure, and I wanted something unique
No way in the world I would support conflict diamonds, so man-made is a much better alternative, in my opinion. But I really love sapphires dearly, much more so than diamonds — the ring was perfect and still is — and so is the guy who gifted me with it.
A few notes here that I think the readers/commenters might find interesting:
1) The man-made diamond VS DeBeers diamond idea is misleading. Up until recently DeBeers was on the forfront of CVD diamond research. They’ve spun off much of their research (see ElementSix) probably because CVD diamonds just don’t pose much danger or offer much value to the gem market right now. The day may come, but it will be in the future.
2a) The cost savings in producing gem-quality CVD diamond is far overrated. It is true that the components - electricity, methane, hydrogen, etc - are all super cheap. However, the machinery is millions of dollars, the work force is super pricey (PhD’s + some B.S. holders), and the output incredibly low. Never forget that Apollo will sell their gems for what they can get - market price - not what they cost to make. Don’t expect any significant savings anytime soon.
2b) Besides, diamond is a cheap material. Paying Africans a few dollars a day to dig them up is cheap. Getting them cut and ready for sale…more expensive. Building a store, hiring personel, paying insurance, etc - that’s costly. CVD diamond growth doesn’t skip any step except for the easy part, getting the rock out of the ground.
3) None of this means CVD diamond won’t have a place in the gem market. Today it has been proven possible to grow single crystal diamond over 5″+ diameter evently. It has been proven possible to grow diamond at 100um/hr and higher. If you could do both - which no one can, yet - you could grow slabs of diamond thousands upon thousands of carats in weight. This would allow CVD diamond growth to produce massive diamond gems. While I do not exepect CVD diamond growth to lower gem diamond prices for the .1-1 carat range anytime in the next fifty years, it is entirely possible that they bring very high carat diamonds down in price considerably.
In conclusion, never forget that there are more than thirty [i]million[/i] carats worth of gem diamond mined out of the ground every year. We’ll hear a lot of noise about Apollo & co., but make no mistake, these companies can’t hope to produce even a tiny, inisignicant fraction of the total diamonds that enter the market anytime soon, and until they can, don’t expect prices to change significantly.
I’m just going to go with a ruby!
When looking for my anniversary ring I went to every reputable online store (mondera, bluenile, etc) and sent e-mails telling them that I wanted a diamond but it could not ever be associated with DeBeers. Not one could tell me that they could provide this promise. They were very honest about it, one company stating that they purchased from DeBeers. I looked into Canadian mined diamonds from the major mines up there but there’s issues with worker problems at the Ekhati mine and then the question was about the environmental harm of mining.
A lot of diamonds I see are cut to maximize size and weight which leaves them with horrible proportions and a lot of light leakage (ie your stone won’t shine nicely). My husband had a choice: custom cut sapphire ring or an Apollo diamond ring (the sapphire was 300 dollars cheaper than the Apollo diamond). I would have been happy with either and was leaning towards the sapphire personally (I did design it!) when he decided to buy the man-made diamond. It is cut beautifully and is incredibly sparkley for an emerald cut. I doubt I could find something cut this exquisitely anywhere (short of the wonderful lapidary who was going to cut my sapphire) and I’m glad there’s not a hint of blood on it nor did any money go to DeBeers.
Does anyone know of a reputable company I can turn to to find a moissanite or similar manmade diamond?
When I bought my engagement ring for my fiancee I didn’t think this symbol of love could stand for anything but a lifetime of happiness. I was appalled to discover a shadowy legacy of poverty and suffering in the conflict diamond trade. Knowing the history of the diamond, my fiancee and I didn’t want it to stand as a symbol of our love. We decided to donate it. Part of being a responsible citizen is living your life so that you’re contributing to the world and not just taking.
[...] Manmade Diamonds by Mrs. Bee [...]
Mrs. Bee, New York
Age and Occupation: 29, Weddingbee Publisher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Internet
Engagement Date: May 7, 2004
Wedding Date: March 5, 2005
Venue: Westside Loft, New York
About Me: Yes, my name really is Bee! I love my blogging, wikis, and tabasco sauce!
i wouldn’t care. more diamond for meeee!