Diamonds hold an endless source of fascination. But how are diamonds formed? What journey do they take from mine to store? What are the factors that influence their value? And what is the difference between natural and synthetic stones? This Diamond Guide is your one-stop source of diamond knowledge. Enjoy your journey of discovery!
SARINE DIAMOND JOURNEY
In the world of gemstones, diamonds are among the most precious.A natural diamond undertakes a unique journey before reaching the consumer as a beautiful finished jewel. It’s a journey that began epochs ago deep within the earth’s surface. After it is mined, a diamond will travel around the world to be sawed, cut, polished, uniquely identified, graded and traded, to be ultimately crafted into beautiful jewelry to be sold in a store or online. At that point, it will begin a new journey through generations as the treasured possession of its owners.
SYNTHETIC DIAMONDS
Grown in a laboratory, synthetic diamonds are both chemically and structurally identical to natural diamonds, consisting of crystalized carbon. The first synthetic diamonds were grown in 1952 by the Union Carbide Corporation in the USA. These first diamonds were polycrystalline, and grown by the chemical vapor deposition method (CVD). The first monocrystalline diamond was grown one year later in 1953 by ASEA – today ABB – in Sweden by High Pressure High Temperature synthesis (HPHT). Since 2014 the producers of synthetic diamonds have made steady progress. Today, near colorless diamonds can be grown with good color and clarity at much lower cost than natural diamonds, and in all sizes from extremely small (0.5 mm round brilliant cut) to over 10 carat. Particularly small-sized synthetic diamonds (melee diamonds) are produced in huge quantities for use in jewelry.
MOISSANITE DIAMONDS
Moissanite Diamond are materials that look similar to diamond, but do not have equal chemical nor structural makeup as diamond. Such diamond imitations can be artificially produced or occur as natural materials.
Artificial products include cubic zirconium oxide (CZ), synthetic moissanite, lead glass, yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG), gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG), strontium titanate, synthetic rutile, lithium niobate, synthetic spinel and others. Today, only CZ, moissanite and lead glass are commonly seen; all others are very uncommon. Natural materials include zircon, topaz, colorless sapphire and quartz, but of these, only zircon is a convincing when used as a facetted material.