The technology of laboratory-created diamonds for industrial uses has existed for more than 50 years, but in the last decade there have been amazing advances in quality and price, making these stones created in the laboratory can now also be used in jewelry. Modifying the “recipe” in the lab also means that synthetic diamonds can be created in a variety of colors, including beautiful blue and pink hues.
Beauty: Lab-made diamonds by the best lab grown diamond jewellery shine just like natural diamonds.
Price: Lab-created diamonds can be produced in large quantities in just weeks. This makes lab-created diamonds considerably less expensive than natural diamonds of equal size and quality.
Color range options: In addition to being available in colorless stones, lab-created diamonds can also be found in an incredible variety of rare and expensive colors.
Are Lab Created Diamonds Real?
Both lab-created diamonds and natural diamonds are made up of pure carbon in the same crystalline cubic shape. The difference between lab-created and natural diamonds can be distinguished by an expert using high-tech machinery, but cannot be seen with the naked eye.
Both diamonds are made of pure carbon that is transformed into cubic crystalline stones. While the chemical base gives lab-created diamonds the same optical properties as natural ones, synthetic diamonds lack intrinsic uniqueness. Formed over several millennia, natural diamonds take on their spectacular shapes from the pressure of being crushed within the earth’s crust. Because of this, all natural diamonds that will ever exist have already been created, making them timeless rarities. Lab-created diamonds, on the other hand, can be produced in an unlimited way.
How Are Laboratory Created Diamonds Made?
It all starts with a “seed.” The seed consists of a tiny laboratory diamond that goes through one of two processes: CVD or HPHT. Chemical Vapor Deposition, or CVD for short, takes the seed and places it in a plasma reactor chamber where a carbon-rich gas mixture is added at a very low pressure. Then microwaves are introduced to heat the gases and generate plasma. As the temperature rises above several thousand degrees, the gas molecules break apart resulting in the binding of carbon atoms to the seed layer by layer.
The high pressure-high temperature method mimics the conditions of creating a natural diamond: the seeds are placed in a large mechanical press and extreme pressure and high temperature are applied to the carbon present. The seed acts as a guide for the carbon mesh that will soon turn into a diamond that will grow layer by layer in a matter of days until the desired carat weight is achieved.
What Is The Difference Between Lab Created Diamonds And Imitations?
Unlike lab-created diamonds, imitations of diamonds are not diamonds. While they look similar to diamonds, imitations are made from the seeds of materials, such as glass or cubic zirconia. This causes imitations of diamonds, to lack the hardness and optical properties of laboratory-created diamonds. As time goes by, fakes become more susceptible to damage from everyday use and their shine diminishes.
