The Proliferation Of Synthetic Diamonds And Their Possible Appeal

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend—so ladies, you should know your BFF inside out. Nicolette Wong reports on the proliferation of synthetic diamonds and their possible appeal.

- Nicolette Wong

Evaluating the value of a diamond is all about the four Cs, right? Cut, colour, clarity and carat—but there might be one more C to evaluate very soon: creation. Most of the diamonds on jewellery pieces were created deep within the earth’s mantle and brought to the surface by deep-source volcanic eruptions, although some can also form at subduction zones where two of the earth’s tectonic plates meet. These are examples of natural diamonds, whose creation is left up to the caprices of Mother Nature. Today, however, there exists another type of diamond, which instead of requiring millions of years to form, takes at most just a few weeks.

Synthetically grown in a laboratory, this diamond is chemically and visually indistinguishable from a natural diamond— because it is, in fact, the same substance. Real diamonds, whether lab-grown or natural, are primarily made of carbon (and a few trace elements). This is unlike simulated diamonds such as cubic zirconia, which is made of zirconium dioxide. Creating synthetic diamonds has actually been possible since the 1950s, when a method called High Pressure, High Temperature (HPHT) simulated the natural conditions under which diamonds form in the earth’s mantle. Although the method was a success, HPHT synthetic diamonds are generally dull and dark in colour, making them suitable only for industrial purposes. In more recent years, however, growers have become more successful at producing colourless diamonds—even ones over 10 carats.