The past and present of lab created diamonds
In the 20th century, there is nothing more than “a diamond will last forever”, Diamonds are bright, rare & precious. With their unique charm, they have conquered generations of consumers and become modern people’s expectations and symbols of love.
However, the high price of diamonds has also added obstacles to many newcomers, making them flinch. Behind the pearl is the irreversibility of mineral resources, large-scale mining has caused immeasurable damage to the ecological environment. For centuries, people have gone through a lot of hardships in mining diamonds. From Namibia to Botswana, from South Africa to Russia, people are searching for diamonds in prehistoric carbon.
Today, in order not to destroy the environment, but also to get diamonds quickly, meet the needs, so people begin to cultivate diamonds artificially. So what is the cultivation of diamonds? What is the difference between TA and natural diamond?
The origin of lab diamonds
At the end of the 18th century, Antoine Laurent de Lavoisier discovered that a diamond is a kind of simple crystal composed of carbon elements formed under the conditions of high pressure and high temperature in the deep part of the earth. they provide a theoretical basis for later diamond cultivation technology. But in the next 200 years, there was little progress in diamond research – until the middle of the 20th century.
In the 1950s, after nearly four years of experiments, Dr. h. Tracy Hall, director of General Electric’s project super pressure, led the team and finally made a breakthrough in synthetic diamond technology. Their method is to heat the carbon to 5000 degrees. Fahrenheit (2760 degrees Celsius) and apply extremely high pressure by water press, thus giving birth to the so-called “high-pressure high temperature” (HPHT) in the industry.
In 1953, ASEA company of Sweden cultivated industrial diamonds;
In 1954, America GE successfully cultivated industrial diamonds, In 1963, China successfully cultivated the first diamond;
In 1971, E company of the United States cultivated gem grade diamonds for the first time;
In 1988, the UK De Beers company successfully cultivated colored diamonds. In 2019, the diamond cultivation branch of China jewelry industry association was established.
How to cultivate diamonds?
Diamond cultivation is a process of growing small diamonds, for cultivation techniques are as follows:
From diamond seeds
In the laboratory, advanced equipment and cutting-edge technology are used to restore the natural environment, and diamond seeds with the size of gravel or flake are put into the culture chamber to provide an atomic structure template for diamond growth;
High temperature and high-pressure environment
In the lab, the temperature and pressure will rise rapidly to reach the high temperature and high-pressure environment at the depth of more than 100 kilometers, creating extremely harsh conditions for the formation of natural diamonds. This method is also called the temperature difference method.
Add carbonaceous nutrients
When graphite (c) or methane (CH4) was added into the culture chamber, the chemical bond between carbon atoms in the raw material will break and become free carbon atoms under high temperature and high-pressure environment and special treatment;
Seed size
The free carbon atoms will be attracted by the nearby carbon atom structure. So they will gradually attach to the diamond seed and combine with the carbon atoms of the diamond seed to form new chemical bonds so that the seed will grow up gradually.
Diamond cultivation has been developed for decades. After the best scientists, professional engineers & skilled technicians constantly break through the technical problems, today’s diamond cultivation technology has become mature.
Is lad diamond a real diamond?
Lab diamonds are produced in the laboratory. Advanced science and technology and equipment are used to restore the environment in which natural diamonds are formed in the laboratory. Tiny diamond seeds are used to induce the natural crystallization of diamonds. In this way, diamonds with the same physical, chemical, atomic, optical and other properties as natural diamonds can be cultivated in the laboratory
If we have to compare the relationship between cultivated diamonds and natural diamonds. It’s like ice in glaciers and ice in refrigerators. Some people have made a figurative analogy. Cultivating diamonds and natural diamonds are just like the relationship between a naturally pregnant baby and a test tube baby. In the final analysis, they are all human beings. Therefore, cultivating diamonds is a genuine diamond. From a scientific point of view, cultivating diamonds and natural diamonds are the same material. If we have to find a difference, the only difference lies in their shape, it’s different in different places.
| Attribute | Lab diamond | Natural diamond | Difference |
| Chemical composition | Carbon (C) | Carbon (C) | NO |
| The refractive index | 2.42 | 2.42 | NO |
| Relative density | 3.52 | 3.52 | NO |
| The dispersion | 0.044 | 0.044 | NO |
| Hardness | 90GPA | 90GPA | NO |
| Thermal conductivity | 2X103 W/(MK) | 2X103 W/(MK) | NO |
| Thermal expansion | 0.8X10ˉ6K | 0.8X10ˉ6K | NO |
| Light transmittance | Deep UV to FAR TR | Deep UV to FAR TR | NO |
Lab diamonds have ID Card!
At present, GIA, IGI & HRD, the world’s three major jewelry appraisal institutions, they recognized the status of cultivating diamonds. Synthetic diamonds have officially withdrawn from the stage of history. At the same time, the institutions have also given legal ID cards to cultivate diamonds, and they can issue diamond appraisal and grading certificates for cultivating diamonds. Moreover, each cultivated diamond has its unique code LGxxxxxxxxx, which is engraved on the diamond waist.
Five unique advantages of diamond cultivation
After decades of cultivation, diamond technology breakthrough & upgrading, the category of diamond products is increasing, and the product quality is becoming more and more perfect.
Advantage 1: the innovative science and technology laboratory cultivates diamonds by using hardcore high-tech instruments to simulate the environment required for natural diamond generation in the natural environment. Created by professional engineers and skilled technicians, it is the crystallization of human scientific and technological wisdom.
Advantage 2: Excellent quality cultivation diamond not only has the perfect diamond 4C identification standard. But also rich changeable color and an extremely shining diamond fire color.
Advantage 3: Green environmental protection. Diamond cultivation is a kind of diamond cultivated in the laboratory. They can be continuously cultivated to avoid the cruel reality brought by natural diamond mining, including blood diamonds and conflict diamonds, child labor and human rights violations, depletion of natural resources and serious damage to the earth’s ecological environment.
Advantage 4: Fashion upstart: De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer, began to enter the nurturing diamond market and launched the nurturing diamond brand Lightbox.
Advantage 5: For prices, consumers can buy higher quality diamonds with the same purchase budget. In the same quality, the price of cultivated diamonds is about one-third of natural diamonds. So lab diamonds have a great price advantage.
