Lab manufactured stones, who, how and where

In 1953 Gem history was made with the creation of the first ever repeatable lab created diamond.  Since then things haven't slowed down by a long shot.  It is virtually impossible to tell a real diamond from a laboratory manufactured stone without a microscope, and even then it is only distinguishable at that level because of a tiny etched serial number that is just bellow the girdle of the stone.

Forget the Space Race, 1953 Kicked off a Race of Quite Another Sort

Shown here laboratory grown stones Since the turn of the 19th century, scientists had been looking for new ways to manufacture diamonds.  Many unrepeatable successes aside, the real moment of truth came in 1953 when a synthetic diamond (the same chemical composition of a diamond) was produced in Stockholm, Sweden by ASEA, Sweden's major electric manufacturing company. Using a bulky apparatus which maintained a pressure at an estimated 83,000 atmospheres (8.4 GPa) for an hour, producing a few small crystals. The discovery, however, was kept secret.  As are many advances in this field to this day.  Much as in the cold war, weapon technologies were kept secret, today gem manufacture technology is very hard to come by.  The major countries engaged in the development, manufacture, and marketing of laboratory created stones are the USA, Russia, Sweden and now China.Since this initial immense scientific achievement, technologies have snowballed into an amazing plethora of techniques.  Some more costly, some less.  All yielding slightly different results.  Here's a quick overview of what methods are being used today:Flame Fusion-Melting process, least expensive in the trade and fast- used in production of Corundum & SpinelCrystal Pulling or Czochralski Procces- Melting process,- used in production of alexandrite, chrystoberyl, corundum, and garnetFlux growth- Very time intensive and expensive- Used in production of high quality emeraldHydrothermal growth- Time intensive and costly- The only method for growing quartzHigh Pressure High Temperature (HPHT)- Used exclusively in production of diamondsChemical Vapour deposition (CVD) Used in production of diamondsTo find out more about different types of gems visit the official GIA gemcyclopedia

Who is Who in Lab grown?

It is exceedingly difficult to get an overview of the lab manufacture industry due to obvious security issues, it is often difficult to know where these labs are.  My research by no means is complete, but here are a few labs and corresponding locations, it is interesting to note that the majority of information that I was successfully able to unearth has been in association with USA led research institutes and technologies.  This by no means implies that America is dominating the scene, as I earlier mentioned the first country to invent lab grown stones was Sweden, and the one to accomplish it on the largest scale was Russia so far.  What this trend shows is simply that American business is most adept at marketing when it comes to any technology, and not in the development of equipment or processes.  Furthermore this also indicates a more lack security protocol to its European competitors, which as chance should have it, is good business.   This list no doubt will be useful to an enthusiast, designer, jeweller, or otherwise anyone interested in understanding the market better.Big players are in no order of importance:New Diamond Technology- St. Petersburg, RU.  creator of the largest lab grown diamond the world has seen at 60ctChatham Created Gems- San Fransisco, USABetter that Diamonds- Washington, USA  Apart from diamonds also produces sapphires, rubies and moissaniteSciodiamonds- South Carolina, USAPure Grown Diamonds- New Jersey, USA

Are natural stones better than lab grown?

Everyone has an opinion on this matter, but it really comes down to the psychology of each individual, because in fact there is no visual or chemical difference between the two.  Many a gemologist has to his embarrassment, not been able to tell the difference between an AAA grade natural stone and a laboratory grown.  With the 3 C's being identical, in white diamonds, the only difference can be seen in the serial number laser etched bellow the girdle, only visible with the aid of a microscope.  With growing technologies diamond can be irradiated to be any colour one could dream of, which offers immense potential to the designer and customer, however these stones are impossible to pass off as mined.  Diamonds of course are not the only stone on the scene, but with the focus being on them due to their high value, one immediately sees the advantages of an alternative to the traditional mined variety.  The price discrepancy between "natural" and lab stones is generally ranging from 15% upwards! 

Rubbed the wrong way

Though young couples everywhere rejoiced at this fantastic new technology which gave them value for their engagement rings, not everyone was celebrating.  This new technology undercut the controlled diamond monopoly market, owned and operated by De Beers.  This new world that the diamond giant found itself in was changing rapidly, and to stay a float, rather than adopting technologies and closing mines, De Beers launched a counter attack.  To undermine the rise of the lab grown alternative, De Beers sought to undervalue the stones by calling them fake, sythetic, and immitation, while simaltaneously enforcing a new legitimisation scheme, whereby, not only all De Beers diamonds have to pass an inspection to be issued a certificate of authenticity, now all other diamond manufactures do also.  Of course this extra handling cost added to an already steep cost of the natural stone.  This may to some seem like De Beers was sawing the branch it was sitting on, but it has reinforced a consumer paranoia of being cheated, and has thus effectively divided the jewel buying consumers into two groups, those who buy (or believe they buy) natural stones, and those who buy lab grown.

Mined or Laboratory, Which Do You Prefer and Why?

 

 

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