Author: MJT
Synthetic Diamonds
The first synthetic diamonds were produced by General
Electric in 1954. A synthetic diamond is basically a rock that has the
durability, refractive index and hardness of a natural diamond – but it is made
by man. A synthetic diamond should not be confused with stimulant diamonds,
such as glass, cubic zirconia, or moissanite.
Although the technology for synthetic diamonds came into
play in 1954, no synthetic diamonds were ever seen on the market until the
1990’s. This was due to the fact that it took many years for General Electric
to produce a synthetic diamond that could compare with the quality of a natural
diamond – and when they figured out how to do it, they found that it cost more to
produce a synthetic diamond than it did to mine and cut natural diamonds.
Finally, a small company by the name of Gemesis Corporation
figured out a way to produce synthetic diamonds that were of the same quality
as natural diamonds, at a cheaper price. Today, Gemesis produces synthetic
white diamonds, and colored diamonds as well. These diamonds sell for about 1/3
of the cost of a natural diamond, but there is a shortage of them, and they are
hard to find. In fact, it seems that synthetic diamonds are rarer than natural diamonds!
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