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Synthetic diamonds are now purer, more beautiful, and cheaper than mined

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Re: Synthetic diamonds are now purer, more beautiful, and cheaper than mined

#391

Post by trillic »

dirtdobber wrote: post #280
gwbas1c wrote: post #50

> A perfectly cut, flawless lab diamond costs a fraction of the price of a mined diamond of lesser quality. When I shopped for an engagement ring in 2012, there was a clear cohort of women who significantly valued a diamond from the ground. Fortunately, my (now) wife and I saw through the marketing gimmick, and laughed all the way to the bank.

I'm genuinely curious why you bought a diamond at all then? Isn't the diamond itself a marketing gimmick, or do you and your wife honestly find them more beautiful than other stones?

It won’t wear. That’s what was the cool part for me. A diamond won’t scratch and if set in a platinum band, the band essentially won’t tarnish. It’s as close to a “forever” item as one can reasonably get. Oooo and very shiny.

Re: Synthetic diamonds are now purer, more beautiful, and cheaper than mined

#392

Post by pavel_lishin »

Xcelerate wrote: post #389
Animats wrote: post #105

That's a good article. The whole history is there. The commercial side has made huge progress, too. Look up "diamond making machine" on Alibaba. You can buy a high-pressure, high temperature six sided press for about US$200,000. A chemical vapor deposition machine is about the same price. De Beers, the diamond cartel, has an R&D operation, Element Six. They sell synthetic diamonds for lasers and other exotic applicat…

> diamond windows for lasers 10cm across > Diamonds are now something you can buy by the kilo, in plastic bags. I can’t wait to use diamond cookware. A pan with a thin layer of 430 stainless steel for induction, a wafer of diamond, and then another thin layer of stainless on top will be amazing. Almost perfect evenness over any cooktop.

Aren't diamonds fairly brittle? I'd be worried about such a cooking pan snapping in half as I flip an omelette.

Re: Synthetic diamonds are now purer, more beautiful, and cheaper than mined

#393

Post by dragontamer »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #392
Xcelerate wrote: post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> diamond windows for lasers 10cm across > Diamonds are now something you can buy by the kilo, in plastic bags. I can’t wait to use diamond cookware. A pan with a thin layer of 430 stainless steel for induction, a wafer of diamond, and then another thin layer of stainless on top will be amazing. Almost perfect evenness over any cooktop.

Aren't diamonds fairly brittle? I'd be worried about such a cooking pan snapping in half as I flip an omelette.

That's what the steel is for.

Steel for induction and strength. Diamond (like copper cores) for heat traversal.

Re: Synthetic diamonds are now purer, more beautiful, and cheaper than mined

#394

Post by nprateem »

agumonkey wrote: post #160
Animats wrote: post #105

That's a good article. The whole history is there. The commercial side has made huge progress, too. Look up "diamond making machine" on Alibaba. You can buy a high-pressure, high temperature six sided press for about US$200,000. A chemical vapor deposition machine is about the same price. De Beers, the diamond cartel, has an R&D operation, Element Six. They sell synthetic diamonds for lasers and other exotic applicat…

How will they maintain their jewelry business ? It feels like Sony CD-R drives in the Playstation era.

Nobody ever bought a CD-R to impress a cute piece of ass to marry them.

DeBeers are just positioning on price, natural more traditional and romantic, etc.

Who wants to know their engagement ring was half price?

Re: Synthetic diamonds are now purer, more beautiful, and cheaper than mined

#395

Post by GJim »

dimgl wrote: post #200
poisonborz wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why and how became diamonds a necessity of marriage in the US? Did your fiancé really expect a diamond, and would have she be disappointed by something that has only worth to you?

Women expect it. It's that simple.

> Women expect it in the USA. It's that simple.

You will find quite a few cultures with bride prices and dowries that turn this on its head.

Re: Synthetic diamonds are now purer, more beautiful, and cheaper than mined

#396

Post by gosub100 »

LtdJorge wrote: post #194
Balgair wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know this is a bit of a throwaway comment, but I'd never thought of diamonds for eyeglasses. And, honestly, that would be really really cool. Yeah, there are other materials with better refractive indices and that are tougher and cheaper and dont shatter. Sure. But if we can get diamonds down to something that could be made into lenses for the (very high end) retail market, man, that would just be so cool !

I'd rather use the diamonds to manufacture the laser machines that do eye surgery and remove glasses lol

A lot of people regret LASIK. Dry eyes and diminished night vision are the top complaints.

Re: Synthetic diamonds are now purer, more beautiful, and cheaper than mined

#397

Post by robertritz »

My wife runs a jewelry business (in Asia not the USA). Natural diamonds are still in high demand and it's usually younger people getting the lab diamonds. Mostly beacuse of price.

Most people want the nicest thing they can afford in the moment, whatever that is.

Re: Synthetic diamonds are now purer, more beautiful, and cheaper than mined

#398

Post by chronogram »

Xcelerate wrote: post #389
Animats wrote: post #105

That's a good article. The whole history is there. The commercial side has made huge progress, too. Look up "diamond making machine" on Alibaba. You can buy a high-pressure, high temperature six sided press for about US$200,000. A chemical vapor deposition machine is about the same price. De Beers, the diamond cartel, has an R&D operation, Element Six. They sell synthetic diamonds for lasers and other exotic applicat…

> diamond windows for lasers 10cm across > Diamonds are now something you can buy by the kilo, in plastic bags. I can’t wait to use diamond cookware. A pan with a thin layer of 430 stainless steel for induction, a wafer of diamond, and then another thin layer of stainless on top will be amazing. Almost perfect evenness over any cooktop.

> Thermal conductivity of natural diamond was measured to be about 2,200 W/(m·K), which is five times more than silver, the most thermally conductive metal. Monocrystalline synthetic diamond enriched to 99.9% the isotope 12C had the highest thermal conductivity of any known solid at room temperature: 3,320 W/(m·K), though reports exist of superior thermal conductivity in both carbon nanotubes and graphene.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Material_properties_of_diamond...

I had no idea it was that good. I wonder why they don't make them that way then, as expensive cookware already seems to be a high margin business.

Re: Synthetic diamonds are now purer, more beautiful, and cheaper than mined

#399

Post by _fat_santa »

robertritz wrote: post #397

My wife runs a jewelry business (in Asia not the USA). Natural diamonds are still in high demand and it's usually younger people getting the lab diamonds. Mostly beacuse of price. Most people want the nicest thing they can afford in the moment, whatever that is.

Earlier this year I bought an engagement ring for my now wife. I ended up getting a lab diamond on Rare Carat for way less than what jewelry stores charge. IIRC the ring cost about $1.8k and if I were to get a natural diamond that price would have been closer to $4k.
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