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Lab-Grown Diamonds Come into Their Own

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Re: Lab-Grown Diamonds Come into Their Own

#81

Post by ericfranklin »

Tepix wrote: post #66
ericfranklin wrote: post #23

I've been running a lab-grown diamond company since 2005. I'd be happy to answer any questions in the morning.

How did you learn how to make them?

The core HPHT technology was originally developed by Soviet research institutions. After the fall of the Soviet Union, this information basically became public domain. It took decades of incremental improvement to get the diamonds up to jewelry-grade qualities. Prior to jewelry-grade though, the production could be used in industrial applications (cutting blades, optics, etc.).

Re: Lab-Grown Diamonds Come into Their Own

#82

Post by nwellinghoff »

curun1r wrote: post #43
mojoe wrote: post #32

The fact that there is so much concern over how to differentiate mined diamonds from grown diamonds seems like insanity to me. I understand that the diamond trade has a vested interest in differentiating, but why would end consumer care? They're the exact same product to the unaided eye. This is a purely emotional response. I guess the thing that bothers me the most is that it's a misguided emotional response -- it s…

Because the purveyors of diamonds, and you could argue jewelry in general, have positioned themselves as proxies for love and sex. Those are the things we value and the reasons we spend money, but we're not allowed, either by societal convention or law, to spend money on them directly. But we're allowed to spend exorbitant amounts of money on a glittery status symbols that serves as a measure of devotion. It's not th…

Very wise. It's going to be up to the women to tell their men they don't want this crap. At the end of the day us men are just going to get you what you want to make you happy.

Re: Lab-Grown Diamonds Come into Their Own

#83

Post by ericfranklin »

senectus1 wrote: post #38
ericfranklin wrote: post #23

I've been running a lab-grown diamond company since 2005. I'd be happy to answer any questions in the morning.

do you sell online? Can a non specialist jeweller tell the difference?

We do sell online: https://d.neadiamonds.com

They are 100% real diamond, just grown instead of mined. A typical jeweler cannot conclusively identify a diamond's origin, however gemological grading labs with more advanced equipment can. Companies are trying to develop inexpensive testing devices, like exist for cubic zirconia and moissanite, but so far they are expensive and limited to those major grading labs.

There are a few ways to identify the grown origin: -Most grown diamonds sold for jewelry have independent grading reports from gemological grading labs (GIA, IGI, EGL, GCAL, etc.) identifying them as grown. Part of this grading process is to laser inscribe the diamond with wording like "Laboratory Grown". This inscription can be read on the diamond with 10-20x magnification.

-Inclusions can be different in grown diamonds, however are graded on the same clarity scale as mined diamonds (VVS, VS, SI, etc.). Metallic inclusions are extremely rare in mined diamonds, but common in HPHT-grown, since they grow in a molten metal solution. CVD inclusions can be graphite or have planar characteristics.

-Grown white/colorless diamonds are all "Type IIa", which means few to no impurities. Less than 2% of mined diamonds are type IIa. ~98% of mined diamonds are type Ia and actually contain more nitrogen than grown fancy yellow diamonds (type Ib). Equipment that can check these impurity levels are good initial screening tests (2% false positive for IIa mined diamonds). For completeness, type IIb contain trace amounts of boron, and make the diamond blue and electrically conductive. These IIb diamonds can eventually be used as semiconductors.

-Disclosure. We are proud of our grown diamonds, and the other producers are too. Most of our customers buy them because they are made by scientists and technicians in high tech labs. It took longer to grow jewelry quality diamonds than it did to put humans on the moon. Mined diamonds do support economies in remote and third-world regions of the world, but can come with their own environmental and social issues.

Re: Lab-Grown Diamonds Come into Their Own

#84

Post by ericfranklin »

burger_moon wrote: post #36
ericfranklin wrote: post #23

I've been running a lab-grown diamond company since 2005. I'd be happy to answer any questions in the morning.

Are lab grown diamonds used much for industrial applications such as cutting heads and blades?

Yes. Cutting blades are in the middle of the industrial spectrum. They are generally 2-5mm in dimension and need to be grown relatively clean, but color does not matter, so they are commonly yellow or brown (those colors grow faster than white or blue).

See my other post for other industrial applications: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13088523

Re: Lab-Grown Diamonds Come into Their Own

#85

Post by wehadfun »

ericfranklin wrote: post #76
ipsum2 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who makes the machines that grows diamonds?

For HPHT, there are three primary machine designs, but they all create intense heat and pressure, and dissolved graphite slowly builds up on a diamond seed ( 1. BARS press. It is a Russian design from the 1980s capable of up to 2-3 carat polished sizes, and was one of the first methods to commercially grow jewelry-grade diamonds. It is much less efficient than modern presses though. 2. Cubic press. This is a much lar…

I guess a follow up question would be, if one wanted their own diamond making machine where would they get it. Obviously your company is an option "for qualified parties"

Re: Lab-Grown Diamonds Come into Their Own

#86

Post by bluedevil2k »

ericfranklin wrote: post #74
bluedevil2k wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do the lab grown diamonds come out of the process as the cubish shape as rough diamonds? Do you still send them off to be cut/polished by 3rd parties? How do you sell them?

They all need polished into their final shapes (round brilliant, princess, pear, anvil, etc.), or can be sliced into plates, cubes or cylinders with lasers. HPHT (high pressure, high temperature) grows from a tiny diamond seed ( White/Colorless: http://d.neadiamonds.com/images/rough-hpht-white.jpg Yellow (industrial recipe): http://d.neadiamonds.com/images/rough-hpht-yellow.jpg CVD (chemical vapor deposition) grows b…

Can you email me at bluedevil2k@gmail? I work in the diamond industry and am curious about your sales channels

Re: Lab-Grown Diamonds Come into Their Own

#87

Post by SideburnsOfDoom »

ericfranklin wrote: post #23

I've been running a lab-grown diamond company since 2005. I'd be happy to answer any questions in the morning.

How cheap can good quality diamond get?

If you're buying raw carbon in the form of coal, it costs about $40 per ton.

The rest is manufacturing details. I know there's a lot of manufacturing details, but the cost of the inputs suggests that diamonds in bulk could be much much cheaper.

Re: Lab-Grown Diamonds Come into Their Own

#88

Post by wehadfun »

ericfranklin wrote: post #23

I've been running a lab-grown diamond company since 2005. I'd be happy to answer any questions in the morning.

Why are lab grown diamonds still priced in the 1000+ range. Does it actually cost that much to manufacture. Making up research cost? Just high profit margin?

Re: Lab-Grown Diamonds Come into Their Own

#89

Post by wehadfun »

cmsmith wrote: post #8

I shopped for created diamonds a year or two ago, and like others was disappointed with the cost savings. It seems awfully odd that on the spectrum from $0.01/caret to $1,000,000/caret, that created diamonds ended up costing exactly the same as a mined diamond, less maybe 30%. It's clear that there are only a couple players in the clear created diamonds market, and no one is too eager for a price war and to stop prin…

In someway I like the fact that diamonds are only valuable to the women who it is bought for and just like a marriage you really can't get a refund. The resale value of diamonds is garbage.

Re: Lab-Grown Diamonds Come into Their Own

#90

Post by ericfranklin »

lfowles wrote: post #79
ericfranklin wrote: post #23

I've been running a lab-grown diamond company since 2005. I'd be happy to answer any questions in the morning.

Are other lab grown gemstones made with roughly the same HPHT process? I ended up getting a diamond from Gemesis for my wife years ago, this is a very fascinating topic for us.

The core science of diamond growth inside an HPHT cell is essentially the same (a diamond seed, heat, pressure and graphite). There are a lot of variations in the composition of the cell though, which can control color (brown, orange, yellow, blue, colorless, near colorless), as well as overall quality, quantity and size of the diamond.

Outside of the growth cell, the machine and environment also influence growth. Temperature and pressure ranges, tolerances and gradients of the press all factor in to the final quality of the diamond. Ambient room temperature and humidity as well as conditions during the growth cell preparation play a role too.

For consumers though, when considering two 1.0ct G color, VS2 clarity round polished diamonds (for example), it doesn't really matter what process it came from, who grew it or what size or shape the rough diamond was.

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