ManMadeLabDiamonds — Diamonds or Simulants?

There is always a misunderstanding between 'diamond simulants' and 'man made diamonds'. With this, some companies only obfuscate the situation instead of clarifying it. So when we come across new names of companies offering diamond jewelry, we believe it is our duty to make it clear are those diamonds real or not.

For the start, let's remind what man made diamonds are. You will find many names for man made diamonds: synthetic, lab grown, created and cultured diamonds. 

Though different, all of them characterize real diamonds created synthetically in the laboratory conditions. Notion of synthetic diamonds usually refers to diamonds aimed for industrial needs while the rest are normally associated with diamonds of jewelry quality. So, synthetic diamonds are 100% diamonds with a wide range of properties inherent to this solid stone. These diamonds shouldn't be mixed with diamond simulants, which only visually resemble diamonds when first seen. They are usually cubic zirconia or moissanite accurately treated to acquire diamond-like 'make-up'. Now let's get to ManMadeLabDiamonds.

Even though the name makes a customer think of real diamonds, as well as their high price looks persuasive, but the truth is that jewelry offered by ManMadeLabDiamonds is artificial. Though the gems are supposed to be of superior quality, they are simulants but not real diamonds. The company offers you to save money on diamond engagement ring but will that ring stand a test of time and last as long as your marriage?

When opting for man made diamonds, you will find they come with the certificate (on demand) confirming the diamond you have is real. This document is given by one of the world-known gemological institutions such as GIA, EGL or AGS. While buying artificial jewelry you get nothing but for a jewel.

So, be caution when buying 'man made' diamonds, not all of them are real diamonds and be it your first question to clarify are the jewelry you want to buy real or not.

Jewelery Education

There is a common mistake to think that synthetic diamonds are the same as simulated diamonds. A non-jewelery person usually mixes up these two absolutely different terms. To clear up confusion we decided to explain the difference in detail.

Simulated diamond (simulant) is used to imitate diamond's gemological characteristics. It is not a real diamond as it does not possess either physical or chemical properties of a natural gemstone. It is an imitant. Simulants can be of natural and artificial origin, in some cases there can a mixture of both of them. The most known diamond imitants are Cubic Zirconia and rhinestones.

CZ is the synthesized material usually of white (colorless) color. Due to its close likeness to real diamonds it was number one competitor to natural gemstones for a long time.

A rhinestone is made of rock crystal. In Europe is it also known as Strass named after Georg Friedrich Strass, who found the means of imitating diamonds by applying coating on the lower side of glass. Rhinestones are really bright but it's just glass.

These two simulants became less popular with the occurrence of moissanite. Moissanite is a cheap alternative to diamonds. It is silicon carbide (SiC) that was discovered by french chemist Henri Moissan. Moissanite is highly competitive with diamonds as it is very hard – the hardest material after diamond and comparable with boron – and high temperature-resistant. It can be of various colors graded from J to K on the diamond color grading scale. It is used as abrasive material, as protection circuits in motors and pulse power systems, for anvils, electronic applications and of course in jewelery. But for traditional lovers of diamond jewelery silicon carbide can't compare with real diamonds.

As for synthetic diamonds they ARE real diamonds but created by man. Synthetic diamonds are also called created, cultivated, man made and lab grown diamonds. Long since people had been making efforts to find out the secret of growing the most precious gem on the planet. The secret revealed however the process of growing diamonds is rather complicated. All the gems are cultivated separately under high pressure high temperature. Thus, synthetic diamonds are resistant to intense heat and pressure.

Moreover, lab grown diamond have mined diamond in its core. So they are of the same chemical composition as natural diamonds. As a result they possess all physical properties of earthly-occurring diamonds: they are solid, though, scratchless, wearproof and durable.

Lab grown diamonds can boast to have optical properties of mined diamonds: the same luster and brilliance. They are equal to natural diamonds but for their origin. The Federal Trade Commission asserted in its Jewelery Guides and Information that synthetic diamonds possess “…essentially the same optical, physical, and chemical properties as the stone named.”

Synthetic diamonds are real diamonds, aren't they?

The More Letters 'A' the Better?

What would you think about Cubic Zirconia of AAAAAA quality?

Cubic zirconia is a known diamond simulant widely used in jewelry. Usually, jewelry retailers tell their customers what the stones set in jewelry are made of. Though some of them try to veil this fact claiming the coated cubic zirconia is nearly the same as natural diamond. Indeed, CZ's facets sparkle in the sun like diamond's so that inexperienced person can mix it up with natural diamond, novice but not a professional or a person who has once seen natural diamond. Thus, what's the difference between CZ and real diamond?

First of all, cubic zirconia is of absolutely different chemical composition. While diamond consists of pure carbon CZ consists of zirconium oxide plus calcium or yttrium.

Different chemistry influences CZ's physical properties greatly. Cubic Zirconia is not so hard as diamond. Though it is rather wearable in jewelry, you should be careful not to break it. Its hardness rates from 8 to 8.5 on the Mohs scale vs. diamond's 10.

In addition, cubic zirconia is heavier than diamond, for example 1k diamond equals 6.5mm in size while 1.13k CZ is only 5.5mm in size - less than you might expect. So, when purchasing CZ you should keep in mind this fact and you'd better consult CZ weight conversion cart.

As for durability, CZ is considered to be rather durable stone, though its main disadvantage is that it fades in time and becomes cloudy. In this case it seems useless to have durable but faded gem.

What CZ is praised for is its luster. In a good light it sparkles brightly and it resembles diamond gem for non-professionals, however it's not hard to differentiate diamond from cubic zirconia when both of the stones are brought together.
With this in mind, do you think the abundance of letters 'A' will greatly influence the quality of cubic zirconia?

However, if you want to save money and still want your jewelry to have diamond fire there is a better option than CZ even of AAAAAA quality. Cultured diamonds. What are they?

Cultured or lab grown diamonds are those created by man. They have the same chemical properties as natural diamonds have - created diamonds are made of pure carbon. A tiny piece of natural diamond is put into a chamber where there is super high temperature and pressure, like those in Earth's mantle where natural diamonds have been formed for hundreds of years. Then this tiny stone is grown individually up to the size of 2, 3 or maximum 5 carats. What is more, created diamonds are of the same crystal structure as natural diamonds, where atoms of carbon are highly symmetrically arranged so that it's impossible to tell the difference between cultured and naturally-occurring diamonds.

Chemistry of man made diamond determines its physical and optical properties. Man made diamonds are tough and unscratched, wearproof and fadeless, durable and of course possess that incomparable fire and luster typical for real diamonds. In addition, cultured diamonds are as solid as real diamonds (they rate 10 on the Mohs scale). The differences are their age and price.

It takes only several days to grow cultured diamonds: three or five days depending on the size of the stone, while natural diamonds take centuries to be formed. As the process of creating diamonds is not so consumptive and does not imply huge resources to mine the stones consequently the price for created diamonds (even fancy colored diamonds) is lower. So, created diamonds are real diamonds with all the properties you expect from diamond however they are much affordable.

In fact, the only stone that can substitute diamond is diamond for it is a unique gem and not any other stone even of superb quality can replace it.