Whose Diamonds are They? Again?

It's not a deja vu, this is the question already asked by the International Gemological Institute experts about a year ago when they were given lots of undisclosed synthetic diamonds for grading. A number of gems was record – 600 items at a time. Before IGI dealt with synthetic diamonds but with no more than a couple of stones. Logically, the reaction to such a situation was too more fast and publicized. Even though there is a number of compact diamond detecting tools it's still impossible to differentiate synthetic diamonds from natural stones. They look identical.

It sounds like somebody marked that well and took advantage of top-notch quality of synthetic diamonds again! There are two victims this time: the Japanese diamond company and the Mumbai-based diamond trader. Both claimed to buy parcels of original polished diamonds but a half of them were detected as 'synthetic'. There is low chance a diamond detecting tool has been broken in both companies.

Let's Shift from Natural to Synthetic Diamonds

About two weeks ago the Rapaport International Diamond Conference 2012 was held in Mumbai, where serious issues concerning Indian diamond market, pricing, new regulatory and compliance requirements that India is going to face soon had been discussed. But now it seems the time for a fest, GemFest if to be precise.

GIA has chosen Hong Kong as a place location for its GemFest at the Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair where they will touch upon such topics as current status of synthetic gem diamonds. GIA's director of research and development Dr. Wuyi Wang is about to speak on September 19 and 22 about latest advancements in Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) and High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) methods of producing synthetic diamonds of white color.

There can be various motives that pushed GIA to hold the conference either it could be those undetected synthetic diamonds that made a huge stir this year being sold for natural or the event was planned prior to the occasion due to growing popularity of synthetic gem diamonds but it's evident that synthetic diamonds draw much attention of both diamantaires and mere customers.

Some words about the reporter: Dr. Wuyi Wang has got more than 20-years experience in studying diamond geochemistry and diamond treatment. You can see his publications in many geological and gemological issues.

2012 Rapaport Diamond Conference

The name of Martin Rapaport is popular among the people in diamond industry. One of the proponents of Kimberley Process, a much-talked-about since 2003, the author of the Rapaport Diamond Report, the standard for the pricing of diamonds, maverick involved in many activities he, at last, is the host of the annual Rapaport Diamond Conference, the event we are to focus on now.

Normally held in New York, this year the IDC moved to Mumbai. The Asian diamond market is very welcoming and is gaining momentum fast. According to statistics, each second couple in Beijing, Guangdong and Shanghai would pick up a diamond ring for their engagement and wedding ceremony. There is a range of reasons that contribute the tendency: increased prosperity, change in engagement/wedding traditions, opening of GIA grading laboratory are among the main. Indian diamond market is also one of the most perspective these days, that the reason for hosting the conference there Martin Rapaport thinks.

“As diamond demand and prices go through a boom bust cycle, India is the market to watch. While the US and China are important sources of demand, how India handles rough supply and polished demand will define short term recovery opportunities," said Rapaport.

August 29 is going to be a big day for a number of industry experts who are to concentrate on such issues as diamond pricing in India, India's banking environment, diamonds for investments and synthetic diamonds.

Diamonds are Growing Larger and Larger!

The first carat-plus CVD-grown diamond was graded by GIA this month. Earlier chemical vapor deposition technology let produce only diamonds of one-carat size and less. A lot of them were manufactured by Apollo Diamond company based in Boston. The origin of this very pear-shaped gem is unknown, still it can boast to be 1.05 carat in size.

The news about lab-grown diamond was revealed by Gemological Institute of America in its monthly email newsletter in May 2010. It was said there that the diamond stone was submitted to GIA for grading. The lab-grown diamond was identified as G-colored diamond (near-colorless) with clarity grade equal "I1" (there were some inclusions in the gem and some fractures were found along the girdle).

In addition to color and grading, GIA specialists checked the diamond for fluorescence presence and none of it has been found. After exposing a lab-grown diamond to conventional long and short ultra violet wave radiation, they indicated that the gemstone belongs to the type IIa of diamonds.

Nevertheless, CVD technology is developing rather quickly these days and most likely it will reach great results in the nearest future. While CVD-grown diamonds are mostly of small size, high temperature high pressure (HTHP) technology, which is also used for diamond growing, have been creating diamonds of various colors and sizes (up to 5 carats) for several years already. Such diamond stones are available at New Age Diamonds, Gemesis company, Chatham and some others. These manufacturers are among those to use HTHP technology.
Never matter what diamond to choose, either CVD-grown of the one created with the usage of HTHP technology, the result will be the same - real flawless diamond.

Images in this post are the courtesy of it's respective owners: Apollo Diamond Inc.

Fancy Having One of These?

Such a wanty gem, diamonds were always used to raise one's status. Even in ancient times kings and noblemen used to wear diamonds, but surely they didn't have even a slightest reflection of these grind gems which are available now. Whoops! Available? Not really. Actually, to buy 1 carat diamond gem you will have to spend about $6000, while 5 carat diamond stone will cost a real fortune - $100000! So, what to do if you want to have champagne taste on a beer budget? Try cultured diamonds then. They are of the same solidity and consistence as natural ones. Cultured, or synthetic, stones are carbon crystals that looks like the diamonds mined from under the ground.And of course they possess the same surpassing and challenging glow only diamonds can shine. According to The Gemological Institute of America, cultured diamonds are graded by the standards used for natural stones. The difference is in the environment the stone were grown up, in laboratory but not in nature. And of course, the price for cultured stones is lower. A lab-grown diamond's price usually varies between 1/7th and 1/30th the price of the mined equivalent, usually depending on the colour of the diamond. In this case in stead of spending $6000 you may have a desired gem for about $1000 or even cheaper. Still fancy having one?

Images in this post are the courtesy of it's respective owners: Apollo Diamond Inc.