Synthetic and Simulated Diamonds: Are They the Same?

Many people nowadays are turning from mined diamonds to cheaper alternative such as man made and simulated diamonds. But there can be a misunderstanding between these two terms, because they are not quite the same. To clear up the discrepancy, let's have a closer look at each of them.

Synthetic or man made diamonds are also known as created, cultured or laboratory grown diamonds. They are normally produced by two different ways: applying high temperature high pressure ( HTHP) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. Regardless of the method you choose, the result is the same – the most solid material in the world known as diamonds. Lab-grown diamonds are hard to differentiate from natural diamonds due to their similar properties, and they especially fit the buyers who are on a tight budget, because their price is far from being exorbinant. Apparently, a number of new-married couples would rather spring for a man made diamond ring and save for their honeymoon trip, than spend a huge amount of money on a ring only. The most known manufacturers producing these high-quality synthetic diamonds are Gemesis, New Age Diamonds, Apollo, Chatham and DNA2Diamonds. For mode detailed information about the price of created diamonds or find the answer to any other question you may have, you should better visit their official websites.

Simulated diamonds, or simulants, are not diamonds at all, so you should not mix these two seemingly alike notions. Moissanite and Cubic Zirconia are referred to this category of gems, but they are not as close to mined diamonds as lab-grown ones. Simulated diamonds lack all those unique properties natural diamonds are praised (and priced) for, including solidity, durability, fadeless and everlastingfeatures. The starting price for simulated diamonds can be as low as $10 only, thus they are normally associated with cheap junk jewelry rather than fine jewelry. However, CZ and Moissanite are nice for decorating your clothes, handbags or hairpins, where there is no need to use expensive natural or created diamonds, yet to have a nice shining effect.

Hope, this information gave you a clear idea about the discrepancy between simulated and lab-grown diamonds.

Synthetic Diamonds are Selling Dreams

Why synthetic diamonds are getting more popular? The answer is obvious: they are cheaper, so that a customer with an average income can spring for them without considerable harm to their budget.

If you are the one who is looking for less and is well-informed about man-made diamonds you should have read the article of Joshua Davis made for Wired magazine in 2003. The issue of his topic then was the technology of growing synthetic diamonds and all about their properties. Even the dealers of Antwerp could hardly believe the diamonds shown by Davis were not mined but of quite other origin.

Currently there are enough brands offering man-made diamond jewelry such as Apollo diamonds, Gemesis, Carat and others. For instance, when asked about the choice of synthetic diamonds for their jewelry, a chief executive of Carat brand said that they aim to offer affordable jewelry. Even though it is less costly that that of natural diamonds, they strive for manufacturing their products only using the materials of high-end quality. Less expensive doesn't mean of less quality, the concept that really makes man made diamonds competitive on the jewelry market.

However, synthetic diamonds are not designated for serious diamond buyers. The latter actually do not hesitate on purchasing a gem for $10,000 or a cheaper one for $2,000. Such customers usually know what they really want, they are either the collectors, or celebrities or other well-to-do buyers, who opt for mined diamonds to correspond to their status. Other people living on a tight budget still have their dreams, fantasies or have to follow some traditions like that of buying engagement ring with a diamond inside. For this purpose man made diamonds were grown. They are created to make the dreams come true at least for some people. A nice mission for a tiny gem.
What is your attitude towards synthetic diamonds? Feel free to leave your comments.

Who Wears Man Made Diamonds?

As man made diamonds are gradually winning the market being a serious threat to natural diamonds there is a question "Who wears man made diamonds?"

About 70% of women would give preference to lab grown diamonds due to their lower price and equal-to-natural quality, however diamond growing laboratories can't yet satisfy such high demand. For instance Gemesis, a leading and world known manufacturer of lab grown diamonds, produces only several thousand carats of man made diamonds per year - compare to De Beers 35 million carats a year. The pleasant thing is that Gemesis as well as Apollo Diamonds and other leading producers of man made diamonds are enlarging the number of diamond growing chambers each year, for example the number of chambers were increased tenfold by Gemesis for the last seven years.

As for the targeted audience, both men and women buy diamonds, yet diamonds remain girl's best friend mostly. Nowadays every socialite considers wearing diamond to be a kind of tradition. Thanks to great variety of diamond's colors and hues they can be worn both at day time and at night. Still diamonds remain rare and sought-after jewelry due to their high price and very often fashion tendency is not pocket-friendly for those who follow it. This is where man made diamonds join the game.

Created in the laboratory man made diamonds are almost impossible to be detected, so it is clear why modern fashion mongers prefer them. The only difference is a tiny laser inscribed serial number which is used for your protection. The number is seen only under magnifying glass and is absolutely unnoticeable for naked eye. The rest of the diamond - optical, physical and chemical characteristics - is identical to natural gem. Even the color! Man made diamonds as well as naturally-occurring diamonds can be of various colors: blue, green, yellow, cognac and pink. Jewelry with fancy colored diamonds looks and costs just perfect that is why it is the best choice for modern socialites.

Moreover, the main slogan of man made diamonds is that they are eco-friendly and conflict free. As more and more people today join the green movement created diamonds are winning a larger audience. They do not imply human rights abuse, violence, child labor or damage to environment, so created diamond wedding rings are getting popular on green weddings these days.

Eco-conscious brides and fashion mongers choose man made diamonds, and what about you?

Image in this post is the courtesy of it's respective owner: Apollodiamond.com.

Man Made Diamonds: Where to Buy

Diamonds... So bright, fabulous, fadeless and captivating these little pricey brilliant gems leave no one indifferent. Gemesis, Apollo, Chatham and New Age Diamonds are notable brand names in the world of diamond jewelry, like Coco Chanel or Christian Dior in the world of fashion clothing. These known companies possess modern high-tech laboratories where they grow 100% real diamond gems. After several days of growing diamond stone falls into skilled hands of gem cutter, who makes a rough shone shine and makes the gem iridescent. Thereon, a shaped gem undergoes grading by reputable gemological laboratories where professionals identify diamond's cut, clarity, color and weight. At last, shiny stone is set into jewelry, the one you could easily buy.

"Easily" is the word applied to man made diamonds actually, which are cheaper than natural. Nevertheless the lower price does not infect the quality of the gems. They are of the same beauty, solidity, longevity and possess all the rest natural diamond's properties, except age - man made diamonds are much younger.

Those who want to satisfy their whimsies by purchasing diamond jewelry, could do it in two ways: either from your local retailer, or buy it through the Internet. There is nothing special to say about your local retailer as you can go to the shop to take a closer look at the stone and touch it, and try it, whatever. As for the Internet shops it is very important to choose only reputable sources for you not to be cheated. Here are the most known of them:

• Created-Diamonds.com
• Diamondscultured.com
• Takaradiamonds.com

Created-Diamonds.com is a reliable source for real cultured diamonds grown by Gemesis, Apollo and New Age Diamonds manufacturers. Here you can order either loose diamond or the one set in jewelry. The customers are offered to choose diamond gem among variety of exclusive colors: colorless, green, blue, pink and red, yellow and orange. All diamonds are certified by competent gemological laboratories. More detailed information about diamonds from Created-Diamonds.com you can find on its official website.

Diamondscultured.com offers its customers conflict-free diamonds from Chatham and Gemesis diamond growing laboratories. Fancy blue, yellow and pink diamonds will pleasantly surprise you by their high quality and moderate prices. So, if you want to have diamond jewelry just at a fraction of the price, you are welcome to apply Diamondscultured.com for more information.

Takaradiamonds.com is an on-line diamond jewelry shop with unusual name. The thing is the diamonds Takaradiamonds.com offer are of Asian origin and some are from Gemesis company. This is one of the first on-line source of lab grown diamonds and can boast having been on the web market since 2002. Feel free to address Takaradiamonds.com for more information.

Be beautiful and shine with your diamond jewelry!

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.