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Synthetic lab man made diamonds take over in near future?

Diamond2014

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Oct 14, 2014
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Correct me if any of my statement(s) is wrong.

https://www.pricescope.com/journal/synthetic-diamonds

Currently, synthetic diamonds have both octahedral & cubic growth sectors and metallic inclusion with nitrogen & boron in its diamond lattice, while mined diamonds only have octahedral sectors. Using DiamondSure and DiamondView to detecting metallic and excess nitrogen or boron is the only way to detect synthetic diamonds.

In 2012, there was a patch of 600 diamonds that was sent to GIA for grading. GIA caught this and went for further testing, resulted that it was synthetic. What about other patches before GIA caught it, did it actually went into the market as real mined diamonds and priced as such?

With so many man made diamond companies popping up since 2012 and had successfully created colorless diamonds, eventually diamonds can be made to exact specification at the molecular level as mined diamond. Man made diamonds will saturate the market with no way of detecting man made vs mine diamonds. What happen then? What happen to the value of diamonds? What will happen to all the vendors & retailers that stocks their "mined diamonds" at a premium price?

* Synthetic lab man made diamonds - NOT simulants such moissanite, cubic zirconia (CZ), quartz, or glass
 

thecat

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Re: Synthetic lab man made diamonds take over in near future

Synthetic and mined gems each have their own fans. Maybe it will be the same for diamonds.
 

Diamond2014

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Re: Synthetic lab man made diamonds take over in near future

What I'm trying to say is what if man made diamonds mixed in with mined diamonds and there are no way of detecting it because it is exact the same down to molecular level.
 

TitanCi

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I would think it would have to be disclosed, no? But theoretically, yes, if perfected down to the molecular level, then how will one know unless it's disclosed. However, I remember reading somewhere the inclusions were different, which can be added, but different. And iirc, that gave it away. I dunno, not an expert, I think natural diamonds are cooler cuz earth made em.

I do like synthetic oil though, but it costs more than natural oil!!! So I would think synthetic diamonds would cost more too!
 

denverappraiser

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Re: Synthetic lab man made diamonds take over in near future

So far, the serious labs are pretty good at detecting the difference but, for argument’s sake let’s assume it were hard and, let’s assume also that it were true that top quality synthetics were dirt cheap (they’re not, but it supports the discussion). No what?

As pointed out, there’s president here. Synthetic sapphires are readily available, extremely nice, and very inexpensive. Meanwhile, the prices of the best natural sapphires are going through the roof. Why? People like natural stones, and they’re willing to pay extra to get them. That's not a gemological property but it's at the heart of your question. In the case of sapphire, ‘flawless’ is actually a problem, not a feature, primarily for this reason. Customers want to see natural inclusions that demonstrate natural origin. They want paperwork from a lab that did the tests to prove the origin (and treatments). It doesn’t matter if it’s hard for a consumer or even a jeweler to tell the difference. That just makes the labs more important. Sapphire is hardly the only case. Excellent synthetics are available in emeralds, rubies, amethyst, spinel and many others. Why should diamond be expected to be different?
 

denverappraiser

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Re: Synthetic lab man made diamonds take over in near future

Frankly, the fear of mixed synthetics has more to do with people like watch manufacturers than with engagement rings and the like. If, say, Rolex buys 100,000 matched tiny diamonds to put in their dials, there is simply no economically reasonable way for them to inspect every one. Most customers don’t actually ask if the diamonds in their watch are mined or grown but a few will care and companies like Rolex are extremely sensitive to their reputations. Is it a problem if the 6 o’clock diamond on your watch face is synthetic? Maybe and maybe not. But there are folks at the watch manufacturers who are losing sleep over the question.
 

GearGirly

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Re: Synthetic lab man made diamonds take over in near future

It also seems like buying from a site like eBay would be even more risky.
 

distracts

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Re: Synthetic lab man made diamonds take over in near future

denverappraiser|1417117002|3791351 said:
So far, the serious labs are pretty good at detecting the difference but, for argument’s sake let’s assume it were hard and, let’s assume also that it were true that top quality synthetics were dirt cheap (they’re not, but it supports the discussion). No what?

As pointed out, there’s president here. Synthetic sapphires are readily available, extremely nice, and very inexpensive. Meanwhile, the prices of the best natural sapphires are going through the roof. Why? People like natural stones, and they’re willing to pay extra to get them. That's not a gemological property but it's at the heart of your question. In the case of sapphire, ‘flawless’ is actually a problem, not a feature, primarily for this reason. Customers want to see natural inclusions that demonstrate natural origin. They want paperwork from a lab that did the tests to prove the origin (and treatments). It doesn’t matter if it’s hard for a consumer or even a jeweler to tell the difference. That just makes the labs more important. Sapphire is hardly the only case. Excellent synthetics are available in emeralds, rubies, amethyst, spinel and many others. Why should diamond be expected to be different?

Basically this.

I don't really keep up with the prices of synthetic diamonds but AFAIK currently they are similar to the prices of mined diamonds. So if you receive an undisclosed synthetic diamond right now, you are getting basically the same value, and it's only a problem if you have to have a mined diamond. It becomes more of a problem once they are easier to manufacture and the bottom drops out of the market. Which DID happen with synthetic corundum. So it's worth thinking about, but I think basically the same thing would happen with diamonds as did with colored gems.
 

denverappraiser

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Re: Synthetic lab man made diamonds take over in near future

I don’t actually expect the bottom to drop out of the market because that requires a revolution in cutting as well as growing but the oft quoted discount for synthetics has to do with the ‘average’ diamond, and that includes fancy colors. Natural fancy reds, blues, purples and a few others are psycho-expensive while a manmade blue is about the same as any other color. That screws up the averages in a big way. As mentioned above, people buying colorless synthetics in sizes from 0.25 to 1.50 carats are about the same price as their mined counterparts if you look in the same sort of marketplaces. The worry, at least in the industry, is at the bottom end. It makes little sense to have a lab inspect a 0.02ct stone because the lab fees are more than the cost of the stone and people don’t really care THAT much.

This has precedent too. Separating top shelf synthetic amethyst from natural requires equipment that most gemologists don’t have so the test is fairly expensive. Amethyst is relatively cheap. The result is that synthetic and natural amethyst costs about the same and, for the most part, people don’t care. They simply don’t do the test. People who are buying for astrological or other sorts of reasons where it makes a difference pay extra for the testing and everyone else is comfortable to just not know. As with cheap diamonds, the bulk of the expense is in the cutting and distribution costs, not the mining. Those are the same no matter where the stone came from.
 
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