lab/natural hybrids?

[bludiva]

i signed up for the free gia classes (thanks @pearaffair!) and that put me on their mailing list and today i saw this in an email...interesting....!

what do you all think? if you are open to lab diamonds is this something you would buy? it's like the diamond equivalent of cultured pearls imho. wonder if this is something that would catch on or not.

 

[MeowMeow]

Hmm... maybe? I would need to know A LOT more about its durability first.

 

[sparklynurse]

And performance.

 

[MRBXXXFVVS1]

So essentially this method is to make an earth mined diamond bigger?

 

[bludiva]

So essentially this method is to make an earth mined diamond bigger?

yeah that would be my guess...i'd assume whoever made it thought they would be able to get more of a premium than on a lab diamond alone. or maybe they thought it would be graded as natural? could have some interesting implications for color also, if you can add a lab colored layer on top of a natural core that's colorless or a different color...

 

[Demon]

I know cutters study the diamond and the best way to cut it, but I know nothing about the structure of lab grown crystals and whether the cutting still needs to be planned out, or how that works. But I was thinking how cool it might be if a colored, say a fancy intense tiny yellow diamond, was what the colorless lab diamond was grown around? I wonder if it even could work.

 

[MelloYello8]

I know cutters study the diamond and the best way to cut it, but I know nothing about the structure of lab grown crystals and whether the cutting still needs to be planned out, or how that works. But I was thinking how cool it might be if a colored, say a fancy intense tiny yellow diamond, was what the colorless lab diamond was grown around? I wonder if it even could work.

Someone posted this at some point: https://www.polygon.net/jwl/public/...ynthetic-hybrid-diamond-cvd-fancy-blue-en.jsp

“
When the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) laboratory in New York graded a 0.33 carat fancy blue diamond earlier this year, their initial evaluation didn’t reveal anything out of the ordinary. But upon closer inspection, GIA scientists noticed an odd combination of nitrogen and boron defects, as well as something extremely rare: the stone exhibited qualities of both type Ia and IIb diamond.

The stone’s unusual composition led scientists do investigate further, and what they found was unprecedented. The fancy blue turned out to be a natural colorless diamond, wrapped in a thin CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) coating that gave the stone its coloring.”

 

[Demon]

Eww, I wouldn't want a coated diamond.

 

[Demon]

Too late to edit my post, but coating is wrong - might as well buy mystic topaz. However I'd like to see the result of growing a colorless lab diamond around a small natural colored diamond.

 

[bludiva]

i think the idea of mixing colors is interesting...like starting with a white diamond core and growing a light blue around it and ending up with something silvery blue grey...that could be neat.

 

[Demon]

A lot of potential!

 

[ThiaChelf]

I find this interesting for sure!! I'm new to all this though.

 

[AprilBaby]

I would love to see the pricing.

 

[adele_h]

I’m not sure! Would you be able to see the demarcation between the two? Would they respond to being cut in the same way? So many questions!

 

[Ada Diamonds CEO]

So essentially this method is to make an earth mined diamond bigger?

IMHO, this is criminal fraud.

Not just bigger, but whiter, by growing blue material on top of near-colorless material to cancel the colors out (like noise canceling headphones).

 

[123ducklings]

If the technology is used in a transparent way I think there’s great potential for some really interesting stones — playing with color and layers, as others have mentioned. Or even just benefit to consumers who want a larger/tinted diamond at a lower price point. I also see huge potential for misleading marketing and harm to uneducated consumers.

 

[Ada Diamonds CEO]

If the technology is used in a transparent way I think there’s great potential for some really interesting stones — playing with color and layers, as others have mentioned. Or even just benefit to consumers who want a larger/tinted diamond at a lower price point. I also see huge potential for misleading marketing and harm to uneducated consumers.

I could not concur more strongly, but my insider understanding of this specific situation was that it was a malicious/criminal intent to deceive and defraud, similar to the heyday of laser drilling and HPHT treatment.

Also, I have inspected a couple of sample lab diamonds that were layered in various colors, due to intentional introduction of various defects and various points in the growth process. Pretty compelling in theory, but not that interesting from an IRL Ohhhh Rainbow Sparkles perspective.

Also, nothing to do with gems, but you can ion implant defects in diamond and there's all sorts of research on this right now. Check out this example that Michigan State did a couple of years ago: