Two dazzling Russian diamonds, both faceted in square-emerald styles from rough stones of more than 30 carats, made international news relatively recent. One is a 10.02-carat, colorless gem, the other a 10.07-carat, deep-blue gem. The blue diamond sold for $250,000, then immediately resold for an undisclosed, substantially higher price.
Gems of this size and value are not unusual in top-end diamond markets, but these two stones warranted special attention because of their origin. They came not from Russian diamond mines, but from the laboratories of New Diamond Technology, a synthetic-diamond company based in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg. In size, value, and quality, these two 10-carat stones represent the height of technological achievement in the synthesis of gem-quality diamonds.
Laboratories have been making diamonds for more than 60 years. The introduction of diamond synthesis in the 1950s raised fears that synthetic, gem-quality diamonds would disrupt, if not destroy, the natural-diamond industry. So far, those fears have proved unfounded. As it turned out, producing synthetic gem diamonds that challenge natural diamonds in quality, size, and cost has been a tougher job than anyone imagined.
Today, synthetics account only for two percent of all gem-diamond retail sales. As shown by New Diamond Technology’s 10-carat gems, synthetics, now bigger and better than ever, are finally poised to impact the gem-diamond market significantly.
This story is from the September 2020 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
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This story is from the September 2020 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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