There may be some confusion in light of advertising concerning the selling of “lab created” diamonds online and through Craigslist. The ad claims to sell you a lab created diamond, which by description sounds like a diamond created in a laboratory, in other words a real diamond. This is not what they are selling. They are selling a stimulant, which means you may be paying much more than you should or definitely not getting what you think you should.

The problem that exists is that simulants are being called man-made or lab-created diamonds, which should not be the case. The Federal Trade Commission states that:

It is unfair or deceptive to use the word ‘laboratory grown’, ‘laboratory created’, '(manufacturers-name) created’ or ‘synthetic' with the name of any natural stone to describe industry product unless such industry product has essentially the same optical, physical and chemical properties of the stone named.

Let us be clear here and define the differences. A stimulant, which is also described as an imitation, looks like a diamond but does not have the same optical, physical and chemical properties as the genuine diamond. Examples of diamond simulants are, glass, any clear gemstone, cubic zirconia and lately moisannite. Moisannite because it is carbon-based has  fooled diamond testers that use thermal conductivity to identify a diamond. You would need to use a special moisannite tester to identify that it is not a diamond. Other simulants have a diamond coating to fool diamond testers. Using a diamond tester exclusively to test for simulants is not a guarantee anymore.

A laboratory-created diamond, also know as lab-grown, lab-created, and synthetic is optically, physically and chemically identical to the natural gemstone. Lab-created diamonds have claimed to be around for almost a century, although most early cases have been investigated and have not been substantiated. Documented reproducible creation of lab created diamonds started in the 1950’s. There are currently several methods to synthetically produce diamonds. There is the HPHT (high pressure, high temperature) and CVD (chemical vapor deposition) which are the two most widely used methods. Other recent methods are Detonation which produces very small diamonds used mainly as industrial abrasives and Ultrasound methods being developed but have yet to provide useful results.

As a cautionary warning, consumers should be aware of these differences and be able to avoid potential problems with their purchases. It should also be known that other gemstones notably emeralds, rubies, sapphires and alexandrites along with a few others are also available as lab-created gemstones. Lab created gemstones offers a lower price than a genuine natural gemstone created in nature because it can be made indefinitely and not as limited and rare as the natural one. It may be a comfortable choice for some people.

A side note and just a personal observation is that as nice and affordable as synthetic gemstones are, consumers still seem somewhat hesitant to purchase them. They are more comfortable purchasing synthetic colored gemstones than toying with the idea of buying a synthetic diamond for an engagement ring. I think that most would feel that it tarnishes the importance of the engagement somewhat. It is a personal choice and decision and it may perfect for some people.



Mahalo,

Russell Oshita
The Diamond Specialists Inc.

Our website: www.thediamondspecialistsinc.com
Email me: russell@thediamondspecialists.com
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