If you’re in the market for an engagement ring, you’ve probably heard a little about lab grown diamonds. Perhaps the fact that they avoid all conflict and exploitation is the factor. Social responsibility of them appeals to you. Perhaps the price is driving you that direction. How do these diamonds exist, though? What creates them?
Lab grown diamonds start out as tiny seeds made from already existing diamonds. The laboratory scientists use special technology to create the diamonds with the same process nature uses when diamonds are formed. The process either involves extreme pressure and heat or a process called chemical vapor deposition. A diamond is formed in as little as five to ten weeks. Afterward, just like a natural diamond, it’s cut and polished. And, just like a natural diamond, it ends up on an engagement ring or another piece of jewelry.
Let’s look at the two technology processes in a little more detail.
HPHT—High Pressure High Temperature
This process closely simulates the environment under which natural diamonds form deep inside the earth. The big machines can create pressure as high as eight-hundred and fifty thousand pounds per square inch and temperatures up to sixteen hundred degrees Celsius!
CVD—Chemical Vapor Deposition
CVD puts the diamond seed in a vacuum with carbon and hydrogen gasses. At the right temperature, the gas molecules become layers of carbon crystals around the seed. Some CVD diamonds will also go through the heat and pressure process.
You won’t be able to tell the difference between a lab diamond and a natural diamond. Why? Because there is no difference except for how they’re made. It takes special equipment to identify the history of the formation. If you need an engagement ring, feel free to reach out to us. If you need an engagement ring in San Diego, drop by the showroom!
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