Synthetic Diamonds

The first synthetic diamonds were produced
by General Electric in 1954. A synthetic
diamond is basically a rock that has the
durability, refractive index and hardness of a natural diamond – but it is made by man.
A synthetic diamond should not be
confused with stimulant diamonds, such as
glass, cubic zirconia, or moissanite.

Although the technology for synthetic diamonds came into play in 1954, no synthetic diamonds were ever seen on the market until the 1990’s. This was due to the  fact that it took many years for General Electric to produce a synthetic diamond that could compare with the quality of a natural  diamond – and when they figured out how to  do it, they found that it cost more to produce  a synthetic diamond than it did to mine and
cut natural diamonds.

Finally, a small company by the name of  Gemesis Corporation figured out a way to  produce synthetic diamonds that were of the same quality as natural diamonds, at a cheaper price. Today, Gemesis produces  synthetic white diamonds, and colored  diamonds as well. These diamonds sell for  about 1/3 of the cost of a natural diamond,  but there is a shortage of them, and they are
hard to find. In fact, it seems that synthetic  diamonds are rarer than natural diamonds!