the synthetics im talking about are not fake, in that the material they consist of is an actual diamond crystal with the same chemical and physical properties. im not talking about cubic circonia or white sapphire or stuff like that. simple tests based on thermal conductivity or optical density see them as real, you need to go deeper and look for microscopic inclusions or fluorescence to see that they are lab diamonds. but then, all the bigger ones have a laser inscription anyway.

they are difficult to create, and some are not even cheaper because they come in very rare fancy colors. white ones are even harder to make than fancy colors, they require the vapor deposition method. the others are made in a high-pressure-high-temperature cell that is being compressed by a set of steel anvils pushing on a smaller set of tungsten anvils. both methods often require weeks to grow a diamond.

i like the idea of not having diamond mining involved. with whats going on in diamond mining when it comes to poverty and dangerous working conditions, i see no problem with devaluing natural diamonds.

last time i checked the de beers monopoly is still working well. at least all the rough they stored away is still safely stored away. the business model was to create scarcity on the market by controlling 90% or more of the trade, and each year they would get in tons of rough, but only sell a few hundred kilograms. today their market control may have diminished to 60% or 70%, but the other players seem to do something similar. anyway i dont see the prices coming down, and if that monopoly really would fall, there would be a global drop in prices. did you know that the amount of gemstone quality diamonds that is mined is 10 times larger than the amount of gemstone quality rubys? most diamonds still dont reach the market and never get cut.

de beers also buys and dismantles small startups that aim to produce synthetics and invests in testing procedures that can distinguish them from naturals. and there is some market pressure involved, most dealers stay away from synthetics, out of 10 diamond traders only one or two have the real synthetics. you will find more traders that also sell color-enhanced naturals and diamond simulants, hunting down the real HPHT or vapor deposition lab diamonds is half the fun of collecting.

simulants are boring, i have a cubic circonia brilliant with a 3 centimeter diameter and ive seen synthetic sapphires of enormous propotions. synthetic sapphires are getting so large, soon they can cut a champagne bottle out of one.