Synthetic Diamonds Threaten De Beers

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Two American companies have developed two different methods of making diamonds that could be considered technically "real" because they are made using compressed carbon, just as nature's diamonds are. Diamonds made this way will enable the eventual development of semiconductors that can take immense amounts of heat, but through the development, the companies have found that their diamonds are as beautiful and more flawless than those from the mines, and they can be made for a fraction of the cost of mined diamonds. Apparently, this is causing diamond company De Beers a great deal of frustration, and even scaring them silly:

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According to Clarke, a De Beers executive, James Evans Lombe, was tipped off about the synthetic diamonds within two hours of their arrival at the jeweler's. Lombe asked for a meeting with the General. The De Beers executive drove directly to Claridge's, and the two men sat down in the tearoom to the strains of a piano and violin duet.

De Beers refuses to comment on the meeting - or about anything for this story - but Clarke says he simply placed his diamonds on the table. "When I told him that we planned to set up a factory to mass-produce these, he turned white," the General recalls. "They knew about the technology, but they thought it would stay in Russia and that nobody would get it working right. By the end of the conversation, his hands were shaking."

De Beers has begun a campaign against "manufactured diamonds" and has developed their own machinery that will detect natural vs "cultured" (as one diamond maker likes to call it), but even their detection machinery has a hard time telling the difference.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond_pr.html

Would it make a difference to you if a diamond was manufactured by machine rather than by earth if it were still flawless and still technically a real diamond?

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I think it's wonderful, as far as jewelry is concerned. I have a couple of strands of "cultured" pearls, and they are no less beautiful to me then if they were "real".

When the manufactured diamonds are sold, I'll have a three carat pear shape, thank you!

In terms of electronic equipment, these synthetic diamonds, if they indeed have the same properties as mined diamonds, will revolutionize the electronics business. (And maybe the prices of computers will go down! )

As far as the diamond dealers are concerned, tough. Over time, many items have become obsolete, or lost their value, and people just had to adapt. The diamond dealers have held a monopoly for years, which has kept diamond prices unnecessarily high.

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Exactly, Phoenix. It is the monopoly that has kept gem diamonds so high, not the difficulties in mining. We're supposed to owd de Beers a living, yet?

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Rog- Some people just can't deal with change, especially when they have been on the top of the heap for so long.

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To be fair, if I owned a diamond mine, I would resist this change too. Diamonds are unique in hardness, luster, and refractivity, and I welcome the change.

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Anything that threatens dee beers is an issue for me...

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What happens to people who have invested heavily in Diamonds ?

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de Beers keep the supply of diamonds on the market artificially low in order to keep up the price. They also treat the miners appallingly.

if their noses are put out of joint I for one am delighted! Twisted Evil

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Gautam wrote:

What happens to people who have invested heavily in Diamonds ?

you didn't .... did you?

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Well...errr..ummmm....actually I like diamonds...have quite a few, but more because of their aesthetic value rather than monetary value....

I am more worried abt my mother Laughing

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Gautam, my husband's response was, "Well we just lost some money, didn't we?" So maybe I should be glad that the only diamond investing we've done is on the wedding ring!

I think it's pretty cool, too. It will definately be interesting to see how these "cultured diamonds" will fare when they hit the market full-force.

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What happens to people who have invested heavily in Diamonds ?

Don't want to come off as hard-nosed, but when people invest, they take a chance. There are no guarantees on ANY speculative investments. Ask anybody who has been in the stock market for the last couple of years! :wink:

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Phoenix - it is a very cultural thing I guess. In India most of the business men invest their "black" money in diamonds, gold or land, which they buy in the names of obscure relatives.

Diamonds are specially popular as they can be hidden pretty easily compared to large amounts of cash.

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A diamond is for... a while. Wink

I do have some sympathy for those who have diamonds and will see the value decrease. But I like diamonds, and HATE De Beers, for many many reasons, and welcome this development. Pearls are a very good analogy... there was a time when they were valued more than diamonds (? for sure very very high value) and then they became more common. I still love pearls, and am glad that they are affordable.

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Quote:

Long known as the "Queen of Gems," pearls possess a history and allure far beyond what today's wearer may recognize. Throughout much of recorded history, a natural pearl necklace comprised of matched spheres was a treasure of almost incomparable value, in fact the most expensive jewelry in the world. Now we see pearls almost as accessories, relatively inexpensive decorations to accompany more costly gemstones.

Before the creation of cultured pearls in the early 1900s, natural pearls were so rare and expensive that they were reserved almost exclusively for the noble and very rich. A jewelry item that today's working women might take for granted, a 16-inch strand of perhaps 50 pearls, often costs between $500 and $5,000. At the height of the Roman Empire, when pearl fever reached its peak, the historian Suetonius wrote that the Roman general Vitellius financed an entire military campaign by selling just one of his mother's pearl earrings.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pearl/time.html

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Wow, interesting bit about pearls. Even though pearls are more common, though, I think they still have an allure to them that other gems can't match. They're pristine and womanly at the same time. Smile

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Actually...
Diamonds (even the mined variety) are quite common and I believe that their actual classification is semi-precious (like garnets). DeBeers' stranglehold on the market has artificially inflated the price.

DeBeers had a comercial where a woman is frantically rushing around her house trying to keep her bewildered kids occupied with snacks and a video while she sequesters her husband to the bedroom where she can ravish him. Why? He just bought her a diamond necklace (awww!!!). Many actresses act as models for high-end diamonds when they do the red-carpet walk at the Academy Awards. It is very common that before they turn them back over to the jewlers they go to bed wearing them. Why? They're 'sexy'.

I am very interested in what effect diamonds are going to have on sex. Shocked

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kr0ssb0w- Welcome to A2K

I have a wonderful idea.........an experiment. My husband buys me a big "rock", and I'll report the results!

All kidding aside, I just realized something. In years gone by, when women were dependent on their husbands for financial support, a big, valuable, diamond was like an insurance policy. It was a nest egg that a woman could cash in, if something went awry with the marriage, and she needed some money for lawyers, starting over again, etc. My first husband's engagement ring bought my masters' degree!

I think that now that women have important careers, and can earn her own way, the diamond as insurance has become less important.

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Once you've worked in the claims department of a property insurer, you'll never think of a diamond as an investment again. I would never buy a diamond other than at a pawn shop now.

I used to sit next to the property manager of one of North America's larger p&c carriers. Listening to him explain why a diamond ring, purchased for $20,000.00, and with a store appraisal of $25,000.00 is worth $5,000.00 or less taught me a lot. I also learned that a surprising number of diamonds bought and sold in the last 20 years weren't diamonds to begin with. People have been well taken in by cubic zirconia and the like. The thought that jewellers are sucking $20,000.00+ out of people - telling them the ring is worth 25% more (very standard practice) - and then handing over a ring worth less than $200.00 - I am very leery of the concept of diamond as investment.

Give me land.

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Isn't that the truth Beth, eh. Diamonds are definitely not forever financially that is.

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Synthetic Diamonds Threaten De Beers

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