Excalibur

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From Dreams to Reality

The desire to create “something from nothing” is not new. The legendary process of alchemy was born of man’s desire to produce gold from ordinary lead. The inclination to create Diamonds was no different. Physicists and chemists have been trying to imitate the conditions under which Diamonds grow inside the Earth for well over a hundred years. Men like James Ballantyne Hannay and Ferdinand Frédéric Henri Moissan began their experiments as early as 1879. They claimed successes that were later debunked by Sir Charles Algernon Parsons, who replicated their experiments in the 1920s but was unable to reproduce any results. He developed processes of his own, however, and was able to create what he believed to be the first Lab-Grown Diamonds. These stones were not gem quality, nor were they intended to be. The idea was to answer the question of “Can it be done?”
 
Once it was discovered to even be possible, the next phase was to design a method that would make Diamonds worthy of consumer purchase. It took decades just to refine a method that produced consistent results.  As with mined Diamonds, more than 90% of all created Diamonds are used for industrial purposes. The industrial Diamonds were slowly coming along, inhibited by The Great Depression and World War II. General Electric resumed their Diamond project in 1951, a decade after it had begun, and in 1954 achieved success by producing the first commercially viable created Diamonds for commercial abrasives and the like.
 
It took almost 20 more years to grow Diamond crystals of gem quality. In 1970, the project GE had begun saw its labors come to fruition. At that time, a week-long growth process produced jewelry quality Diamonds of 1 carat (5mm), though these Diamonds were not “colorless”.  The method employed thin (about the width of a hair) pieces of Diamond as “seeds” with which to grow larger crystals under ideal, stable conditions. At first the only gem-quality Diamonds were the fancy colors of blue or yellow; these colors were side-effects of the impurities of certain elements during the process, just like their introduction in the natural growth that takes place in the crust of the Earth: boron for blue and nitrogen for yellow. Other colors like pink and green are obtained through irradiation. Jewelry worthy colorless (“white”) Diamonds have only entered the market in the few years, as the technology to produce them as colorless has only been developed recently.

How Are Created Diamonds Different from CZs or Other Simulants?

The most important idea to understand when talking about created Diamonds is that they are, in fact, Diamonds. The only difference between Excalibur Diamonds and Diamonds from a mine is that the ones that come from mines took millions, sometimes billions, of years to form and be brought close enough to the Earth’s surface to uncover them, while created Diamonds take just a few weeks to cultivate. Both are then polished and cut to be set into jewelry.
 
The number one question that people tend to ask when talking about created Diamonds is: How are they different from a Cubic Zirconium or a Moissanite? Firstly, neither of these simulants are Diamonds. They are called simulants for that reason: they simulate the look of a Diamond, but are both chemically and physically different from a Diamond. Cubic Zirconia are made from zirconium dioxide, and Moissanites are synthesized from silicon carbide. Moissanite is the superior of these two stones in several ways: it is harder (less likely to scratch), tougher (less likely to chip), shows more brilliance and fire, and is both more durable and more stable. For these reasons, it is also the more expensive of the two simulants. Still, neither is a Diamond.
 
Sometimes referred to as “cultured” Diamonds, created Diamonds are produced in a laboratory by one of two methods: HPHT or CVD. The High Pressure/High Temperature method mimics the conditions necessary to form Diamonds just as they are formed in nature, deep in the Earth’s mantle under intense heat and compression. The Carbon Vapor Deposition process generates Diamonds by bringing about the crystallization of hydrocarbon gas.

The Rarest Diamonds in the World

There are a few reasons why it can be said that created gem-quality Diamonds are the rarest in the world. Created Diamonds make up less than 1% of the Diamond market. Most created Diamonds, just like mined Diamonds, are used for industrial purposes like drill bits, abrasives, and cutting or polishing tools.

On top of that, jewelry-quality created Diamonds are Type IIa. Less than 2% of natural Diamonds are of this type. Type IIa Diamonds have almost no impurities from elements like nitrogen and boron, the elements in natural Diamonds that make them yellow or blue. Type IIa Diamonds are what is referred to as “colorless”. Only recently has the technology for created Diamonds advanced to the point that the Type IIa can be made. Earlier technologies produced yellow Diamonds, and even blue ones. This is why the fancy colors of yellow and blue created Diamonds are more prevalent in the market.

Furthermore, the ability to control the necessary growth conditions for the length of time it takes to cultivate a white Diamond is what makes them the least available color. Conditions must be maintained at exact levels over an extensive period of time for the process to be a success. At this point in time, the largest that can be manufactured as a Type IIa colorless Diamond is roughly 1.5 carats. Larger sizes have been grown, but these are “near colorless” to faint yellow.
It cannot be stated categorically that there will be a breakthrough in the Diamond creating technologies that will allow for Type IIa Diamonds to be developed quicker, and with larger sizes becoming available. Created Diamonds have been part of the industry for over 70 years. Only in the last decade have they been able to come out colorless and in sizes over half a carat.

Thus, created Diamonds of Type IIa are the rarest in the world. They constitute only a very small percentage of the 1% that created Diamonds claim in the Diamond market.