Would it be possible to make diamonds then sell them? Why can't we do it? Superman did it in 3 right? Crush coal and it'll become diamond?

yes

Engineers have long been able to create tiny shards of diamonds for industrial use. Diamonds are the hardest substances on earth, so they can cut through metals easily. For this reason, industrial saws are often outfitted with chipped or dust diamonds. But only in 2004 did companies announce their success at developing methods of producing cultivated diamonds large enough to be used on rings, necklaces, bracelets, and other jewelry.

So far, there are two reliable methods of making artificial diamonds large enough for jewlery. One uses a "seed" of a smaller diamond and puts additional molten graphite (a form of coal) under enormous pressure and temperature until it is added to the crystalline structure and makes the seed larger. Another method, called chemical vapor deposition, CVD, creates a chamber where tiny pieces of diamond precipitate and condense together, like ice crystals, in layers to form a solid deposit. These specimens can easily be colored and usually have no imperfections.

Certified geologists have trouble distinguishing mined diamonds from their manufactured counterparts. Some people believe the strict line between the origins of the stones is not important. Others maintain that consumers want the real thing, and will not settle for anything artificial because it is not as special, valuable, or traditional.

Another side points out that a monopoly on diamonds has artificially inflated their value, as well as contributed to ideal monetary equivalents when exchanging weapons and slave labor. This perspective views the sale of artificial diamonds as a humanitarian alternative.

Wow :O

By the time you make them big enough for jewelry, they are more expensive than real ones.

This info is a little incomplete and some of it is not up-to-date, even for 2004.These specimens can easily be colored and usually have no imperfections.This is an odd thing to say since in most cases colored diamonds are less valuable than "white" ones. Only in recent years have bottom-end jewelers coined terms like "champagne diamonds" to try to increase the market for the real "trash stones."Certified geologists have trouble distinguishing mined diamonds from their manufactured counterparts.The word is "gemologist," a person who studies gemstones. The difference between laboratory-created and earth-mined gemstones is the same for diamonds, emeralds and all others: No naturally occurring stone is completely flawless, whereas all man-made stones are--or will be once they've perfected the process. The gemological definition of "flawless," the highest grade of stone, is, "No imperfections can be seen at 500x magnification." With a higher-power microscope (I'm not sure how high you have to go) you WILL see imperfections in a natural stone and you WON'T see them in a lab stone. Many gemologists who are employed by jewelry stores simply don't have ultra-high power microscopes handy and can't do this on a walk-in basis, but that doesn't mean they don't know how to tell the stones apart.Some people believe the strict line between the origins of the stones is not important. Others maintain that consumers want the real thing, and will not settle for anything artificial because it is not as special, valuable, or traditional.This controversy is largely due to the invention of "artificial diamonds" such as the cubic zirconia. Laymen are fuzzy on the difference between an "artificial" diamond, which is not a diamond at all, and a "synthetic" diamond, which is a real diamond that was made in a laboratory. The CZ is not a diamond, it is a man-made stone similar but not identical to a natural zircon. Cubic zirconia are sturdy, beautiful stones that come in a rainbow of fun colors; they are easy to make and can be bought wholesale literally by the pound.Another side points out that a monopoly on diamonds has artificially inflated their value, as well as contributed to ideal monetary equivalents when exchanging weapons and slave labor. This perspective views the sale of artificial diamonds as a humanitarian alternative.This comment is way behind the information curve. The issue of these "blood diamonds" was made public by outraged humanitarians about ten years ago. Today all large diamonds are serial-numbered by laser so their origin can be traced. No reputable merchant will risk dealing with a nefarious supplier and a wary customer can easily verify that by checking the serial number.

Actually, yellow diamonds are more valuable than white diamonds, and red diamonds are fantastically valuable because there are very few of them in the world.

Natural diamonds are only valuable because a South African based gobal monopoly named "deBier's" (not sure on the spelling) has conducted a highly sucessfull pr campaign to fool people into thinking they are valuable. Actually, given the number of already mined diamonds (locked securely in their vaults), and the known diamond bearing formations, diamonds are at best a semiprecious stone. And the technology exists to produce high quality gem diamonds cheaply and in quantity. DeBier's uses some very questionable practices to maintian their monopoly, and the last time I heard (a pbs program a few years ago) the U. S. Justice Department has standing arrest warrants for any DeBier's executive setting foot on US soil.

Anyway, the cost for manufacturing gem diamonds is estimated at something like 20 to 30 dollars a carat. So if you are thinking of diamonds as an investment don't. If the monopoly is ever broken, (and a lot of people would like to) diamond prices will drop like a stone. Pardon the pun. Ever hear of the tulip depression?

This is a guess, but I think diamonds are made under extreme temperatures and pressure over a long period of time. I don't know of any artificial process similar to the way natural diamonds are made. However, I would never buy an artificial diamond because there's nothing like the real thing.

A week or two. Moderate temp and pressure. IIRC, a metal alloy solvent and graphite are placed in a pressurized crucible and heated (possibly with some tiny diamond "seeds"). The graphite slowly dissolves into the molten metal and precipitates out as diamond. You're right though, man made diamonds aren't the same as the "real thing". Man made are much _higher_ quality. Perfectly flawless.

we do make diamonds it's been doen the only problem is that they can tell the slight difference between those man made and those el natural.

we do make diamonds it's been doen the only problem is that they can tell the slight difference between those man made and those el natural.

http://www.sciforums.com/showpost.php?p=1463082&postcount=2


Please read the posts!!! :spank:

god dam you sam stealing my thunder lol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_diamond

Would it be possible to make diamonds then sell them? Why can't we do it? Superman did it in 3 right? Crush coal and it'll become diamond?

There is a company that makes gem quality artificial diamonds in weights of more than one carat. If being flawless is the one way that they can be distinguished, even then a gemologist doesn't generally have the time to scan every cubic micron of a gem to try to find flaws at 500x magnification.

They've been around for more than five years now. The process does consume enough time and energy that it isn't like free money.

Just a thought. Which would you prefer, a rock that took about 100,000 years to naturally mature into diamond or a rock made by some dude:confused:

The majority of rock drilled in the search for oil and gas is today drilled with bits whose cutting elements are made of artificial diamond.

Wow, everyone is WAY out of date on this one, even the Wikipedia article!

There are two companies that have been producing 3-carat stones for some time now. One machine can complete a yellow one (3 carats) every three days while clear ones take a little longer. Both companies have several machines running and the 3 carat stone only costs a few hundred dollars to produce - WAY below it's market value.

The article in the following link is not the best I've read but it was the first I found on a quick search. Give it a read and learn something new. ;)

http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:OIB9sMlsjIwJ:www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.html+Synthetic+diamond&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us