Archive for the ‘News & Reviews’ Category

The New Laboratory Manufactured Diamonds – Good or Bad?

As the interest in diamonds grows each year, the demand for them goes up. One way the diamond industry has attempted to meet that growing demand is by manufacturing diamonds in laboratories around the world. Man-made diamonds are quite common place in today’s diamond market. Some people wonder if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Let’s take a look.

1/4 carat side diamonds three diamond ring with triangle sides

Everyone knows that diamonds that are formed naturally in the deepest depths of the earth are by far, more desired than manufactured diamonds. These precious and unique stones aren’t always available, though. Simply put, there are just not enough of them being mined each year. The alternative choice, laboratory-manufactured diamonds, is intended to fill that demand.

What’s a laboratory-manufactured diamond?

Sometimes called synthetic diamonds, cultured diamonds or cultivated diamonds, these stones are created using an artificial process that mimics the process that natural diamonds are subjected to in their creation. This is done using a few different methods.

High Pressure and High Temperature (HPHT) is the original way synthetic diamonds were first created. As the name of the process indicates, high pressure and high temperature are combined in a controlled setting to create diamonds. Other methods used are Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), a process that creates a carbon plasma onto which carbon atoms cling to and ultimately form a diamond.

Other processes used are detonation of explosives inside a metal chamber which allows carbons to form into diamonds, and Ultrasound Cavitation, a process that synthesizes diamond microcrystals to form diamonds.

Are laboratory-grown diamonds as valuable as natural diamonds?

There is no one answer to this question. Synthetic diamonds have the same chemical makeup as natural diamonds, but they aren’t real diamonds in the sense that they’ve been manually manufactured. Still, some synthetic diamonds are quite expensive, and considered extremely valuable. It really depends on the diamond’s carat, color, clarity, and cut.

Also, synthetic diamonds are extremely hard to detect. Telling the difference between them and natural diamonds can be very hard to do. This is another reason a synthetic diamond can be so valuable.

So are laboratory-grown diamonds good or bad?

The answer to this question depends on you. If you’re adamant that your diamonds are formed naturally within the earth, then synthetic diamonds aren’t for you. If, however, you’re more concerned with your diamonds clarity, color, cut and carat and not so much about how it was formed into a diamond, then synthetic diamonds are a good choice for you.

Remember, synthetic diamonds are real diamonds. They have the same chemical makeup of diamonds that are mines from the earth. The only real difference is that laboratory-grown diamonds are more readily available.

“The Perfect Pink,” a flawless pink diamond, officially became the most expensive jewelery auction sale in Asia after bringing in a cool $23,165,968 million. An anonymous buyer emerged victorious from the cutthroat bidding war to claim the 14.23 carat prize.

The emerald cut pink diamond was nestled between a pair of D-flawless diamonds with a combined total of 3.40 carats. All three emerald diamonds were set on an 18k white gold ring band.

The diamond was the most expensive lot at Christie’s Hong Kong auction. A spokesperson from Christie’s called the Perfect Pink “a phenomenon in the world of gems,” partially due to the diamond’s perfect coloring and type IIa classification. Type IIa diamonds make up only one to two percent of the world’s natural diamonds. Many of the world’s most famous or sought-after diamonds are Type IIa for having virtually no impurities and an exceptional sparkle.

The fancy intense pink stone with VVS clarity was sold at Asia’s largest jewelery auction of all time. The diamond ring sold for four million more than Christie’s expected selling price, making it the most expensive gem ever to be sold in Asia. Many experts perceived the massive jewelery auction as an indication of the increasing Asian demand for luxury goods. They expect to see more luxury Asian auctions in the future, especially after the successful sale of the Perfect Pink.

While the Perfect Pink diamond ring was the largest jewelery sale in Asia, the diamond was still no match for the incredible $46 million record selling price of the 24.78 carat pink diamond “The Graff Pink,” bought by Laurence Graff in Geneva on November 15th, 2010.

A Mexican distillery recently crafted what they’re hoping will be the world’s most expensive bottle of tequila. The extravagant bottle is encased in platinum and encrusted with four thousand diamonds. The bottle, named “Diamond’s Law” by the distillery, is estimated at 3.5 million dollars and took over twenty people to make. The bottle’s diamonds total over 300 carats.

The distillery, Hacienda La Capilla in Capilla de Guadalupe, hopes to break their old Guinness record for the World’s Most Expensive Tequila Bottle for a bottle that sold for $225,000 in 1996. “Diamond’s Law” is set to go on display in a massive world tour that includes destinations like Spain, Switzerland, London, Paris, Monaco, and Dubai. Upon following the bottle’s tour, the tequila bottle will go up for auction to the highest bidder.

While this diamond-encrusted tequila bottle may look stunning behind any bar, we ordinary drinkers and diamond collectors are just fine with loose diamonds.

In an age where machines and robots make much of what we see around us, the creation of a ring is a delicate and painstaking process that involves many steady hands. “Lost wax” casting, the technique illustrated in this video, is thousands of years old and is even mentioned in the works of Pliny the Elder. Although a machine or two make a few of the steps easier, the core process is basically unchanged.

Many stages of craftsmanship go into each and every diamond ring, and this video follows actual artisans as they create an 18 karat gold diamond ring, from its design to its casting in gold. The film is easy for a layman to follow, with clear and pleasant narration, and any new terms are immediately explained so there is no distracting jargon.

The one on one attention given to each ring is staggering in view of the volume of rings bought and sold every day, and the pride these artisans take in their work is plainly apparent. This video is a fascinating, eye-opening look into the world of fine jewelry, and it will give anyone a new appreciation of that tiny bit of gold that curls around their finger.

It could have been the fact that it was freezing outside or maybe jus

t a case of the jitters. Regardless of the reason, Travis Pittman, a producer for KING 5 News station, popped the question to his girlfriend during a trip to the Washington Pier close to the Des Moines Marina last Saturday evening.

The setting was beautiful and everything was going well until he, on accident, lost the ring by dropping it into the Puget Sound.

The classic diamond ring was a half-carat on a white gold band with small diamonds inlaid into the band. At first, he tried to tell his bride to be, Kim Hopper, that he wanted to get married but did not have enough money to buy her the perfect diamond ring. He then proposed and presented her with the beautiful diamond ring. It did not take her long to say yes to his proposal. As he was slipping the ring onto her finger it came off and fell into the water.

Pittman is hoping that the ring is found safely and returned to him.