Man-made diamonds are essentially made up of the same chemical composition and structure that natural diamonds possess, namely carbon atoms arranged in a specific lattice formation. This, along with a near-colorless nature, allows for a great public difficulty in their separation. Man-made diamonds are not to be confused with "simulants" or "imitations", which are stones that look like diamond, but are entirely made up of something else- such examples of this would be cubic zirconia and moissanite.
Lab-grown diamonds are made using two popular processes in today's markets; 'High Pressure High Temperature' (HPHT) method and the 'Chemical Vapor Deposition' (CVD) method. The latter has proven to be slightly more advanced, and harder to detect by the public. None of those older pen-type (thermal-conductivity) diamond testers or (electrical property) moissanite testers will be able to handle an undisclosed threat if these materials are the ones being tested.
Man-Made Diamonds Are Circulating in Metro Manila. The Growing Possibility of Undisclosed Artificially-Grown Stones on the Market Causes More People To Worry Over the Authenticity of Their Diamonds.
The Philippines for years, has not had too much concern for these types of stones, however with the advent of retail stores directly (and honestly) selling lab-grown diamonds, certainly there will be a rise of other parties who may consider more unethical ways of integrating these man-made counterparts into jewelry sets or parcels. These man-made stones at the moment, cost around 50-60% less than natural diamonds, based on data we have collected visiting the largest diamond and jewelry trade exhibitions in the world, including those held in Hong Kong.
There is nothing wrong with man-made / cultured diamonds, in fact many people praise them for being more ethically responsible, eradicating the possibility of "blood diamonds"or "conflict diamonds" in their production. The fault and fraud comes when an entity, company or person attempts to pass off a man-made diamond as a natural stone, which we've heard happens quite often in the trade, now growing in frequency and locality ranges.
We urge the Philippine consumer market to have caution in the buying of both man-made and natural diamonds. Always be sure that your supplier is trustworthy and try to establish a good relationship with any jeweler who's store you purchase from.
For anyone who wants to make sure that their diamonds are indeed of natural origin, we can help you distinguish the identity of your stone here at Gemcamp Laboratories. Our gemologists use a combination of spectrometry and photoluminescence to help you identify if your stone is a natural type IaAB diamond. Gain awareness on the value, and quality of your gemstones by bringing it to one of our GIA graduate gemologists for checking.
