Here at the laboratory, we have seen some people bring jewelry pieces (to be examined only), where up to 34% of the melee accent-stones turned out to be HPHT lab-grown diamonds. It should be noted that most of the pieces were purchased by their owners from sellers outside of the Philippines. This can be quite a concern though, as the value of an entire jewelry piece changes once you know that many of the stones came from being grown artificially at a lab or factory. Likewise the demand for a certain piece can also change once this realisation comes into play.
Diamonds with sizes like the ones above, are more easily replaced with man-made stones due to people not being as paranoid over them.
Side stones are generally melee-sized diamonds, often times not getting larger than .10 carats (in weight). These stones are often overlooked by clients, however the trends in jewelry design currently favor pieces that are highly encrusted by rows and rows of pave-set diamonds. Just imagine the cost that manufacturers would save if they used lab-created stones for 30-40% of the diamond melee batch.
Some of the newest CVD synthetic diamonds to hit the market are virtually inclusion-free (Internally Flawless)
Man-made or lab-created diamonds, again have the same chemical composition and structure as natural stones. The words "real", "authentic" and "genuine" do not really define the difference anymore between these stones and natural earth-mined stones. Despite this though, man-made diamonds can be easily detected and separated by experienced gemologists that possess the proper scientific equipment setup.
These stones are also cheaper than their natural counterparts, by anywhere from 40-60% at wholesale, but sometimes 30-40% through retail as far as we've observed during our research trips to country fairs like those held thrice a year in hong kong.
If you're particular about whether or not your diamond is man-made or naturally mined from the earth, feel free to set an appointment with our gemologist via our facebook page. Gemcamp Laboratories use advanced luminescence spectroscopy, aside from other gemological techniques and practices to help identify if your diamond is indeed a natural stone by chemical trace-element type analysis.
Needless to say, we are also capable of separating imitations and simulants from diamond. Imitation generally means something that is not a diamond, in crystal structure and essential chemistry. The only similarity it has to diamond is in visual semblance.
