Diamond Geezers

Even us guys like to to sparkle now and then. Catering for men is one of the driving forces behind the current success of the diamond industry. But with this success competition has arrived in the form of man-made diamonds which will surely challenge the De Beers stranglehold over the market. Full Circle has written a great piece on the changes of the industry:

“Men Who Bling have been a godsend to the diamond industry. There may be no ceiling on the number of diamonds a woman can wear, but the fact that there have traditionally been a girl’s best friend, and frankly, a bit naff for men has not helped. Hip-hop changed that of course: the rock, like the fat watch, a shorthand expression of wealth when all you normally wear is typical t-shirt, jeans and trainers…..”

But bling’s love of sparklers may be about to be overturned. Everyone will be able to bling soon, because the man-made diamond (no, not diamante) has arrived. While their rarity, together with a tightly controlled supply, has ensured that real diamonds have remained covetable, new technology is allowing diamonds to be synthesised for the first time. Microwave plasma tools more typically used to create diamonds for high-temperature semi-conductor experiments have now been employed to mimic the conditions - around 2,200degF in temperature and 50,000atmospheres of pressure - that crystallises humble lumps of carbon in the expensive sparklers. Scientists, and entrepreneurs, have been attempting to do so since the 50s,
when tiny diamond crystals were first produced to coat cutting tools.

But now three-carat gem quality yellow diamonds are being made at a fraction of the cost diamonds usually carry, and albeit on a small scale, by a two American companies, Gemesis and Apollo Diamond. The implications for the diamond industry are huge (such that De Beers, which has held a virtual monopoly has been campaigning against the inevitable arrival of man-made diamonds for years) but also for computers. Microprocessors made with diamond parts can run at speeds well beyond those that would force silicon ones to fail. So the good news may be ever more sophisticated computing. But if you give your loved one a diamond this year, expect questions.

www.gemesis.com
www.apollodiamonds.com

Reproduced by kind permission of Full Circle
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