Man Made Diamonds and Other Imitations

Man Made Diamonds

Imitation and Man Made Diamonds

Before the 1930s, the gems of choice for engagement rings included opals, rubies, and sapphires.

But in the 1940s, De Beers--the South African mining firm that controls the majority of the world's diamond supply--introduced "A Diamond Is Forever." The success of this campaign turned diamond into the symbol of eternal love and dramatically increased demand for the gems.

Because of their great value, diamonds are frequently imitated. The most common man made diamonds and imitations are made from a lead glass known as paste, or strass. The better glass imitations are cut and polished like true stones, but cheaper counterfeits are molded in the form of brilliants and consequently have rounded edges.

Any glass imitation can easily be identified: It will feel warm to the touch, it will often contain air bubbles that can be seen with a magnifying glass, and it will generally be less transparent to X rays.

Rock crystal, a transparent crystalline form of quartz, is properly known as rhinestone when it is cut as a brilliant. It can easily be scratched by a real diamond.

Semiprecious zircons, which have a strong dispersion of light, can be made almost colorless by heat treatment. These man made diamonds and imitations resemble true diamonds but can be scratched by them.
Another form of imitation stone, known in the gem trade as a doublet, is composed of two pieces cemented together.

Diamond doublets are sometimes composed of two actual diamonds joined to form a single stone, in which case they are known as true doublets.

False doublets, which are more common, consist of a diamond crown cemented to a base or pavilion of a less valuable gem material or glass.

Other synthetic products used as imitation diamonds include cubic zirconia, strontium titanate, synthetic rutile, and synthetic spinel.

Tiny synthetic diamonds of industrial quality equal to that of natural industrial diamonds were first produced by General Electric in 1955.

Today, industrial-grade synthetic diamonds used as abrasives are produced inexpensively.

Diamond coatings can be synthetically produced as well by heating carbon dioxide over a metal surface with a series of lasers.

These man made diamond coatings have the potential to greatly extend the lifetime of precision dies, drills, and saw blades.

Synthetic Diamonds are nothing new. Producing them has been a stable business for the past half century. Today, more than 100 tons of the stones is produced annually worldwide by firms like Diamond Innovations (previously part of General Electric), Sumitomo Electric, and De Beers.

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