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They're not quite identical - synthetic diamonds tend to be pinkish in color.

At some point someone is going to flood the market with artificial diamonds that cannot be distinguished from real ones and the market will collapse. Here's hoping.

Traces of other elements still makes a difference, according to Adia, anyway. Metallic inclusions may be visible, and a few other tests that require very expensive tools can detect them.

From the adia FAQ at: http://www.adiadiamonds.com/content/frequently-ask ed-questions/
How to distinguish between mined and created diamonds?

Both mined and laboratory-created diamonds are diamonds, therefore they exhibit absolutely the same properties. For example, a response of any diamond tester would be the same for mined and created diamonds.

However, there are some minor differences between the two. Created diamonds have metallic inclusions which are never present in natural diamonds. Inclusions, if any, could be visible with a loupe or microscope. So, by studying inclusions a trained gemologist could tell if this particular stone is created or natural. In case there are no visible inclusions, one could opt for advanced analytical testing such as X-ray Fluorescence Analysis or Photo Luminescence or Cathodoluminescence Analysis. Those tests could show presence or absence of certain trace elements or reveal the growth history of a diamond. These sophisticated instruments are very expensive, and very few of the top gemological laboratory have them. DeBeers markets a machine called DiamondView which can potentially determine the origin of a diamond, whether it is mined or created. Again, only major gemological laboratories could afford this instrument. Please read more at the EGL website.

What if DeBeers started a company that claimed to sell man-made diamonds, but actually just sold DeBeers excess stock?

Facts that might support this plan:
- New diamond manufacturing processes create flaws and imperfection, making new-style manufactured diamonds indistinguishable from found diamonds. This also makes found diamonds indistinguishable from manufactured diamonds.
- According to conventional wisdom, DeBeers has a huge stockpile of diamonds. This helps keep the price up by imposing scarcity, but it is also excess, inventory--non-revenue-producing inventory.
- As manufacturing processes become widespread, it seems very likely that the diamond market could collapse, making DeBeer's excess, non-revenue-producing inventory not worth very much.
- DeBeers has a proud history of destroying competition by using its monopoly to offer the same product for less.
- A quick comparison of pricess at http://www.adiadiamonds.com/ and http://www.canadadiamonds.com/ shows similar pricing. For the moment, at least, the market will support high prices for manufactured diamonds.
- This strategy doesn't make sense in the long-term, but if there IS no long term, then selling off excess inventory through another market is a good idea.
- As many commenters have noted, there is a lot of perceived value in not having a "Blood Diamond". If DeBeers can convince these commenters that its diamonds are not blood diamonds, then it can sell to them. One way to do this is to pretend that the diamond is man-made, even though it is not.

The weak link in this chain is the diamond's flaws. If you buy a flawless diamond, it must be man-made.

I don't really know if this is true--it seems pretty far-fetched, but I don't really know anything about Adia (or any of the other diamond manufacturing companies) either. It's an interesting bit of scepticism, that's all.

Gemesis: http://www.gemesis.com/
Apollo: http://www.apollodiamond.com/

and now

Adia: http://www.adiadiamonds.com/

Gemesis were the first using Russian technology.

Did you know that the huge thermal conductivity, is why they are called ice, they always feel cold.

reading over that it's not clear enough - I'm talking about these galleries.

So AFAIK, right now, the only ways to tell synthetics from fakes are (A) they are flawless* or (B) they fluoresce.

About 6 months ago, I read about a new class of diamonds coming from Russia and Florida (using the russian technology). Apparently the new ones can be designed to have flaws. The article said that DeBeers was trying to figure ways around this, but that they did not have one.

Looking at their white diamonds, the only one they list is really not cheaper than the natural diamond. In that case, the only advantage is the social conscious one - which is great if that's important to you.

Caveat - they only had one white diamond. I do not know if their gigantic 3 carat stone would be significantly cheaper than the natural alternative.

http://www.adiadiamonds.com/diamond.php?diamond=AB E138
Price: $1,505 ($2,640 per Carat)
SKU: ABE138
Shape: Round
Weight: 0.57 carat
Color: E
Clarity: SI3

vs Shane Company
0.58 carat E color ,SI2 (meaning less imperfections) for $1,665
    $150 more but better quality and slightly bigger
or
0.59 carat E color, I1 (more imprefections) for $1,280
    More inclusions but lower price... eh

Like this? http://www.adiadiamonds.com/content/diamond-featur es/5/