Has Anyone Made an Artificial Diamond Ring?

DiamondRingThing asks: "I know that diamond engagement rings are a recent fabrication, and the two months salary required to obtain one is ridiculous. Diamonds are pretty however, and evil never keeps a good hacker down. I'd like to be able to give a diamond to my girlfriend that I know was forged just for her, without any blood on it, and without giving any money to DeBeers. That's why I won't buy an artificial diamond from a jeweler, as I suspect the cartel is involved at that level. Does anybody know anyone that has made their own diamond to set in a ring? How's the cost, and the quality? Thanks in advance."

Comments

Artificial diamonds

[mknewman]

See this excellent article in Wired a while back: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.h tml

Lifegem

[BrookHarty]

Theres always Lifegem

Re:An interesting article at wired.com

[Anonymous Coward]

Is that guy dead now? ;)

Seriously, there are several places now that can produce perfect diamonds that can not be distingished from the real thing. In fact, the only way to tell comes from the fact that they are so perfect (too bad if you happen to have a real diamond that is perfect).

As for making one yourself, no, I don't think so. The process needs some heavy duty equipment. If it were possible for regular person to do it then we would see all kinds of how-tos on the 'Net.

Buy a Canadian Diamond!

[CohibaVancouver]

without any blood on it, and without giving any money to Debeers

Just buy her a Canadian diamond...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/diamonds/

Re:Buy a Canadian Diamond!

[CohibaVancouver]

Canadian diamonds are controlled by DeBeers

Not really - Please cite your source.

Although their fingers are in there a little, their participation is minimal. If you're looking for "clean diamonds", Canada is the way to to go:

Canada's current production comes from two mines: the Ekati Mine, owned by BHP-Billiton (80%), Chuck Fipke (10%) and Stewart Blusson (10%), has over 100 kimberlite pipes on its property, of which eight are considered economically viable and will likely be mined. The projected mine life for Ekati is 21 years (including the past five years of production,) and is expected to produce a gross value of approximately $9.5 billion (C).

During its initial three years of operation, BHP Diamonds Inc. (now BHP Billiton Diamonds Inc.) sold 35% of its production to the De Beers Diamond Trading Company (DTC). That contract ended in 2002 and BHP-Billiton markets most of its all Canadian production on the open market.

source: http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ps/nap/diamin/dianarr_e .html

Canadian Diamonds

[g1zmo]

If your conscience is bothered as much as mine is by the horror stories of the diamond-mining industry, there are always the Canadian alternatives.

Moissanite

[mopslik]

Moissanite.

My wife likes the sparkle, especially under standard indoor lighting. It really is more colourful and brighter than a diamond, but only costs a fraction of the price. Maybe one third the price, around here.

Of course, if your gal is one of those "but it's not a DIAAAAAMOND!" girls, you're SOL.

Re:Moissanite

[BridgeBum]

I second this. I was about to post the same thing myself. I recently got engaged, and a moissanite ring from Landau is what I got my fiancee. She loves it. It's beautiful, with more 'fire' than most diamonds and cost a fraction of a diamond ring. In fact, that was actually a selling point with my gf. She feels less nervous about wearing a ring that cost ~ $1000 on her finger all the time than one worth a considerable hunk of change.

If your girl is interested in oooos and aaaaaahs, a moissanite ring is definitely worth considering.

Re:Moissanite

[stereo_Barryo]

I'll third that. My wife found the company and pushed for the gem. She is very happy with it and, therefore, so am I. Better than a diamond, cheaper and morally cleaner.

Re:Source of artificial diamonds

[iamsure]

Hate to burst your bubble, but diamond-essence sells *cubic zirconia*. Its buried, but they explain it.

Which explains why its so cheap. Cubic zirconia is NOT the same as a manufactured/artificial diamond.

Re:An interesting article at wired.com

[the morgawr]

It' POSSIBLE to do it. You need some expensive equipment and a three phase hook up but you COULD do it.

Were I going to attempt it I'd do something like the following (now there is a HOWTO on the net...):

*Buy very small perfect diamond
*Buy LPCVD machine
*Buy various carbon based gasses
*Use DOE to tweak the tuning (my bet is that you need some combination of CH4 and CCl4 and a really high temp setting with the pressure at 1/1000000 ATM; even then it's probably going to be really slow)
*Grow small diamond into larger diamond
*Buy cutting tools
*Separate the larger diamond into smaller ones
*Repeate grow + separate until CVD machine is full
*Harvest diamonds

Est Cost: $85,000

Learn diamonds, and learn to negotiate

[mbstone]

Nobody here has talked about the importance of knowing how to negotiate, whether it be over a diamond engagement ring, or anything else of importance. Your typical kid diamond buyer takes his SO to the local mall jewelry store. He has no knowledge of the grades (color, and clarity) of diamonds and the differences in value that they represent; he has never heard of the grading services GIA and EGL; and, most importantly, by bringing the SO he lets the sales rep play to her heartstrings and his sense of guilt. Many mall jewelers don't even tell you the grade of the diamonds they sell, nor do they have independently-graded diamonds for sale (or they offer diamonds graded by some no-name agency you never heard of).

First of all, this would be a good time to invest in a seminar on how to negotiate (e.g. Karrass Negotiation Seminars). This will help you in your marriage, just as much as in material things like buying a diamond ring or a car or getting the highest possible starting pay rate.

Second, you need to learn about how to buy diamonds, go to google.com and type in, "Diamond Buying FAQ".

Re:An interesting article at wired.com

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, there's exactly one place. Apollo Diamonds.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.h tml

http://www.apollodiamond.com/