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

An interesting article at wired.com

[waynegoode]

I read an interesting article a few years ago at wired.com about the state of the "artificial diamond" industry. It is a bit long and from 2003, but it is very interesting.

From the article:

De Beers executive drove directly to Claridge's, and the two men sat down in the tearoom to the strains of a piano and violin duet. De Beers refuses to comment on the meeting--or about anything for this story--but Clarke says he simply placed his diamonds on the table. "When I told him that we planned to set up a factory to mass-produce these, he turned white," the General recalls.

Re:Rethink the strategy here

[srmalloy]

If your future wife doesn't care about the diamond, get something else. Manufacturing diamonds isn't something that you can do.

Find a company like Jamming Gems, which sell synthetic gemstones, and you can get a much better cost than for natural stones. For example, you can get a 20mm x 15mm oval synthetic alexandrite for $14.99 -- a stone which, if natural, would be worth over $20,000. By spending less on the stone(s), you can have a more impressive ring made, and get a custom setting, so you're not just buying one of a thousand identical rings.

greenKarat

[fred ugly]

if you don't mind it being pink, blue, or yellow, you can get something at greenKarat

DeBeers has succeeded!

[iq in binary]

To this day it is still the biggest misconception in the industry that artificial diamonds are inferior in quality.

NEWS FLASH:

Those flaws are made on purpose, to keep DeBeers from absolutely destroying the market by flooding his entire stock onto it.

"Natural" artificial diamonds are perfect. That's right, PERFECT. No flaws, exceptional clarity. They are that way inherently so. Would someone who is actually involved in the bort industry please elaborate? Artificial diamonds are HEAVILY used in the machining industry, read: EVERYTHING that has to do with shaping metal or similarly hard materials. Bort diamond has no flaws, it's just not white or yellow, doesn't have to be.

The process in which diamonds are "grown" inherently produces sheer slabs of perfect cubic carbon, no imperfections. The artifical diamonds you see on the market are engineered to have flaws, as agreed upon by DeBeers and the manufacturers capable of producing artificial white, yellow, blue or red diamond. I have a sneaky suspicion this misconception will carry for a LONG time.

Ever seen a lab diamond? As in a diamond created for scientific purposes? PERFECT in every manner. They have to be, same as industrial diamond, those flaws mean structural instability; which is unacceptable for use such as high-polish grinding. DeBeers has managed to assert so much control in the industry that those that have even tried to do so for resale purposes are quickly crushed.....or just disappear completely.

The diamond/jewelry industry is ugly, very ugly. It is corrupt, bloody and very arrogant. Having never seen a conviction by law or even pursued by vigilante organizations known to exist in Asia or Africa, they will continue to be for a very long time. Here's something I bet you don't know, diamond bank gaurds--who just so happen to be unaffiliated with any law enforcement or government organization--have been known to carry FN Five-seveN's and H&K MP7's...without a Class C or equivalent license. These arms just happen to be illegal enough to get your average guy to disappear, having been designed for either clandestine operations or condition black urban ops (read: punch through anything, and accurately; with extreme concealability). When I say disappear, I don't mean dead, I mean gone. In Guantanamo Bay for the next 500 years.

Do what I plan on doing, make the ring yourself, it's not really that hard. A couple specialized Dremel bits, a 1"X3/4" piece of gold stock and a sizeable gem aside from a diamond that would accentuate your love's eyes, and go to town. Bench lathes are cheap, couple hundred bucks, as are the tools they use, you could make yourself a ring that any woman that would complain about would have to be crazy--one of a kind and hand made--for HALF the price of even a cheap ring. Oh, and you'd learn a marketable skill in the process. Who know's you might just have fun and use that same bench lathe for other projects. I know I would.

What comes from the heart? Blood, sweat and tears. Why not put that into your wedding ring? If you do it right, there'll be all three :-P

Re:Buy a Canadian Diamond!

[the_greywolf]

DeBeers owns the world's dimaond mines, and controls all distribution of the diamonds extracted. they specifically control the (abundant!) supply to create an image of rarity.

this was all talked about in Wired Magazine a year or so ago - with a great deal of talk about artifical diamonds from various companies - including one group that builds /sheets/ of diamonds for $0.05/kt.

this is well-known fact among many jewelers. where it's documented, i have no idea.