Exploring the value of diamonds from synthetic diamonds

The familiar slogan "Diamonds are long-lasting, a eternal rumor" almost sums up all the people's cognition and imagination about diamonds: eternal ambiguity, eternal love and eternal high value. But this advert, written by the diamond giant De Beers in 1951, has changed its taste because of technology only after more than 60 years. The technology maturity and popularity of synthetic diamonds has already spurred the eternal change of diamonds. high value.

With the development of science and technology, the laboratory has been able to easily produce colorful diamonds with bright colors and excellent quality. The picture shows the colored synthetic diamonds produced by De Beers's diamond jewelry jewellery brand Lightbox Jewelry.

Technology is improving day by day, artificial diamonds can achieve gem quality

Synthetic diamonds have the same structure as natural diamonds, but the birth process is very different.

There are two diamonds here, the left one is a natural diamond that has been formed over the millions of years on the ground, and the right one is a synthetic diamond that took only three or four days to synthesize with mechanical equipment. What is the difference between these two diamonds? How can I synthesize a high quality synthetic diamond?

Diamonds, also known as diamonds, are made up of carbon atoms, like graphite, the main component of pencil lead. However, the difference in structure allows graphite to rank only at the lowest level 1 in the Mohs hardness class and diamonds at the highest 10 levels. The key to the formation of different structures between carbon atoms is pressure and temperature. Therefore, diamonds can be synthesized by artificially creating corresponding pressure and temperature conditions based on the carbon phase diagram.

The quality of all aspects of diamonds created by high-pressure and high-temperature methods is far removed from gem-quality diamonds.

The traditional high-pressure high-temperature method simulates the high temperature and high pressure of nature, but the synthetic diamond has a small number of carats, and the metal catalyst will leave a residue in the diamond. A very small amount of nitrogen in the machine will be mixed into the diamond, making the diamond yellow. According to the diamond's 4C standard, this diamond is usually at the low end and can only be used for industrial purposes, making drills, knives, grinding discs, etc.

The new chemical vapor deposition method makes diamond manufacturing seem like “planting” diamonds.

But technology is improving, and chemical vapor deposition can greatly improve these defects. The old technology relies mainly on “pressure”. The new technology is to let the diamonds “grow” themselves – let the special gas decompose the carbon element in a special environment and then precipitate the crystal. This method of synthesizing diamonds can achieve the color and purity of high-grade natural diamonds, and the number of carats is also higher.

The new process allows the laboratory to produce high quality diamonds.

In 2017, the University of Augsburg, Germany, produced a diamond with a diameter of 92mm and 155 carats. The color reached F color and the clarity reached VVS2 - it is already a gem-quality diamond of very good quality.

Large-scale production of diamonds, and gradually spread the price difference with natural diamonds

Synthetic diamonds are also genuine diamonds with the same composition and structure as natural diamonds. The two can only be distinguished in a very special way. For example, under the cathodoluminometer, the growth texture of the former is geometric, while the latter is in the form of a ring. Since 2006, jewellery organizations such as GIA have begun to provide identification services and issue certificates, mainly to prevent the sale of natural diamonds from synthetic diamonds with lower prices.

Synthetic diamonds and natural diamonds can only be distinguished in a very special way. For example, under a cathodoluminometer, the growth texture of the former is geometric and the latter is in the form of a ring.

In 2017, the average selling price of synthetic diamonds was only 10-20% cheaper than natural diamonds. After one year, the gap has been extended to 30-40%. And this gap will grow bigger and bigger because the Chinese are coming. China's industrial grade synthetic diamonds account for more than 90% of the world's annual production and are concentrated in three companies in Henan Province. However, in the case of Henan diamond, in addition to the traditional industrial grade diamond, the annual production of colorless gem-quality diamonds can reach 2 to 3 million carats.

In 2017, the average selling price of synthetic diamonds was only 10-20% cheaper than natural diamonds. After one year, the gap has been extended to 30-40%.

On the other hand, millennials are becoming more and more accepting of synthetic diamonds. A report by De Beers on the global diamond market shows that in 2015, the United States basically bought half of the world's diamonds, and 45% of them were born in the millennium of 1980-1990. During this period, market consultancy MVI Marketing made a survey on these consumers about “Which are more inclined to buy natural or synthetic diamonds”, with 70% of respondents choosing the latter.

De Beers's diamond jewelry brand Lightbox Jewelry is taking a younger route.

In the face of new market trends, De Beers also launched a blockbuster in the diamond market in 2018 - the establishment of the Lightbox Jewelry fashion jewelry brand, the sale of synthetic diamond jewelry, providing consumers with higher quality than the market. Synthetic diamonds. As a result, the artificial diamonds are no more than the limelight.

Rare diamonds are still taking pictures, 10 carats become the new watershed

“Five years ago, the diamond collection market was divided into 5 carats. Only high-quality diamonds higher than 5 carats will be regarded as diamonds with added value and collection value. Since 2019, this watershed has become 10 Carat." Hong Kong Sotheby's Jewelry expert Mai Pei Ting said in an interview that because of the maturity of synthetic diamond technology, the price of diamonds on the market has also been significantly affected.

The color diamonds are still in the limelight. In 2017, Apollo and Artemis diamonds totaled 57,425,478 US dollars (about 400 million yuan), refreshing the earrings world auction record.

“But the rare white diamonds with excellent quality, high carats and colorful diamonds are still the darlings on the field. Some special color diamonds (different from yellow diamonds, blue diamonds and pink diamonds), such as The high-quality colored diamonds of purple, yellow and green are gradually being sought after by collectors," said Mai Peiting.

In the spring of 2019, Sotheby's presented a 88.22-carat D-color innocent Type IIa oval diamond, which is flawless in color, clarity and cut. This diamond will lead the auction of “Glorious Jewelry and Jade Jewelry” held on April 2nd, with an estimated value of HK$88 million to HK$100 million. It is reported that there are only three diamonds with the same quality of more than 50 karaoke ovals in the history of the auction. The 88.22 carat diamonds launched this time are the most famous diamonds of the same kind in the past five years.

In the spring of 2019, Sotheby's presented a 88.22-carat D-color flawless Type IIa oval diamond.

In April 2018, a private collector purchased a 102.34-carat rare white diamond through Sotheby's Diamonds. It is the only round diamond in the world with more than 100 carats and full-fledged beauty. The 4C standard is perfect. . A month later, Sotheby's produced two D-color flawless Type IIa top white diamonds in Geneva - 51.71 carat round diamonds and 50.39 carat oval diamonds, both of which sold $9.3 million and $8.1 million, respectively. Valuation.

Experts say that for collection-grade diamonds, the natural and irreplaceable scarcity is the core criterion for determining the value of diamonds. The picture shows a 88.22-carat D-color innocent Type IIa oval giant drill presented by Sotheby's in the spring of 2019.

“When artificial diamond technology becomes more mature, it will definitely impact the functional diamond jewelry used for wearing, because consumers will definitely consider the price/performance ratio.” Mai Peiting said: “But for the collection of diamonds, Natural and irreplaceable scarcity is the core criterion for determining the value of diamonds. Even if the laboratory can already create high-carat high-quality diamonds, it will not be able to get tickets for top-level auctions."

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