Synthetic Diamonds

The first synthetic diamonds were produced 
by General Electric in 1954. A synthetic 
diamond is basically a rock that has the 
durability, refractive index and hardness of 
a natural diamond – but it is made by man. 
A synthetic diamond should not be 
confused with stimulant diamonds, such as 
glass, cubic zirconia, or moissanite. 

Although the technology for synthetic 
diamonds came into play in 1954, no 
synthetic diamonds were ever seen on the 
market until the 1990’s. This was due to the 
fact that it took many years for General 
Electric to produce a synthetic diamond that 
could compare with the quality of a natural 
diamond – and when they figured out how to 
do it, they found that it cost more to produce 
a synthetic diamond than it did to mine and 
cut natural diamonds.

Finally, a small company by the name of 
Gemesis Corporation figured out a way to 
produce synthetic diamonds that were of the 
same quality as natural diamonds, at a 
cheaper price. Today, Gemesis produces 
synthetic white diamonds, and colored 
diamonds as well. These diamonds sell for 
about 1/3 of the cost of a natural diamond, 
but there is a shortage of them, and they are 
hard to find. In fact, it seems that synthetic 
diamonds are rarer than natural diamonds!

(word count 214)

PPPPP
