What are Synthetic Diamonds?

Synthetic diamonds have its own set of prejudices, but before judging them as a lower class of diamonds, here are some quick facts about them.

Compared to natural diamonds that takes billions of years to take its shape, synthetic diamonds can be formed in just a couple of weeks through the following processes.

HPHT. Also known as High Pressure, High Temperature, this method produces synthetic diamonds by imitating the high-temperature and high-pressure conditions that form the natural diamonds beneath the earth. The result to this one is a distinctive shape of a crystal, wherein, for the most part, is a combination of cube and octahedral faces that have a flat base.

CVD. Short for Chemical Vapor Deposition, this is a newer technique wherein synthetic diamonds are grown inside an apparatus wherein it utilizes moderate temperatures with very lower pressures within a vacuum chamber. This process involves heating up a blend of hydrogen and hydrocarbon gas like methane, wherein it releases carbon atoms wherein it settles on a cooler seed plate of a synthetic or natural diamond. This is where the square-shaped diamond crystal is formed.

Various colors of synthetic diamonds

Most of the HPHT created synthetic diamonds come in brown or yellow in color, although there are a couple of blues and the almost colorless crystals. The processes of the HPHT can also be utilized in enhancing the yellow color or it can also be used in removing the unwanted color. This is so that the diamond can be colorless or at least near colorless.