At the end of May 2018, a very important event took place in the jewelry world: De Beers, one of the leading and most famous diamond mining and processing companies in the world, announced the launch of the Lightbox brand of synthetic diamonds for a young audience. I found out who benefits from this and why “fake” stones can displace natural ones.

Hardness standard

Diamond, or, in scientific terms, the cubic allotropic form of carbon, is a unique material in all respects. The hardest on the Mohs mineralogical hardness scale (that is, it can be used to cut all other stones, including the previous one on the scale, corundum - sapphire and ruby). It is also a wide-gap semiconductor and has a very low coefficient of friction for metal (which allows it to be used in metalworking - both in cutting and drilling), as well as the highest (in comparison with other materials known to scientists) elastic modulus and the lowest compression ratio.

However, initially a diamond (in its cut form it is called a diamond) was valued for its, so to speak, visual qualities - brilliance and play (in physical language - a high refractive index and dispersion). In ancient times, this stone was very rare, due to the peculiarities of its extraction, and was valued above all other precious stones. Over time, the techniques and techniques of cutting diamonds improved, which made it possible to enhance their brilliance, as well as methods for extracting diamonds.

But the discovery of new deposits in the 19th century (the largest was in the area of ​​the Orange River in what is now South Africa), and new technologies in mining did not reduce the shortage of natural diamonds, since in addition to their jewelry purpose, in recent times they have become very in demand in science and technology - due to their unique physical qualities. By the middle of the 20th century, the need for synthetic crystals with characteristics identical to natural cubic allotropic carbon became obvious.

Art vs nature

The development of artificial gemstones began simultaneously in several countries. The Swedes were the first to obtain synthetic diamonds in 1953. Since in the middle of the last century the space race and the arms race were the focus of attention of the leading world powers, the USSR was also involved in synthetic diamonds, which were needed, among other things, in rocket science. In the Union, at the Physical Institute of the USSR - FIAN - they created the so-called cubic zirconia (cubic zirconium), and then industrial diamonds. They were inferior to the best natural diamonds, but in many respects they suited those for whom they were created; they were used for microcircuits, X-ray equipment, and telescopes.

Now even young girls know about cubic zirconia: it is a popular insert in inexpensive silver jewelry from various brands like Pandora and Thomas Sabo. Artificial gem-quality diamonds did not go on general sale until relatively recently - in order for their defining characteristics (purity, on which the refraction of light and color then depends) to correspond to the level required in jewelry, high production technologies and equipment are needed, which, roughly speaking, it is capable, in laboratory conditions, of simulating the natural environment in which carbon-graphite turns into diamond, and of accelerating this process, the natural course of which takes millennia, to several days.

Scientists have developed two main technologies for the synthesis of artificial diamonds, which are not inferior in their physical and chemical characteristics to natural stones. These are HPHT (High Pressure, High Temperature, translated as “high pressure, high temperature”) and CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition - “chemical vapor deposition”). In the first case, a press, electric current and heating up to 1500 degrees Celsius are used; in the second, a crystal is formed from a hot reaction gas mixture by condensing it onto a special substrate, or, as experts say, onto a controlled surface.

It would seem that everything is simple, but in fact, producing stones of large size, colorless and high purity is not such a simple matter. CVD technology, which, by the way, is used to apply a scratch-resistant coating to metal surfaces, does not give the best results when trying to grow synthetic crystals: experts note that stones grown, so to speak, from gas, do not shine in every sense - They have a noticeable dark tint, which significantly reduces their jewelry value. Both HPHT technology and the production of very large gem-quality stones have their problems, but scientists are scientists to solve problems.

Better bigger and cheaper

The new Lightbox brand created by De Beers is far from the first in this business. Many American brands have been making synthetic diamonds for several years now. Some of them are quite remarkable. For example, one of the investors in the large Californian manufacturer Diamond Foundry is a Hollywood star, and Helzberg’s Diamond Shops Inc. billionaire invested. There are companies that advertise themselves as fighters for ethics in jewelry: for example, American Grown Diamonds tells how diamond mines are harmful to the environment and how immoral it is to oppress low-paid workers in these mines - don’t torture nature, they say, buy synthetic.

The LifeGem and Heart In Diamond brands have completely brought Evelyn Waugh’s satirical novel “Unforgettable” to life and make diamonds from biomaterial: strands of lovers’ hair, children’s baby teeth and, if necessary, from the ashes of dearly departed people. Debiers' Lightbox's marketing strategy is not so macabre: it simply counts on millennials, practical young people of the new generation, who see no point in overpaying for physically identical stones just because natural ones are found in nature.

And the difference is significant: Lightbox says that a carat stone of the traditional round cut for engagement rings will cost $800, which is ten times lower than the price of a natural stone with the same color and clarity characteristics. By and large, this is dumping: as noted, now the average cost of a carat of synthetic stone from other manufacturers is about 4 thousand dollars, that is, not ten times, but only half the price of a natural pure stone. , CEO of De Beers, explains the brand’s policy simply: “Laboratory diamonds are nothing special. They are not natural, they are not unique. You can release them all the time, one after another, and they will all be the same."

Who benefits?

There is a reason for the position of thrifty millennials and Cleaver's frankness. It is no secret that most even natural stones in jewelry lose a third or so in their value immediately after purchase and cannot be considered a serious investment. We are, of course, talking about ordinary small stones that most consumers around the world buy, and not about huge, absolutely pure diamonds unique in their characteristics or colored diamonds of rare shades (blue, yellow, pink).

These stones will remain an investment capital and an object of desire for all who can afford luxury jewelry, or haute joaillerie. Their price will only increase, because natural stones, unlike laboratory synthesized ones, are a non-renewable resource, and sooner or later natural deposits will be exhausted, although the same De Beers and other diamond miners are systematically reducing the volume of production of natural stones: from 145 million carats in 2015 -m to 142 million in 2017. The volume of synthetic production, on the contrary, is growing rapidly: in 2014 it was about 360 thousand carats, and in 2017 it was already about 4.2 million carats.

The reasons for this are various: the media often broadcast to the general public good-natured statements about the need to protect nature, ethical production (the acclaimed film “Blood Diamond” with the already mentioned DiCaprio was made about unethical production) and respect for nature. In reality, there is a much less sentimental and pretentious reason: a decrease in demand throughout the world for expensive natural stones due to the economic crisis and the revision of the value system and attitude towards luxury by young people. This is what De Beers seems to be trying to combat by selling synthetic diamonds to millennials.

On May 26, 2015, the International Gemological Institute (IGI) in Hong Kong issued a certificate for an unusual record diamond weighing 10.02 carats, E color and VS1 clarity. Such precious stones are not so rare in the jewelry world, but the uniqueness of this case was that the stone was not mined from the bowels of the earth, but was cut from a 32-carat synthetic diamond crystal grown by the Russian company New Diamond Technology (NDT). “This is not our first record,” says company general director Nikolai Khikhinashvili. “The previous one, 5-carat, lasted only two months.”

Roman Kolyadin, production director, shows me a small workshop in one of the technology parks near Sestroretsk. The workshop is deserted, only a dozen hydraulic presses line the walls. This is the “deposit” - absolutely flawless diamonds grow inside the presses, under conditions of high temperatures and pressures, micron by micron. The current parameters are reflected on the control panels of the controllers for each press, but Roman asks to shoot the picture so that this data does not get into the frame: “The general principles of diamond synthesis are well known and have been used in industry for more than half a century. But the details of the synthesis modes are one of our company’s know-how.” I pay attention to precision air conditioners that maintain the microclimate in the workshop with an accuracy of tenths of a degree. Is there really a need for such precision? “Remember how we immediately closed the door behind us to avoid a draft? - explains Roman. — Small deviations in temperature can seriously affect the quality of a diamond, and not for the better. And we always strive to achieve perfect quality.”

The process of growing diamond single crystals at high temperature (about 1500 °C, with the desired gradient) and high pressure (50-70 thousand atm.). A hydraulic press compresses a special container, inside of which there is a metal melt (iron, nickel, cobalt, etc.) and graphite. One or more seeds—small diamond crystals—are placed on the substrate. An electric current flows through the chamber, heating the melt to the desired temperature. Under these conditions, the metal serves as a solvent and catalyst for the crystallization of carbon on a seed in the form of diamond. The process of growing one large or several smaller crystals lasts 12-13 days.

Spied in nature

The history of synthetic diamonds begins at the end of the 18th century, when scientists finally realized that this stone is carbon in composition. In the late 19th century, there were attempts to turn cheap versions of carbon (coal or graphite) into a hard and shiny diamond. Claims of successful synthesis were made by many famous scientists, such as the French chemist Henri Moissan or the British physicist William Crookes. Later, however, it was found that none of them actually achieved success, and the first synthetic diamonds were obtained only in 1954 in the laboratories of the General Electric company.

A cheaper process of diamond deposition from an ionized hydrocarbon gas environment on a substrate heated to 600−700°C. Growing single crystals using CVD requires a single crystal diamond substrate grown using HPHT. When deposited on silicon or polycrystalline diamond, a polycrystalline wafer is obtained, which has limited applications in electronics and optics. Growth rate - from 0.1 to 100 µm/hour. The thickness of the plates is usually limited to 2-3 mm, so diamonds cut from it can be used as jewelry, but their size, as a rule, does not exceed 1 carat.

The process used for synthesis at GE was inspired by nature. It is believed that terrestrial diamonds are formed in the mantle, hundreds of kilometers below the Earth's surface, at high temperatures (about 1300 ° C) and high pressure (about 50,000 atm.), and are then brought to the surface by igneous rocks such as kimberlites and lamproites. GE developers used a press to compress a cell containing graphite and an iron-nickel-cobalt melt, which acted as a solvent and catalyst. This process was called HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature - high pressure, high temperature). It was this method that later became commercial for producing inexpensive industrial diamonds and diamond powders (now they are produced in the billions of carats per year), and in the 1970s, with its help, they learned how to make jewelry stones weighing up to 1 carat, although of very average quality.

The two main technologies for the industrial production of synthetic diamonds are HPHT and CVD. There are also a number of exotic methods, such as the synthesis of diamond nanocrystals from graphite during an explosion or an experimental method for producing micron-sized diamonds from a suspension of graphite particles in organic solvents under the influence of ultrasonic cavitation.

Workaround

Since the 1960s, the world has been developing another method of diamond synthesis - CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition, gas phase deposition). In it, diamonds are deposited onto a heated substrate of hydrocarbon gas, which is ionized using microwave radiation or heated to a high temperature. It was on this synthesis method that in the early 2000s both small startups and large companies like Element Six, part of the De Beers group, began to place great hopes.

Until recently, the HPHT method remained greatly underestimated. “When we bought equipment several years ago, we were all unanimously told that industrial presses were only suitable for the synthesis of diamond powders,” says Nikolai Khikhinashvili. All resources were allocated to the development of CVD, and HPHT technology was considered niche; none of the specialists believed that it could be used to grow sufficiently large crystals. However, according to Nikolai, the company’s specialists managed to develop their own synthesis technology, which literally produced the effect of a bomb exploding in the industry. Several years ago, in a report from one of the gemological laboratories it was written: “The weight of this diamond is 2.30 carats! Until recently, such a size of a diamond was a guarantee of its natural origin.”

Cutting diamonds to create sparkling diamonds is a long process and not very impressive for the uninitiated. Both grown and natural diamonds are processed in exactly the same way.

Girls' best friends

“We, of course, are not the only ones who grow diamonds larger than 5-6 carats,” explains Nikolai. “But all the rest follow the “two out of three” principle: large, high-quality, commercially profitable. We are the first to learn how to obtain large high-quality diamond crystals at an affordable cost. With 32 presses we can produce about 3000 carats per month, and these are very high quality stones - diamonds of D, E, F color and clarity from the purest IF to SI, mainly type II. 80% of our products are jewelry diamonds weighing from 0.5 to 1.5 carats, although we can custom-grow diamonds of any size.” As proof, Nikolai hands me a crystal the size of a 10-ruble coin: “This, for example, is 28 carats. If you cut it, you get a 15 carat diamond.”

In the early 2000s, the global diamond monopolist, De Beers, was very concerned about the impending entry of synthetic diamonds into the jewelry market, fearing that this could undermine its business. But time has shown that there is nothing to be afraid of - synthetic diamonds occupy a very small share of the jewelry market. In addition, during this time, research methods have been developed that make it possible to confidently identify grown diamonds. Signs of synthesis are metal inclusions; growth sectors can be seen in colored diamonds; in addition, HPHT, CVD and natural diamonds have different luminescence patterns in UV rays.

Depending on their nitrogen content, diamonds are classified into one of two main types. Type I diamonds contain up to 0.2% nitrogen, the atoms of which are located at the sites of the crystal lattice in groups (Ia) or singly (Ib). Type I predominates among natural diamonds (98%). As a rule, such stones are rarely colorless. Type IIa diamonds contain virtually no nitrogen (less than 0.001%), making up only 1.8% of natural stones. Even less common (0.2%) are nitrogen-free diamonds with an admixture of boron (IIb). Boron atoms in the crystal lattice sites determine their electrical conductivity and give diamonds a bluish tint.

“How do consumers feel about grown diamonds? It’s good,” says Nikolai, “especially today’s youth. It is important for them that these diamonds are conflict-free and created by people using high technology without interfering with nature. Well, the price is about half as low. Of course, the certificate says that the stones are grown, but they are wearing a diamond ring, not a certificate! And in terms of physical and chemical properties, our diamonds are identical to natural ones.”

So far, most of the profits come from producing diamonds for the jewelry market. However, there is likely to be a huge demand in the coming years for grown diamonds and diamond wafers for specialty optics, microelectronics and other high-tech industrial applications.

From jewelry to industry

Jewelry diamonds are a lucrative part of NDT's business, but tomorrow belongs elsewhere. NDT technical director Alexander Kolyadin likes to say: “If nothing else can be made from a diamond, make a diamond.” In fact, the most promising market for large, high-quality synthetic diamonds is industry. “Not a single natural diamond is suitable for use in special optics or electronics,” says Alexander Kolyadin. - They have too many defects. And the plates cut from our diamonds have an almost perfect crystal lattice. Some research organizations to whom we provide our samples for study can hardly believe the measured parameters - they are so perfect. And not just individual samples - we can confidently ensure repeatability of characteristics, which is vital for industry. Diamonds are heat sinks, they are windows for special optics and for synchrotrons, and, of course, power microelectronics, which are now being developed all over the world.”

“The industrial sector currently accounts for 20% of our production, but in three years we plan to increase it to 50%, especially since demand is growing rapidly. Now we mainly make 4 x 4 and 5 x 5 mm plates, we have cut out a few 7 x 7 and 8 x 8 mm and even 10 x 10 mm plates to order, but this is not mass production yet. Our next goal, says Nikolai Khikhinashvili, is to move on to the production of inch diamond plates. This is the minimum that is in great demand in the mass electronic and optical industry. To obtain such plates, you need to grow a diamond crystal weighing one hundred carats. This is our plan for the near future." “For a decade?” — I clarify. Nikolai looks at me with great surprise: “A decade? We're going to do it before the end of the year."

Synthetic, or artificial, diamond is an imitation that is in no way inferior to the original. Synthesized diamonds have no defects and are purer and cleaner than natural ones.

Synthetic diamonds are produced in laboratories using several methods. To produce them, expensive equipment and high-quality raw materials are required. The best known are HPHT diamonds or CVD diamonds.

A high-quality synthetic diamond (a diamond that has been processed) does not differ in appearance from the original, and also has the same physical and chemical properties. Therefore, a more correct name for such stones is “grown (or created) in the laboratory,” since people usually associate the concept “synthetic” with low-quality imitation.

The fast speed of synthesis of an artificial copy (a stone weighing 1 carat is created in 5 days) allows you to significantly reduce its price in comparison with a natural stone.

Currently, the largest artificial diamond has been recorded weighing 34 carats.

Artificial analogues of gems are produced in the largest quantities in China, the USA, Japan, Russia, Ireland, and South Africa.

Types of artificial diamonds: moissanite, zircon, topaz, white sapphire, yttrium aluminum garnet, rhinestones.

For more information about moissanite:

History of stones

In the 18th century, scientists figured out the chemical structure of the natural mineral. It was then that the idea of ​​recreating it artificially was first born. For a long time, attempts to create synthetic diamonds failed. But in the 1920s it was still possible. The first artificial diamond was created.

The new product was not perfect, so scientists did not stand still. In the 1940s, scientists from the USA, Sweden, and the USSR took up this issue closely.

Small artificial gems of good quality were produced in 1953 by a Swedish scientist who designed a device in which the sample was compressed by pistons from different sides. And since 1970, specialists have learned to synthesize large diamonds that are not inferior to the original. Since the 1990s, a new method has emerged—disruptive synthesis.

Color range of laboratory stones

Traditional colorless diamonds are considered the most popular. During their synthesis, special attention is required, since random impurities included in the composition will add a tint.

It is customary to make from colored ones:

• yellow (nitrogen admixture);
• blue (boron admixture);
• black (nickel admixture).

Less commonly produced are pink, lilac, red, and green.

Shades of colored synthetic analogues can range from pale, barely noticeable, to saturated.

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How crystals are grown

Several technologies are used to produce artificial diamonds.

1. HPHT – thermobaric method (temperature and pressure). Stones obtained by this method are relatively inexpensive, since the costs are not high. The idea is to heat (1500 degrees) carbon under high pressure (50,000–70,000 atmospheres) with the participation of metal catalysts.
2. CVD is a chemical vapor deposition method. Stones grown by this method are used in optics and electronics. Using heating (3100 degrees) or microwave radiation, hydrocarbon gas (methane) is deposited onto a silicon wafer. The result is a film 2–3 mm thick.
3. Explosive synthesis. An artificial copy is produced from high pressure due to the detonation of explosives.
4. Ultrasonic cavitation. A graphite suspension is added to an organic solvent under normal conditions, and an artificial mineral is grown under the influence of ultrasonic cavitation.

Currently, the most popular way to obtain diamonds is using the first two methods.

Watch a program about the production of synthetic stones:

Areas of application and opportunities

Ideal gems are used in jewelry. Imperfect specimens are used in industry.

1. Industrial diamonds are used in the production of bearings and drills.
2. Diamond chips are used to make coatings for cutting and grinding tools.
3. Diamond powder is used in metallurgy, mechanical engineering, and the defense industry.
4. Diamond pastes are used to create particularly precise parts.
5. Synthetic crystals are used in electronics to create needles, layers in microcircuits, and counters.
6. In medicine, they are used to produce instruments and high-power lasers.
7. High technology also cannot do without synthetic diamond - it is used in the creation of cell phones.

Comparative characteristics of stones

Externally, it is very difficult to distinguish an artificial gem from a natural one. The imitation has no inclusions or defects, and has the same physical and chemical properties as the original.

But what distinguishes the imitation from the original is the timing and ways of obtaining the gem. Natural stones take millions of years to form in the natural environment, while copies are made in a matter of hours (1–2 mg/h) in laboratories.

You can see the differences using professional equipment. At a magnification of 80 times or more, the granular structure of the synthetic stone is visible. It is also known that they react to magnets. If you place a gem on a white sheet of paper and a white stripe is visible along the edge of the stone, then most likely it is artificial.

In a specialized laboratory, differences can be found using fluorescence analysis, Raman and infrared spectrometry, and spectroscopy.

Special devices have been developed for crystal identification: “DiamondSure” and “DiamondView”.

To continue the topic, watch the video:

Cost of synthetic crystals

Externally, the original and the imitation are indistinguishable: there are no impurities or defects. The cost for zirconium dioxide starts from 1.5 dollars per 1 carat, moissanite – from 75 dollars per 1 carat. A yellow diamond costs from $200, and a pinkish-orange diamond costs from $3,000 per carat.

Natural diamonds are a resource that will soon run out. According to some reports, the earth has already exhausted the resources for the production of natural minerals. Therefore, the production of artificial gems is becoming more and more popular.

Did you know about the existence of artificial diamonds? Tell us about your experience in the comments. Share the article with your friends on social networks. All the best.

The phrase “Belarusian diamonds” sounds the same to our ears as “Belarusian shrimp.” But don't rush into jokes. Few people know that in the nineties, one of the world’s first diamond synthesis plants was built in Belarus, that the world’s industrial giants are ready to chase Belarusian scientists in this field, and that the quality of crystals was appreciated at the international level.

The world's first synthesized diamond was produced by General Electric back in the 1950s using a special press. The small dirty pebble was no different in properties from natural diamonds. There was only one catch: it needed much more money to synthesize it than to extract it from nature. They gave up on this matter and happily forgot about growing diamonds until the 1980s.

One of the first attempts to produce diamonds using an electric arc furnace.

At the end of the 1980s, scientists from the Novosibirsk branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences created a pressless “cutting sphere” (BARS) apparatus, with the help of which, for the first time in the world, they obtained a synthesized diamond, ready to compete with natural diamonds not only in quality, but also in cost. For the first synthesized Novosibirsk diamonds, it was significantly lower.

Retired general, seven scientists and $5 million
After successful testing in the 1990s, seven famous Soviet scientists (two of them were Belarusians) got the idea to create the world's first diamond synthesis plant. Due to its good geographical location, Belarus was chosen as the site.

Scientists became the founders of the Adamas company. They took out a loan for 51 million Soviet rubles from Promstroybank of the USSR and began construction in the village of Atolino, near Minsk.

BARS devices.

The plant was supposed to be quite large: a three-story building, 220 workers. But there was not enough money, so later the founders included the then Belpromstroybank, which provided the company with a line of credit of $5 million, as well as two well-known businessmen in Soviet times, who contributed another $2.5 million.

The investors only managed to complete the building, supply 120 BARS devices and work out the technology a little, when problems began for the founding businessmen - they left the plant without money.

Unexpectedly, four scientists are lured to the United States by retired General Carter Clark. It turns out that in 1995 he bought the technology for producing synthesized diamonds for $60 thousand and founded the Gemesis Diamond company. By the way, everything was formalized, since Russia at that time urgently needed money and was selling off its scientific developments. The scientists left the Adamas and went to Clark.

One of the largest producers of synthesized diamonds in the world.

Finding themselves in a difficult situation, the founders tried to return the loan money to the bank, but in vain. In 1999, a criminal case was opened against the management of Adamas. The trial lasted five years, the amount of damage was estimated at $7 million. Businessmen and a lawyer went abroad. However, four were still imprisoned.

After their release, none of the former Adamas leaders returned to Atolino. The remaining three scientists also left for St. Petersburg and Moscow, and with them the technology of diamond synthesis.

The first synthetic diamonds.

This is how three largest centers of synthesized diamonds appeared in the world: Moscow, St. Petersburg and the American state of Florida. There are several other small companies, but they say that all the threads lead to the same seven.

What has been happening to the plant itself all this time? It was transferred to the balance of the Belarusian State University. In one of the parts of the building, the enterprise of the Republican Unitary Enterprise “Adamas BGU” functioned: scientists conducted research, studied the production of industrial diamonds, and improved it. True, the operation of the installations was very expensive and the financial issue became more and more acute.

Belarusian diamonds

“When the Chinese, Arabs and Israelis began to persuade us to sell the production, it became clear: there is demand”
On the edge of Atolino stands the same three-story factory building that Soviet scientists dreamed of so much - an ordinary production facility with painted walls and fresh renovations inside. At the checkpoint here there is a policeman and a strict access control regime.

Several years ago, the Adamas BGU enterprise moved into the structure of the Presidential Administration. A little over a year ago, the vice-rector of the Academy of Management under the President, Maxim Borda, was asked to assess the situation in Atolino: does it make sense to set up production there or is it easier to scrap the devices?

“I’ll admit right away: I’m a lawyer by training and the topic of diamond production was new to me,” Maxim Naumovich leads us into the workshop. — I began to study literature, look at foreign experience. Honestly, I didn’t believe that our crystals were actually good and could be sold. But I traveled to exhibitions, showed diamonds, cut diamonds that were grown in our workshop - the experts were delighted with the quality. And when the Armenians, Chinese, and Israelis started calling with persuasion to sell the equipment, I finally understood: there are prospects.

So, in November 2016, AdamasInvest LLC appeared (the previous enterprise is now at the stage of liquidation). It is also subordinate to the Presidential Administration and works on a special project “Restoring the production of synthesized diamonds and developing jewelry production with inserts from the resulting diamonds.” 45 people work here.

— We received a loan for this project. The money is refundable, there are clear deadlines,” emphasizes Maxim Naumovich. “We developed a detailed business plan, within six months we put the building in order, restored the workshop and launched jewelry production. In fact, this is what we are focusing on now.

According to Maxim Naumovich, there is no point in entering the industrial diamond market: China has killed all the players. Nine years ago, the Kyiv Tool Plant sold a sample of a special press to China. China produced 40 thousand of them, entered the industrial diamond market in 2014 and collapsed it 20 times. Therefore, even though Belarusian industrial diamonds are superior in quality to Chinese ones, they cost five times more.

— China is not yet entering the jewelry market. I think the two largest players are not letting him in: the US-controlled De Beers and the Russian Alrossa. Therefore, we have good chances in the synthesis of jewelry diamonds,” concludes Maxim Bord.

Temperature can rise to 2 thousand degrees, pressure - up to 20 thousand atmospheres
A huge hall with dozens of cylinders and a minimum of workers - this is what the workshop looks like with those very BARS, of which there are 120 here. A mechanic and an engineer can service all devices during a shift. In total, 10 people work in the workshop.

“They were designed in the 1970s, but in the production of diamonds for jewelry purposes, nothing better than BARS can be found,” Maxim Naumovich shows the open hemisphere. — In general, there are currently two technologies for producing diamonds in the world: HTHP (high temperature, high pressure) and CVD (chemical vapor deposition). The latter is good for the production of industrial diamonds, but not very suitable for jewelry. The fact is that in a gaseous environment the stone grows in even layers, but in nature it grows unevenly, as with the HTHP technology that we use.

Maxim Naumovich shows the cylinder control panel. This is special equipment that is controlled manually. At the slightest deviation from the set values, workers adjust the indicators.

— It would seem that a computer could monitor how diamonds grow. And, to be honest, I had thoughts of automating this process,” says the director. “But when I saw our technology, I realized: there is no point. Firstly, it is expensive, the investment will not pay off. Secondly, the growth of diamonds depends on a dozen nuances: for example, on temperature changes in the external environment at various stages. Will a computer be able to take into account all these nuances and react like a human? We think not yet.

The BARS themselves are designed quite simply: 3.5 tons of metal, a hose for supplying oil that creates pressure, and contacts that provide current and temperature. Inside the device there are two spheres: a large one and a smaller one. Each sphere consists of six parts - punches made of a special alloy. Large ones weigh 16 kilograms, small ones - a little less than a kilogram. Small punches are actually a consumable item. They cost $200 and fail on average after five syntheses.

“The temperature at the entrance to the device is 1500 degrees, the pressure is 1800 atmospheres,” explains the director. — Inside, the temperature can rise to 2 thousand degrees, and the pressure - up to 10-20 thousand. Temperature and pressure change throughout the growth of the diamond. This is three days, not centuries, as in nature.

In the very center of the sphere there is a special porcelain cube. In it, as Maxim Naumovich says, there is “all science.” Before the cube is sent to BARS, it is “stuffed”: a special compressed tablet is placed, consisting of individual components, usually metals, there is also a small piece of diamond, which then grows into a large stone and a graphite rod (graphite is a medium which gives the diamond the opportunity to grow). Then the cube is dried in an oven, impregnated with certain materials, and only after all these procedures can it be laid.

Whether a diamond will grow or not depends even on the warmth of the hands of the workers.
“Production technology is very capricious,” adds Maxim Naumovich. “A diamond can grow big, maybe small, good or bad, or it may not grow at all.” Everything depends on a dozen factors: from the hands of the engineer who assembles the cube, from how he dries it, whether he saturates it correctly, right down to the temperature in the workshop and the quality of the graphite. Somehow they also tried to establish production in the Baltic countries. We purchased equipment, but diamonds did not grow. It turns out that growing a diamond is not just turning on a switch.

After three days, the cube is removed from the BARS, broken, and a small blank is taken out, on which the edge of the crystal can be seen. The blank is thrown into a flask and filled with “regia vodka” (three portions of hydrochloric acid and one of nitric acid). The flasks are placed in a special cabinet and heated to speed up the reaction.

“Under normal conditions, after two hours the metals dissolve and only diamond remains,” they say in the laboratory. “Then we extract the diamond, wash it and put it in the chrome mixture.

This is how the graphite is removed and a pure diamond is obtained. It is weighed, packaged and outsourced to a Russian company for cutting (there are no available cutting specialists in Belarus, and it is still expensive to train new ones).

— A diamond can lose 30-60% of its original weight. It all depends on the presence of inclusions and the purity of the stone, they add at the production site. “In addition, half of all syntheses are guaranteed to produce high-quality stones for cutting and installation into a product - that’s 220 stones per month. In another 20% of cases, the resulting stones are of slightly lower quality.

— It’s enough for work for now, but it’s not enough for development. “We are struggling with this problem,” Maxim Naumovich shows samples of diamonds. — We have certified our stones at the International Gemological Institute in Antwerp. The expert opinion is this: our stones are no different from natural ones in all their chemical and physical characteristics. Here the same indicators exist in terms of strength, lack of reaction to radiation, and so on.

The company mainly grows colorless diamonds weighing up to 1 carat, producing diamonds weighing 0.2-0.3 carats. Such stones are mainly used for earrings and rings. Crystals can also be refined: given lemon, black, red and other colors. But the company says that Belarusians prefer the classics.

“Hindus began to ask to make ritual diamonds from the ashes of the dead”
Having learned about the low prices for Belarusian stones by world standards, Indians called the company with an unusual request: to make ritual stones.

“They want to preserve the memory of their cremated relatives in this way.” Compared to a British company that is closely involved in similar production, our diamonds were five times cheaper,” explains the director.

“We didn’t dare to work with the ashes of the dead, but we worked out the technology for producing diamonds from hair. Yes, diamonds can be obtained from hair. We get carbon from them, and then we work according to the same scheme. We have tested the technology and have already produced 12 such stones. True, for now the mass introduction of this topic is the next stage of work for us. And this topic has great potential for science.

But the company still places its main emphasis on its own jewelry production. The jewelry workshop, although small (9 people), can potentially produce up to 5 thousand units per month. Last week, a large batch of Belarusian diamonds arrived in stores.

— Our products cost 20-30% less than products with natural stones, and synthesized diamonds themselves cost half as much as natural ones. For example, the selling price for a finished product with a 0.15-carat diamond is 300 rubles, while for a 0.25-carat stone it will cost 600 rubles,” the director shows samples of products.

These are mostly engagement rings. Maxim Naumovich says that the plans include earrings, cufflinks, silver with diamonds, and even an art series in eco-style.

— In Europe, synthesized diamonds are gaining popularity. It is believed that they are more environmentally friendly than those extracted from the bowels of the earth. And it's true. Moreover, their properties are not inferior to natural ones,” he argues and shares his plans: to gain a foothold in the jewelry market, open a branded store with prices 40% lower than market prices, and much more.

— There is a goal to make our diamonds an affordable Belarusian brand. And the global task is to further develop scientific technologies in this area using the profits received,” adds Maxim Bord.

Minerals and minerals tend to end up in the depths of the earth. But people have a need to use various minerals, including diamonds. Therefore, with the development of technology, the development and transition to artificial stone extraction begins. Artificial diamonds are practically no different today from natural minerals. It is difficult even for gemologists to distinguish the stones by appearance, which indicates a high level of similarity.

Artificial diamond

Valuable properties of diamond

Of course, even the development of equipment and technology has not yet caused a complete transition from natural stones to synthetic diamonds. So far, companies growing diamonds in laboratories are guided by the “two out of three” principle:

• quality;
• size;
• profitability.

Two of the three criteria are selected during the process, but until the limit or ideal is reached, scientists have something to strive for.

Most people see rough diamonds in stores already processed as polished diamonds. The stones are set into precious metals and act as expensive jewelry.

The chemical composition of a diamond is carbon with a special crystal lattice structure. The origin of the minerals is not precisely known. There is even a theory of the cosmic origin of diamonds. This is probably why it is difficult to completely repeat or recreate the picture of stone formation in the laboratory.

The first attempts to synthesize the stone began after studying the structure of diamond - it is very dense, the crystal lattice consists of atoms connected by covalent sigma bonds. It is easier to destroy these compounds than to form them.

Despite the fact that the diamond is the number one piece of jewelry, the stone is used in many areas besides jewelry. It was this factor that prompted scientists to synthesize artificial stones. Diamond also has unique characteristics from the point of view of chemistry and physics:

• Highest hardness (10 out of 10 on the Mohs scale). Even the alloy composition of steel is not as hard as diamond.
• The melting point of the substance is 800-1000 degrees Celsius with access to oxygen and up to 4000 degrees Celsius without access of oxygen, with the further transformation of diamond into graphite.
• Diamond is used as a dielectric.
• The mineral has the highest thermal conductivity.
• The stone has luminescence.
• The mineral does not dissolve in acid.

The entry of synthetic diamonds into the market can happen overnight and come as a surprise. The diamond industry will undergo changes and sales volumes will decrease. Semiconductors will begin to be made from stone. Due to their high melting point, diamond semiconductors can be heated to higher temperatures than silicon. At temperatures of about 1000 degrees Celsius, the silicon in the microcircuits begins to melt and shuts down, but the diamond continues to work.

Artificial diamond is a truly useful thing in science and production. There is a common saying among scientists who synthesize diamonds for industry: “If you can’t make anything out of a diamond, make a diamond out of it.”

Methods for creating matter

The first attempts to obtain an artificial diamond began at the end of the 18th century, when the composition of the stone became known, but technology did not make it possible to recreate the required temperature and pressure for the formation of the mineral. It was only in the fifties of the 20th century that attempts to synthesize the substance were successful. Among the diamond-growing countries were the USA, South Africa, and Russia.

Equipment for creating artificial diamonds

The first synthetic diamonds were far from ideal, but today the stones are virtually indistinguishable from natural diamonds. The growing process is labor-intensive and materially expensive. There are several options and forms of diamond synthesis:

• Method for producing HPHT diamonds. This technique is close to natural conditions. With it, it is necessary to maintain a temperature of 1400 degrees Celsius and a pressure of 55,000 atmospheres. The production uses seed diamonds, which are placed on a graphite layer. The size of seed stones is up to 0.5 millimeters in diameter. All components are placed in a special device resembling an autoclave in a certain order. First, a base with a seed is placed, then there is a metal alloy, which is a catalyst, then pressed graphite. Under the influence of temperature and pressure, the covalent pi bonds of graphite are converted into sigma bonds of diamond. The metal melts during the process, and graphite settles on the seed. Synthesis lasts from 4 to 10 days, it all depends on the required size of the stone. The full potential of the technique has not been revealed, and not all scientists trusted this technology until they saw the large gem-quality crystals created. The cut of the resulting stones is the same.
• Synthesis of CVD diamonds. The abbreviation stands for “vapor deposition.” The second name of the procedure is film synthesis. The technology is older and more proven than HPHT production. It is she who creates industrial diamonds that can even be used for blades in microsurgery. The technology also requires a substrate on which a diamond seed is placed and all this is located in special chambers. Vacuum conditions are created in such chambers, after which the space is filled with hydrogen and methane gases. The gases are heated using microwave rays to a temperature of 3000 degrees Celsius, and the carbon that was in the methane settles on the base, which remains cold. Synthetic diamond created using this technology is purer, without nitrogen impurities. This technique has scared most of the concerns that extract stone from nature, since it is capable of producing a clean and large crystal. Such a stone will have virtually no metallic impurities and will be more difficult to distinguish from natural stone. Diamonds obtained using this technology can be used in computers as a semiconductor instead of silicon wafers. But for this it is necessary to improve the growing technique, since the size of the resulting diamonds is currently limited. Today, the parameters of the plates reach the level of 1 centimeter, but in 5 years it is planned to reach the level of 10 centimeters. And the cost of a carat of such a substance will not exceed $5.
• The method of explosive synthesis is one of the latest ideas of scientists that makes it possible to obtain an artificial diamond. The technique makes it possible to obtain artificial stone through the detonation of explosives and subsequent cooling after the explosion. The resulting crystals are small, but the method is close to the natural formation of minerals.

And recently, a direction has emerged that makes it possible to create memorial diamonds. This trend allows the memory of a person to be immortalized in stone. To do this, the body is cremated after death, and graphite is made from the ashes. Next, graphite is used in one of the methods for synthesizing diamonds. So, the stone contains the remains of a human body.

Since all methods are expensive, often in jewelry they use not artificial substances, but fakes or other types of stone. Glass among diamonds is the cheapest and outdated practice. Today it is unsuccessful, since you can easily distinguish the original from the fake - just scratch the stone or look at the play of light. Cubic zirconias are most often sold as diamonds.

Prospects for the development of diamond synthesis

The future of synthetic diamond begins today. The artificial mineral has become a symbol of the times, and soon people will have access to inexpensive and beautiful products. But the technologies are still at the stage of development and improvement. For example, a laboratory in Moscow is capable of growing up to 1 kilogram of diamonds per year using the above technologies. Of course, this is not enough to meet the needs of industry. Further processing of the extracted stones also requires time and equipment.

Therefore, for now, diamond mining is carried out using traditional methods, and no one refuses to develop new deposits or discover kimberlite pipes. As soon as the production of artificial diamonds appeared, the De Beers company - a virtual monopoly on the diamond market - began to worry about its business. The concern's annual turnover is up to $7 billion per year. But so far, synthetic stones are not competitors to natural diamonds, and their market share reaches only 10%.

And, along with synthesis, gemology also developed, which allows us to tell about the origin of the stone. Synthetic diamonds can be easily distinguished from natural ones. The signs are:

• inclusions of metals in stones from the laboratory;
• growth sectors that are identified in colored diamonds;
• different character of diamond luminescence.

Technologies and knowledge of scientists are improving every day. The process has been launched and specialists are working on it. Soon the world will see the results and, perhaps, even abandon the traditional extraction of diamonds from the depths of the earth.