Lab Grown Diamonds
LABORATORY GROWN DIAMONDS
Laboratory Grown Diamonds are also referred to as Man-made or Synthetic Diamonds - often they are call LGD's.
They are produced by two methods:
1. HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature)
HPHT Lab Grown Diamond are made in a laboratory using Extremely High Pressures (HP) and Extremely High Temperatures (HT).
The high pressure and high temperatures approximate the conditions under the earth’s crust where diamonds are formed.
The process involves a small seed synthetic diamond crystal in a sealed chamber and synthetic diamond powder as a feed to make the growth of the man-made diamond follow the internal growth structure of the diamond seed as it grows.
HPHT can also be used to treat diamonds and change their colour from a brownish to colourless or to produce fancy colours, depending on the starting material.
The image below shows a growing facility for HPHT Lab Grown Diamonds
Laboratory Grown Diamonds are also referred to as Man-made or Synthetic Diamonds - often they are call LGD's.
They are produced by two methods:
1. HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature)
HPHT Lab Grown Diamond are made in a laboratory using Extremely High Pressures (HP) and Extremely High Temperatures (HT).
The high pressure and high temperatures approximate the conditions under the earth’s crust where diamonds are formed.
The process involves a small seed synthetic diamond crystal in a sealed chamber and synthetic diamond powder as a feed to make the growth of the man-made diamond follow the internal growth structure of the diamond seed as it grows.
HPHT can also be used to treat diamonds and change their colour from a brownish to colourless or to produce fancy colours, depending on the starting material.
The image below shows a growing facility for HPHT Lab Grown Diamonds
2. CVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition)
CVD lab grown diamonds are made in a laboratory using Chemical Vapour Deposition method, which is sometimes referred to as
Low Pressure synthetic diamond because it's grown in a sealed Vacuum Chamber with very high temperatures.
The process involves a gas-phase chemical reaction with a carbon and hydrogen rich gas (called a "plasma") in the sealed vacuum chamber which deposits layers of carbon atoms onto a carefully prepared highly polished flat slice of synthetic diamond as the seed to encourage the free carbon atoms to settle in an orderly manner and grow the diamond.
More than 99% of diamonds grown by this method are brownish when they are grown and are routinely treated using HPHT to make them white.
CVD lab grown diamonds are made in a laboratory using Chemical Vapour Deposition method, which is sometimes referred to as
Low Pressure synthetic diamond because it's grown in a sealed Vacuum Chamber with very high temperatures.
The process involves a gas-phase chemical reaction with a carbon and hydrogen rich gas (called a "plasma") in the sealed vacuum chamber which deposits layers of carbon atoms onto a carefully prepared highly polished flat slice of synthetic diamond as the seed to encourage the free carbon atoms to settle in an orderly manner and grow the diamond.
More than 99% of diamonds grown by this method are brownish when they are grown and are routinely treated using HPHT to make them white.
As in the case of white diamonds, as an added service the diamond can be laser inscribed with the laboratory report number to guarantee its identity.