Diamonds are ‘grown’ in the lab
DIAMONDS are forever. But now they don’t have to take forever in the making.
Scientists have used pioneering technology to ‘culture’ a one-carat stone in just a few days. In nature, it takes millions of years for diamonds to form below the earth’s surface.
The gems created in a university laboratory are said to be so pure that it is virtually impossible to tell them apart from the real thing.
Professor Oliver Williams, of Cardiff University, said the process was originally developed for research into semi- conductors. ‘The diamonds are purer than anything you would see in nature,’ he told Sky News. To make a gem, a small ‘seed’ diamond is put in a vacuum chamber which is filled with methane and hydrogen and heated to 3,000C. The gases break apart, with carbon from the methane depositing on the seed diamond and then copying its crystal structure to grow at around 0.006mm an hour.
Several firms are using similar technology to ‘grow’ diamonds, with prices up to 20 per cent less than a natural stone. But a spokesman from the Diamond Producers Association said natural gems had unrivalled ‘emotional value’.