History of Man Made Diamonds

Diamonds are nature’s hardest substance, valued for their brilliance, luster, and durability, but are rare and expensive to mine. Man made diamonds provide a cheaper, more readily available solution. Recent breakthroughs have produced methods to mass produce synthetic gems, for both the jewelry industry and for technology, but the history of man made diamonds is over a hundred years old.

Science-fiction writer H. G. Wells described the concept of synthetic diamonds in his short story "The Diamond Maker," published in 1911. In his book Capital, Karl Marx commented, "If we could succeed, at a small expenditure of labor, in converting carbon into diamonds, their value might fall below that of bricks.”

In the real world, man made diamonds come in two types: synthetics which possess the same chemical composition and structure, and simulants, which are of different materials, but appear diamond-like and posses some of a diamond’s characteristics such as hardness and refractive capabilities.