CVD Diamonds ~ Diamond Inhouse Blogs

Manmade or Laboratory Grown Diamonds

CVD, also known as Chemical Vapor Deposition diamonds. Till date, many people have no idea (or an inaccurate idea) of what CVD diamonds even are. That’s because CVD isn’t a part that those outside of the diamond industry generally take interest. And that’s unfortunate, because for anyone interested in diamonds, their environmental and social impact, and their cost, CVD diamonds are worth looking into.

That’s why we’ve came up with the easy understanding of CVD-Diamond. Here, you will understand everything about its formations to buying.

But first, let’s start with some basic information and ideas about CVD.

What is the history of CVD Diamonds?

The first lab-grown or manmade diamond was created by General Electric back in 1955. DeBeers bought the technology and it disappeared for many years. And while the manmade diamond was grown using the HPHT approach, it set the stage for later technological innovations that would eventually lead to the creation of CVD diamonds. By the after of 1980s, CVD diamonds had become a reality in this natural diamond growing world.

What are CVD Diamonds?

Simply, some are the diamonds coming from below ground levels and some coming from above ground, which are made in the laboratories, they are called CVD diamonds. Unlike natural diamonds which take billions and billions of years to form and extract from the Earth’s surface, CVD diamonds rely on a special process called Chemical Vapor Deposition (or CVD) which create the manmade diamonds.

Are CVD Diamonds real Diamonds?

The Natural Diamonds, from their internal atomic structure to the mining and later to the polishing, they glitter on your fingers whereas CVD diamonds are created at the laboratories with less environmental impacts. CVD diamonds look exactly like so-called “natural” diamonds. In fact, even a professional or trained jeweler cannot recognize the difference. And this isn’t just the opinion or just the idea of diamond manufacturers in the world, but in 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ruled that, “A Diamond is a diamond no matter whether it is grown in a lab or comes out of the ground.”

How are CVD Diamonds made?

Growing CVD diamonds is a unique and innovative process. In chemical vapor deposition, a thin ‘seed’ diamond is placed inside of a sealed chamber and exposed to the high temperatures (generally around 800°C). Then, a carbon-rich gas mixture, usually of hydrogen and methane, is introduced to the chamber. The gases are ionized to break down their molecular bonds, allowing the pure carbon to attach itself to the diamond seed. As the carbon builds up, it forms atomic bonds with the seed diamond, resulting in the growth of a new, larger diamond — completely identical to the diamonds found in nature.

Are All Lab-Grown Diamonds CVD Diamonds?

Although lab-grown diamonds were there before but CVD is a relatively new process. Before this process was introduced, laboratories relied on High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) approach. As, CVD offers a much more efficient method of growing diamonds than HPHT.

Are CVD Diamonds graded like the Natural diamonds?

As once a CVD diamonds have finished growing, they are exposed to the same certification process used in grading mined diamonds. The diamond’s 4 C’s are all measured and graded by qualified diamond certification laboratories and each diamond is given an overall grade accordingly.

Are CVD Diamonds Expensive?

When it comes to cost scenario, everything will be relative. So, CVD diamonds are inexpensive, what we are trying to say is that they generally cost less than mined diamonds like about 50–60% less. So, for what you’d pay for a 1.5 carat natural or mined diamond, you could instead upgrade to a 2.5 or 2.6 carat CVD diamond.

The process of Natural diamonds as they first have to be located, extracted below the ground levels, shipped and sold to rough dealers, then shipped and sold to rough manufacturers, they transform the rough stones into diamonds and make them polished and then shipped and sold to jewelry fabricators and finally distributed through independent retailers. It is big diamond chains with huge rents, investments, and advertising budgets. CVD diamonds on other hand skips most of this process and allow for a much more affordable price tag to the consumers.

What are Pros and Cons of buying CVD Diamonds?

The creation of CVD diamonds has many Pros like it is Ecofriendly, more affordable, less environmental costs, easy to care for, and mainly authorized by many high-class laboratories in the world.

Cons, why not to buy CVD diamonds, are they are not one of a kind like naturally grown diamonds, they don’t have the proper resale value for it so if you are thinking to buy it for investment than CVD is not a good option, it does not have the “IT FACTOR” which comes in natural grown diamonds, people might think you have bought a CZ or a fake diamond instead of the real or lab grown.

These were some basic to buying information that interests the diamond lovers and even for the person who want to have a choice other than diamond.

CVD Diamonds