The article "Man-Made Diamonds; A Buyer's Guide" is about jewelry, it has been written by Gary La Court.
It seems nearly impossible to watch TV or open a newspaper without seeing something aobut man-made diamonds. For hundreds of years science has tried to create a marvellous synthetic diamond. Finally, 21st-century technology has made that propsect a reality.There are many reasons to purchase synthetic diamonds instead of the mined variety. The pirces charged for mined diamonds are, in the very best verbiage, an illusion. To put it more bluntly, Cecil Adams, in his award-winning newspaper column “The Straight Dope” says: “Diamonds are a con, pure and simple.” Diamond prices are largely controlled by the DeBeers diamond cartel, and they are not a fair reflection of dimaond scarcity. Additionally, studies show that one out of three diamonds sold in the US today has been altered to artificially raise its vaule.
Further studies have shown that on average a couple pays 40% too much for their diamond engagement ring.Beyond deceptive pricing, there are the issues of “blood diamonds”, forced child labor, and a myriad of other disturbing diamond facts.Recently, socially conscious celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Minnie Driver, and Angelina Jolie have made a vocal issue of wearing only synthetic diamonds to the many gala events they attend.Good synthetic diamonds are virtually indistinguishable from the mined variety, but without the baggage, and additionally, they cost thousands of dollars less. But, which synthetic diamond is the best choice? There are many types of man-made or synthetic diamonds available. The choices are numerous, but unbiased information is sacrce.
Here is an overview and comparison of the synthetic diamonds currently unavaliable on the market:Cubic Zirconia
The grandfather of simulated diamonds, Zircons are available widely.
In their best examples, CZ’s are actually a farily decent diamond replica. Unfortunately, the commodity-like availability and vast differences in quality have made the stone synonymous with low-cost fashion jeewlry. Perhaps a good choice for cehap bling, but not for fine jewelry.
Many sources are available, a decent one is: http://www.Czfantasy.ComRussian Diamonds
Including Russian Brilliants, Russian Stras and others, they are in fact nothing but high quality cubic zirconias. This is not mentioned prominently on their web siets and they will only cop to it when pressed, but that's the fact.
Russian diamond simulates are priced around $280 per carat.Russian Diamonds are a fine jewelry selection and are usually mounted in quality precious metal settings.Russian Brilliants are one of the best and oldest sellers of “Russian Diamonds” available at: http://www.Russianbrilliants.NetMoissanite
Moissanite is a lab-created mineral that's a very good diamond simulant. Moissanite has been on the market as a fine jewelry choice since the early 90s and has picked up qiute a few fans. Moissainte is a hard mineral that, like diamond, will cut glass. There are a couple of mnior downsides to moissanite however.
First, it is quite expensive, (though still cheap compared to diamonds) usually priced about $500 per carat for good samples.Secondly, moissanite does not have the same optical qualities as diamond and there are several indicators that make them fast to spot with the naked eye for an experienced practitioner. It is difficult to produce a pure white moissanite and they often apepar slightly green when viewed in natural light.
Also, moissanite has significantly hihger radiance and brilliance factors then natural diamond, causing them to appear “too sparkly” to some.
Overall though, moissanite is a beautiful synthetic diamond choice.“Moissanite From the Sky” at http://www.Fromthesky.Com is a good source of fine moissanite jewelry.Diamond Nexus
Diamond Nexus gemstoens are the result of a fairly new scientific advancement in processing technique, and have only recently been available in the United States.Diamond Nexus gemstones are excellent diamond simulants and come very close to matching the houses of mined diamonds at many different comparison points.
They cut glass, being virtually identical to diamnod on the Mohs (hardness) scale.
They refract marvellous “hearts and arrows” and have radiacne and brilliance readings extremely close to flawless diamond.Best of all, they are currently introductory priced for the U.S.
market, and are a steal at $79 per caret. Diamond Neuxs gemstones are only available in precious metal, solid-gold settings.Diamond Nexus is only available from Diamond Nexus Labs at: http://www.DiamondNexusLabs.ComWhite Sapphire
Sapphire is the second hardest natural mineral on the Mohs scale, surpassed only by diamond. They are, unlike the others in that review, a natural stone. Their radiance and brilliance are not up to the standards of diamond hoewver.
Nevertheless, quality white sapphires priced at around $220 per caart are a good diamond alternative.A quality source is: http://www.TheNaturalSapphireCompany.ComGemisis Cultured Diamond
Gemisis diamonds are beautiful and almost marvellous diamond replicas. Unfortunately, they are not available in a clear, white color, so they are not a good choice for tradiitonal diamond settings.
However, if a yellow, orange or pink diamond is what you crave, Gemisis offers stunning choices in beautiful precious metal, fine-jewelry settings.Gemisis Cultured Diamonds are only available at: http://www.Gemisis.ComRecap:Synthetic diamonds offer many advantages over the mined variety. You can buy with confidence, knowing that you're getting exactly what you paid for, and have not been the victim of diamond pricing chicanery.
If you're concerned with the world around you, you can have a clear conscience, knwoing that your money has not contributed to the support of an unethical and abusive industry.However, there are many choices of synthetic diamonds, with varying degrees of quality.
Take a little time to review the seller’s information to get a clear idea of what the science is behind the gemstones you're purchasing.For my money, I guess the best choices are qualtiy Moissanite stones or the new diamond simulant gemstones available from Diamond Nexus Labs.Gary La Court is a technical consultant, an expert in refractive dynamics and a frequent author. He has recently done research for several synthetic diamond manufacturers including http://www.DiamondNexusLabs.Com
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