According to a recent report, Surat is gearing up to be the global hub for laboratory-created diamonds.
- India, which cuts or polishes about 90% of the diamonds sold in the world, is ramping up sales of laboratory-made gems as demand from the US surges and they become more accepted in other markets.
About laboratory-created diamonds
- Unlike natural diamonds that are a limited resource and undergo stringent measures and long gestation before being mined and polished for use, lab-created diamonds can be developed at lower cost and faster.
- Except for the way they are grown, which is through a machine or a reactor in a laboratory, lab-grown diamonds are similar to natural diamonds and have been recognised as bonafide by the US, the UK, Australia, and other markets.
- Since they can be grown with the same carat and quality as natural diamonds, their polishing is also entirely similar to the latter.
- It is here that Surat and India already enjoy a healthy lead. It is estimated that nine out of 10 diamonds in the world are polished in Surat.
- Lab-created diamonds are man made diamonds that mirror natural diamonds. Because they actually consist of carbon atoms structures, lab-grown diamonds display the same chemical and optical characteristics of a natural diamond crystal produced by the geological processes of Mother Nature.
- Lab-created diamonds are made by replicating the processes that result in the creation of natural diamonds.
- Natural diamonds grow through intense heat and pressure which, over millions of years, transforms carbon atoms into beautiful and captivating gemstones we know as diamonds.
- Lab-created diamonds grow the same way, only through a man-made process that takes several weeks, not millions of years.
- Diamonds are typically produced in two ways in laboratories — chemical vapour deposition (CVD) and high pressure high temperature (HPHT). It is in the former process that India leads globally.
