Jeweller: The Great Diamond Debate - Round II

greater appeal as they become cheaper than ‘cheap
(natural) goods’.
THE POSITIVES OF SYNTHETIC DIAMONDS
Mahek Mehta, partner at Rajlaxmi Technomech,
explains the current problems in Surat, India, where
the vast majority of all diamonds are polished: “Due
to rising natural rough prices and slow polished
diamond sales, many cutters do not find it profitable
to manufacture.
“Small and medium-sized companies have moved
partially or completely into manufacturing and
trading lab-grown diamonds as the investment
is less compared with natural diamonds – and
[lab-grown diamonds] are a self-funded venture,
unlike naturals.”
Mehta adds: “Big companies are investing heavily
in technologies for ‘growing’ lab-grown rough.
[They] manufacture and sell polished diamonds
to prospective wholesalers and retailers focusing
on marketing loose lab-grown diamonds and
jewellery. This will target a different segment
of consumers.”
At the JCK Las Vegas show in June this year,
80 per cent of CVD [chemical vapour deposition]
diamonds I checked with an Ideal-Scope or
ASET scope had ‘magic’ proportions – compared
to less than 10 per cent of natural and HPHT [highpressure
high-temperature] diamonds.
The better cut proportions of CVD results from the
depth constraint. Why grow thicker than 3.9mm to
achieve a 1-carat round?
Bear in mind that 60 per cent of natural diamonds
are much too deep at +4.00mm or +62.5 per cent,
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according to RapNet. This makes me particularly
happy as I have worked for decades to improve the
beauty and apparent size of diamond cut quality.
I developed the Holloway Cut Adviser, a tool
that provides a visual assessment based upon
proportional parameter values of diamonds and
gemstones. It is used around a million times a year,
mainly by savvy consumers.
This year I added an additional patented online
service (hollowaycutadviser.com) enabling anyone
to check the apparent size of any round diamond
based on the proportions that appear on any
grading report.
AN HONEST ASSESSMENT
However, some CVDs were hazy; they grow like
carbon rain falling onto a flat crystal substrate,
building upwards in layers. Banding in the layers can
reduce visible fire and brilliance, so CVD diamonds
can be less ‘crisp’ in performance.
HPHT has better transparency and lustre, but suffers
from being overly deep like natural diamonds.
A couple of side notes on diamond fluorescence:
firstly, stronger blue fluorescence in a colourless (D to
Z) diamond is an indication of natural origin.
Secondly, recent research has proven that blue
fluorescence does not cause milky haziness or dull
a diamond unless it is combined with certain types
of inclusions.
Expect to see the value of fluorescent diamond
increase – just in time for Alrosa to begin marketing
its ‘Luminous Diamonds’.
Finally, the pros and cons of stocking synthetic
diamonds versus natural diamonds come down to
consumer behaviour.
A woman might buy herself a 2-carat synthetic
diamond for $3,000 – but there’s no way this woman
will let her partner buy her a ‘fake’!
As a result, a suitor may be pressured to buy a
$40,000 2-carat natural diamond engagement ring or
anniversary present.
Pun: Syn is short for ‘synthetic’ and is a homophone
for sin. It would be a sin for a suitor to offer a
prospective partner a syn diamond.
However, when faced with a choice, many customers
shopping at High Street jewellery chain stores will
take the lab-grown option. i
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Garry Holloway is founder of Melbourne’s
Holloway Diamonds and a self-confessed ‘cut
nut’. He is the inventor of the Ideal-Scope and
patented Holloway Cut Adviser.
December 2019 Jeweller 38