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HPHT VS CVD
HPHT VS CVD
Are lab grown diamonds Real Diamonds?
Yes! Sometimes a Lab Grown Diamond is described as a ‘Synthetic Diamond’. However this terminology is somewhat misleading as lab grown diamonds have an identical chemical and physical structure as mined diamonds, and as such should only be distinguished by the means of their production.
This is especially true in comparison to other crystals such as cubic zirconia or moissanite which are well known diamond simulants or diamond alternatives. These crystals have a completely different chemical structure to lab grown diamonds and should only be seen as a diamond substitute.
What are HPHT lab grown diamonds?
The process to create an HPHT diamond (High Pressure High Temperature) was initially developed in the 1950s for industrial purposes. As mentioned above, the HPHT process can also be used to treat mined diamonds to enhance their overall colour and clarity. The process was designed to mimic the pressure and temperatures found within the earth where natural diamond crystals are formed over millions of years. The HPHT process manages to recreate this environment, but allows a diamond to form in a matter of weeks compared to the roughly 150 million years it took to form the world’s natural diamonds!
How are HPHT diamonds made?
Mined diamonds in the earth are created miles underneath the earth’s surface under extremely high pressure and scorching temperatures of over 2000 degrees celsius. An HPHT diamond (High Pressure High Temperature) needs to be created in roughly the same conditions. There are three basic manufacturing processes to create HPHT diamonds: the belt press, the cubic press, and the split beer (BARS) press. With each process the presses create an environment of high pressure and temperature into which a small diamond encased in carbon is left for many days until its formed a full sized diamond.
What are the benefits of HPHT diamonds?
We love HPHT diamonds for their clairty and high-quality colour. There are some small differences between a HPHT vs CVD diamond, but as a jeweller we only procure diamonds that meet our quality standards. Because of this, you’ll only find diamonds with high quality colour and clarity in our lab grown diamonds search tool, regardless of how they were produced. But we do like to let our customers know that any CVD diamonds we offer will have also undergone an HPHT treatment in order to give them the best finish possible.
CVD Lab Grown Diamonds
CVD Lab Grown Diamonds
What are CVD diamonds?
A CVD diamond (Chemical Vapour Deposition) is a recently invented technique in which diamonds are grown from a hydrocarbon gas mixture, similar to how diamonds form in interstellar gas clouds. The CVD process was created in the 1980s and is generally understood to be the less costly method of creating diamonds out of the two as it requires much less energy.
How are CVD diamonds made?
A thin slice of diamond seed is placed in a sealed chamber and heated to around 800 degrees celsius, and then the chamber is filled with other carbon rich gases such as methane. The gases are ionised into plasma using microwaves, lasers, and other techniques. The ionisation breaks down the gases and allows the carbon to merge with the diamond seed, growing the diamond up layer by layer.
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