SYNTHETIC DIAMONDS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20534, 8 February 1935, Page 8

SYNTHETIC DIAMONDS.

Process Long Known Now Successful. The dream of synthetic diamonds, comparable to the genuine stones, seems at last to have been realised, according to a cable from London yesterday, which stated that after more than forty years’ experimenting, a jeweller had discovered the secret of makine diamonds and sapphires. Ever since the composition of diamonds was investigated—and it has long been realised that these gems are nothing more than crystallised carbon men and women have tried to make them, but with little success. Synthetic diamonds have been made be tore, but man’s handicraft was nowhere near as good as Nature’s. The nmanufacturing process—which the new discovery probably uses—consists of heating charcoal under extreme pressure and to a high temperature, and then letting the mixture cool suddenly. When broken up, the charcoal sometimes contains microscopic diamonds, which have little use except for abrasive purposes. Diamonds, the most precious of all gems, will soon become cheap if the new process is as successful as its inventor claims. The cable stated that the jeweller could imitate a £12,000 diamond ring for £SO.