Photo Source: © Commonwealth of Australia 2003

Ever since the first man found a sparkling diamond laying on the ground in his cave, man's thoughts have been focused on getting more of these shinny stones. Since they were a rather rare stone this task has not been easy. If you were extremely lucky you might find a diamond in a riverbed in India or in the jungles of Brazil but the main source for diamonds is a mine. The fact that you mined them didn't help the situation either as everyone knows how dangerous a mine can be. A little too much pressure or a little too much drilling and you could have the roof of the mine down around your shoulders. But danger was only one of the problems. The owners of the mine had to make sure that the miners didn't walk off with any diamonds. This required a large and loyal security force. Each miner had to be checked before he left the mine, and since diamonds can be small, he had to be THOROUGHLY searched, after all the temptation to acquire something of this much value was hard to resist. But will diamonds always be valuable?

General Electric Co. may ultimately be responsible for the decline in value of diamonds. GE is a company that was created in 1892. It has many 'firsts' under it's belt, including the auto-pilot, first modern X-Ray tube and first man made diamond, to mention just a few. It was 1954 and General Electric had just accomplished a feat that seemed impossible given the pressures that were needed. They had created the world's first man made diamond. The only hitch here was that it was an industrial grade diamond and not suitable for jewelry. It wasn't until 1971 that a gem quality diamond was created. Along with these diamonds a synthetic moissanite was created which, when tested, appears to be a diamond. The way to detect it is to look through the facets for a double refraction but this should be only done by an expert to be positive of the results.

The diamond market is controlled by DeBeers a South African Company. Before diamonds were discovered in South Aftrica they were extremely rare. South Africa had so many that, for a while, it looked like diamonds would become semiprecious stones. Diamonds were being scooped out of the mines by the tons verses a couple of pounds a year prior to the discovery of the mines. The financial backers in England, of the mines, decided they had to do something. In 1888 they all merged creating DeBeers. DeBeers, then in turn, convinced the world that diamonds were still a rare commodity, which was far from the truth. DeBeers has been able to control diamond distribution to this day keeping the prices up for stones that would have been much cheaper. Some people say that DeBeers is the most successful cartel in modern history. Prices had collapsed before in the diamond market. During the depression in Europe some diamonds could be bought for only $80. The prices dropped so much in Europe that 75% of all diamonds were being sold in the US in the form of engagement rings. A campaign was mounted to instill in people that diamonds were a gift of love. All of a sudden photos of famous women would show large diamond rings and other diamond jewelry. The campaign was successful and the rest is history.

We are now at a point where diamonds, that would be considered rare because of coloration and quality, can be manufactured for under $100 for a bunch. Even the Naval Research Lab has a special microwave plasma machine for creating diamonds. These diamonds are used for high temperature semiconductor experiments but could the machine be used, just as easily, to create commercial diamonds? Gem quality diamonds, that are man made, are beginning to show up in the market place. Rubies that are produced in the laboratory are becoming common along with other gems. It is only a matter of time before the diamond market begins to collapse, only this time for good? There is a company in Boston that is predicting that it will soon have a process for creating flawless diamonds. Diamonds may become so cheap that they will replace the silicone that is currently used in computer chips. When it becomes impossible to tell the laboratory made stone from natures own this may end not only the market for diamond jewelry but for all gemstones.