The First Synthetic Diamonds
As their quality increases, synthetic diamonds are not only conceived as a substitute for natural industrial-grade diamonds, but also used increasingly in fine jewelry these years. But how much do you know about the first synthetic diamonds?
The process of creating man-made diamonds (Aslo known as cultured diamonds, lab diamonds) was first conceived by French chemist Henri Moissan in 1892. With Moissan’s process, tiny fragments of synthetic diamond were created by heating charcoal, or carbon to an extremely high temperature (4000� C) in a cast iron crucible.
Using an electric furnace constructed with blocks of lime, the intense heat would render the crucible and its carbon contents into a molten liquid mass. Once the desired temperature had been achieved, the crucible and its contents were rapidly cooled by immersing them into cold water. This abrupt cooling caused the rapid shrinkage of the molten iron crucible, which created enough pressure to crystallize the molten carbon into tiny diamond fragments.
The first practical commercial application of Moissan’s process was developed in 1954, by H.Tracy Hall for the General Electric Company. The process, known as the HTHP (high-temperature, high-pressure) “belt press” process was used for synthesizing industrial-grade diamonds, and has been steadily improved upon throughout the last 50 years.
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