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Synthetic diamond
Very few gem quality synthetic diamonds have
been produced, their cost being extremely high. Some of them
are housed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Unless
one is involved in their production, the chances of coming
across a specimen are slim.
Appearance A few of these diamonds have been
cut into ovals or brilliants, weighing 0.25-0.40 carats. With
others, the spontaneous facets have merely been polished to
make them perfectly transparent, maintaining their slightly
flattened cubic shape, with small, octahedral faces. Some
are colorless or almost so; others, yellow, light blue, or
grayish.
Distinctive features One cannot generalize
from so few examples, but the inclusions are apparently different
from those of natural diamonds.
Cost They are not found on the market, having
been produced solely for research purposes. But they parently
cost much more than good quality natural diamonds of similar
characteristics.
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