What if someone could cheaply produce perfect, synthetic diamonds, indistinguishable from the natural ones?

Dear Users.

The question I am about to ask you, is purely hypothetical.

Imagine such a scenario.

I am educated in the field of both theoretical and applied physics. I am not an expert in gemology. My father spent his life in the former USSR working on a theoretical basis for the creation of cheap, artificial diamonds, indistinguishable from the natural ones. He obliged me to build a device, based on his research. It took six years, approximately 350k US dollars and a lot of work. And it works much as expected, after some minor modifications of the original plans.

Again – do not assume there is such a device or technology, because there is not.

This device is capable of creating artificial diamonds, chemically and physically identical to the natural ones. Their density, UV fluorescence, crystal structure, color (or lack of it), electrical conductivity and other properties – all identical to the natural ones, if desired.

The process can be finely tuned, to replicate the imperfections of the natural diamonds or the perfect, ideally pure stone can be achieved (with certain limitations). The device's output is in the form of a single, elongated crystal, much similar to the ones resulting from the Czochralski process for other synthetic products.

There is no known method to distinguish between the natural diamonds and the ones created by the device – including spectroscopy. It's verified by asking one of the most advanced and renowned gem laboratories in the western hemisphere to confirm the authenticity of 11 stones (as a paid service) – among them two had been created by the device, one colorless and another one pink. Certificates were produced for all 11 stones, declaring them to be natural stones.

The device does not operate based on any of the widely used processes for the creation of synthetic diamonds – CVD, HPHT or UC, although certain elements of the first two methods are present. Most importantly, it allows for creation of the crystals unprecedented in size. It is significantly cheaper than any other published method. The device is highly affected by outside vibrations. A train traveling 2 miles away affects the quality of the output considerably. It requires the introduction of a certain substance, not widely available and therefore rather expensive. The substance drives the price up considerably, but can be reused indefinitely, not a catalyst but is required for stability.

Now for the question:

- assuming I had built such a device, and the diamonds are indeed perfect (or perfectly imperfect, if one chooses), what would happen?

What effects would it have on the world? Would my life & family be threatened? I am a citizen of the United States and another developed country, where I currently reside. Who would threaten me, and who could I trust for protection? I do seem to be affected by a mild paranoia in this case, but I am also aware that the common belief is that people who try to do things like that suffer accidents, or heart attacks. Should I take it in any way seriously? And - what would happen to the world economy?

I assume, that the international diamond market would collapse immediately. The perfect stones of any desirable size and color would flood the market, their price just fraction of the current price of the diamonds – a price already artificially inflated, and massively. Who would suffer? Who would benefit?

I don't need money. I have a family. I have a beautiful wife and three children, and I love all of them very much. I also have a good job. We are not rich, but we are better off than most of the people. Our combined annual income is in excess of 200k US dollars. We also have significant savings, attributed in large part to my previous patents. We have everything we need, and our children's future is secure. It's a good life. Being rich can be good too, but not if it comes at a price to my family.

I wouldn't introduce this technology for commercial gain. I'd make it an open source. I believe this would make my family safe from the people that would otherwise like to stop me. But it doesn't solve another issue – how would it affect the world?

Companies would go bankrupt. Behemoths like De Beers would suffer, possibly collapse. Diamond mines around the world would close. Entire countries depend on diamonds for their development – like Namibia. Other countries in Africa would suffer. On the other hand, many industries and individuals would benefit greatly from this technology. Tell me, what do you think would be the balance, for the world as a whole? I simply do not know whether or not this would be a good thing to happen to the world, or quite the opposite.

Remember – all this is purely hypothetical. No such device, technology, and my father is a carpenter, who has nothing to do with diamonds.

Thank you for reading this, and hopefully sharing your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Professor D.