Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2016 11:08 am Posts: 6 Location: Belleville, IL
Has anyone out there had any experience with the diamond foundry diamonds? I heard that these new companies that are producing lab grown diamonds can produce them at 150 times the rate that the earth produces natural stones. If that is the case how will the market protect value of this material. What is to stop the CVD diamonds from becoming another inexpensive diamond alternative like the CZ?
On a related note... Can anyone tell me what the price per carat was of Cubic Zirconia when it was released to the market in the late 1970s?
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2005 11:10 am Posts: 299 Location: Illinois
Alas, I was selling jewelry in the seventies. I remember we thought the coming of CZ's into the market was the end of the diamond business because no one would be able to tell the difference. I sold solitaire rings at the time and my recollection (remember i am old) is that the CZ was sold for 100.00 to 200 per carat. Remember this is 1970's money, so 200 to 400 i of current money or more. Also sold blue topaz for 100.00 per carat or more. I recently attended a seminar at the Smart Show about synthetic diamonds with a group of industry insiders. No consensus of opinion on what was going to happen. Most thought that the first wave of synthetics will be sold for 70 to 80% of natural prices because they can get it. There was not much agreement about prices when they become very plentiful. Some said they would be sold at half of natural prices and other believed they would be sold at one third of natural prices. Nobody believed in a crash of the market. Remember that until Mikimoto cultured pearls they were more valuable than diamonds, so I guess it is all conjecture.
_________________ I love the smell of Methylene Iodide in the morning...
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
I can speak to retail prices, at Whitehall Co. Jewelers...they were famous for imitation diamonds. Their first was YAG. $49.99 per carat mounted in a 14k 4 prong solitaire. Second, Sapphire/ Strontium titanate doublet, $99 per carat in a 14k 4 prong solitaire. 3rd, CZ, putting the saph/stontium titanate on closeout sale and replacing them at $99/carat mounted.
Some time ago I read an article by Donald W. Olson from Diamond, Industrial - USGS Mineral Resources Program :
Quote:
Total industrial diamond output worldwide was estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey (US GS) to be about 4.51 billion carats valued between $1.65 and $2.50 billion. This was the combination of more than 135 Mct natural industrial diamond and about 4.38 billion carats synthetic industrial diamond.
The more producers there are, the more competition and the more price pressure - so prices just now are very differently - one is getting cheaper than the other (but on a high level ), ....
Industry cutting price 1975 Cubic Zirconia rd. fac. 6,50mm (1,7ct) was 45 DM (Deutsch Mark) In German (and Austria) there were not sold by carat but by piece.
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2005 11:10 am Posts: 299 Location: Illinois
And in reference to the Diamond Foundry in particular. Maarten Dewitte is from my neck of the woods. He is an ethical and affable cutter with much industry experience who is designing some of their new cuts. I expect much of their success will be in fancy cuts not presently on the market. Maybe with rough that is more standardized it will lend itself to a popular cut not yet seen in the mass market. And...in reference to pricing. Are people going to care if their petri dish diamond is a VVS1 or VVS2? I mean it's not a matter of natural rarity. It will be a matter of setting the dial.
_________________ I love the smell of Methylene Iodide in the morning...
I think we should all remember that CZ is also "lab grown". For that matter plastic is "lab grown", you could say glass is "lab Grown". Perhaps they should be called "Factory Grown"? really; Synthetic continues to be the proper term.
My guess is that as long as we do not see any revolutionary cutting methods that makes consideration of the directional hardness of diamonds obsolete when cutting, prices will still stay comparably high. Not ending up under 50% of natural counterparts when we talk about consumer goods. When comparing fancy colored stones in pink and blue I guess the prices will be kept up as the natural stones of really good quality are out of reach to most consumers. still we will be talking fractions of natural fancy counterparts.
Joined: Mon May 14, 2007 11:00 am Posts: 1133 Location: Monterey, CA
mowgli2001 wrote:
I think we should all remember that CZ is also "lab grown". For that matter plastic is "lab grown", you could say glass is "lab Grown". Perhaps they should be called "Factory Grown"? really; Synthetic continues to be the proper term.
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