Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ......................................................................4
Preface.........................................................................................5
Introduction ................................................................................6

Chapter I: Background
The History of growing diamonds ................................................8
The HPHT Method ....................................................................9
The CVD Method .......................................................................10

Chapter II: The Relentless Debate of Real vs. Fake

Diamond Types - Earth-grown and Laboratory-grown..................12
Where are Earth-grown found ......................................................13
Laboratory-grown ........................................................................13
Where are Laboratory-grown diamonds made?..............................14
Screen, Testing and Identification ................................................14
Summary Real vs. Fake ................................................................14

Chapter III: Grown Diamonds… The Inherit Good and Bad

Get More, Spend Less ..................................................................16
Colored Diamonds aka Fancy Diamonds......................................
Colored Diamonds Rare, Fashionable and Expensive ....................
Colors..........................................................................................
Clarity .........................................................................................
Cut..............................................................................................
Carat ...........................................................................................
Created........................................................................................
White diamonds not commercially viable .....................................
Is there a resale market or value? ...................................................
How can I sell or trade my diamond.............................................
Opportunity now.........................................................................

Chapter IV: Common Myths about All Diamonds

Earth-grown Diamonds always appreciate.....................................
Laboratory-grown Diamonds are worthless ...................................

Chapter V: The Cost of Laboratory-grown versus Earth-grown Diamonds

Costs of Fancy Colored Diamonds at Auction ..............................
Costs of Fancy Colored Laboratory-grown Diamonds ...................

Chapter VI: Jewelry and Custom Designs

Ring Settings ...............................................................................
Earring Settings............................................................................
Pendant & Necklace Settings .......................................................
Custom Jewelry Designs...............................................................
Travel Jewelry ..............................................................................
Value and More Bang for Your Buck ............................................
Buying Laboratory-grown Diamonds on the Internet ....................

Chapter VII: Buying Your 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th Diamond?

Smart and Savvy Woman .............................................................
“Will You Marry Me?” .................................................................
Planning the Perfect Proposal .......................................................
For Dukes and Dudes ..................................................................

Chapter VIII: Picking a Jeweler for Custom Designs

Jeweler Questionnaire Sheet .........................................................
The Gift of Jewelry ......................................................................
Gift Questionnaire Sheet..............................................................
The Fine Print .............................................................................

Chapter IX: After the Purchase

Insurance .....................................................................................
Do’s and Don’ts...........................................................................
Some Final Suggestions ................................................................
Care and Cleaning of Your Jewelry & Diamonds ..........................

Chapter X: Certification
Grading System for Laboratory-grown Diamonds .........................
Types of Certificates.....................................................................

©
Copyright 2009 Neil Koppel 2
Conclusion, people the world over wear jewelry to be noticed,
feel good and look more beautiful.

©
Copyright 2009 Neil Koppel 3
 Acknowledgements
There are many people who have helped me learn and understand the
complexities of diamonds; both laboratory-grown and Earth-mined, too many
to try and mention all of them here. Also, without the incredible opportunities
to work with some of the largest retailers in the world, AAFES, Finlay, Macy’s,
Zales, HSN, ShopNBC and many others, I would never have learned what it
takes to design and manufacture some of the most amazing jewelry that people
love to own and give.

Nonetheless, there are a few people in the very beginning of my career, more
than 30 years ago helped me understand that there is quality and then there is
everything else. I would like to thank Allen Kleiman and Isaac Abramacik of
the original Rolling Stone Company; they showed me how beautiful gemstones
and diamonds could be. We traveled the world and sold some of the most
expensive and sought after colored diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds.
To my partner and lifelong friend David Gendal, over a period of 10 years we
built the largest created jewelry business in the World and were unquestionably
the experts on jewelry featuring Moissanite. To Jeff Dienstag and Elon
Calahorra who helped me develop the patented “Renaissance” and “80’s” Cuts
for our incredible yellow laboratory-grown diamonds. I would also like to thank
Clark McEwen, who shares my infectious belief that laboratory-grown
diamonds are the most beautiful, offer great value for the consumer and hold
an important place in the future of the fine jewelry industry.

And last but not least, my family, I want to thank my best friend and
cheerleader Nikki, who believed in me even at the most difficult times and
made me countless PBJ sandwiches for my long flights to see customers and
spent many long nights alone. To my daughter Becky, “aka FooFoo”, for giving
me the 411 of what was hip and what the younger generation wanted, and to
my son Max, who always reminds me how important it is to be curious and
funny.

©
Copyright 2009 Neil Koppel 4
 Preface
In early 1995 I was traveling around the world in my constant search of the
finest colored diamonds. Some of the places were outright scary, dangerous,
and if you didn’t know the local customs, well let’s leave it that I would not be
here to write this book. As was my custom to take lots of reading material while
flying, I read an article about a company that had created a “laboratory-grown”
diamond.

As it turned out it was a company by the name of Cree Research and they
didn’t actually create a diamond, but a diamond “look alike” called Moissanite.
It had similar diamond properties, the ones that really appeal to consumers, like
brilliance, fire, luster and it was affordable.

The thought of trading in all of the traveling with the occasional sound of
machine gun fire from my hotel room, for a desirable jewel that could be
reliably reproduced had great appeal to me. My partner and I started a
company that would go on to become the largest manufacturer of fine jewelry
that featured laboratory-grown jewels with over $30 million dollars in revenue
in 2006. I spent over 7 years on television educating millions of viewers that
created or laboratory grown jewels were every bit as beautiful, made the woman
who was wearing them feel special and if she could spend less and get more
compliments, she was very smart indeed.

Now, the next challenge became the most sought after precious jewel,
diamonds. I knew there was an opportunity to develop laboratory-grown
diamonds that were just as beautiful as their mined counterpart, but where its
origin didn’t offer any of the issues in terms of human suffering, destruction of
the environment or escalating costs.

I hope you enjoy this book and find it informative. Most of all, I hope it will
remove any misunderstandings, fears or stigmas that a laboratory-grown
diamond is something fake or different in some way from an Earth-grown or
mined diamond.

Neil Koppel

©
Copyright 2009 Neil Koppel 5
 Introduction
Throughout history, diamonds have been prized above all other jewels and
gemstones. They are renowned for being the hardest natural substance and
their beauty, rarity, and inherent magical powers have made them the symbol
of kings, power, wealth and ultimately the expression of Love. Every
civilization, every society has elevated diamonds as the ultimate possession. This
continues to this present day and we hold this same fascination as the
generations that have come before.

In other areas, diamonds are regarded as the best thermal conductor known to
man and expectations are that one day Supercomputers will have diamond
based chips and circuits. Industrially, they are used in a wide range of fields
from scalpels for surgery, drills in oil mining to optical windows in aerospace
technology.

With each passing year the ability to discover Earth-grown, natural or mined
diamonds has improved and it is generally agreed upon by the diamond
industry that we will run out of new diamond mines in the not distant future.

Man’s dream of creating diamonds was first accomplished over 50 years ago in
a laboratory. It is clear that the same lifelong dream Kokichi Mikimoto had in
1893 to grow or culture pearls so that they could adorn the necks of all the
women of the world, is precisely why we want to create laboratory-grown
diamonds.

Today, Mikimoto Pearls are synonymous with quality, beauty and fashion.
Laboratory-grown diamonds continue to evolve and are finding their place in
mainstream jewelry for their rarity, beauty, color and value.

Now the experience of buying a laboratory-grown diamond doesn’t have to be

confusing, overwhelming or terrifying. Within the following pages you will find
the knowledge necessary to make an informed, smart and educated decision if a
created diamond is for you. Remember… A Diamond is Forever, including
created diamonds.

©
Copyright 2009 Neil Koppel 6
 Chapter I
BACKGROUND OF LABORATORY-GROWN
DIAMONDS

©
Copyright 2009 Neil Koppel 7
 Chapter I
THE HISTORY OF GROWING DIAMONDS:

Laboratory-grown diamond
A Laboratory-grown diamond is a diamond produced in a technological process; as
opposed to an Earth-grown or natural diamond, which is created in geological processes.
Laboratory-grown diamond is also widely known as HPHT diamond or CVD diamond,
HPHT and CVD being the two main production methods, high-pressure high-temperature
synthesis and chemical vapor deposition, respectively.

In 1796, chemist Smithson Tennant discovered that diamond is made out of carbon.
Numerous claims of diamond synthesis were documented between 1879 and 1928; most of
those attempts were carefully analyzed and none were confirmed. In the 1940s, systematic
research began in the United States, Sweden and the Soviet Union to grow diamond using
CVD and HPHT processes. The first reproducible synthesis was reported around 1953.
Those two processes still dominate the production of Laboratory-grown diamond.

But only since the 1950’s have scientists using the HPHT method managed to reliably
produce diamonds, forging them out of graphite subjected to temperatures as high as 2,550
degrees Fahrenheit and pressures 55,000 times greater than that of earth's atmosphere.
However, over the past decade, researchers have perfected a chemical process that grows
diamonds similar to the finest specimens hauled out of the ground. The CVD process or
chemical vapor deposition passes a carbon gas cloud over diamond seeds in a vacuum
chamber heated to more than 1,800 degrees. A diamond grows as carbon crystallizes on top
of the seed.

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Copyright 2009 Neil Koppel 8
 Chapter I
THE HISTORY OF GROWING DIAMONDS:

THE HPHT METHOD

When WWII jeopardized the world's supply channels of natural diamonds that were essential for
industrial cutting tools for the war effort, the race was on to grow diamonds in a laboratory. In
America, General Electric started "Project Super-Pressure" to research growing diamonds;
meanwhile, scientists in Sweden were working on a diamond-making project called "Quintus" at
the ASEA Electric Company.

Scientists had already discovered that diamonds were made of carbon more than 150 years earlier.
They had to determine at what favorable conditions graphite which is a poly-crystal would turn
into single-crystal diamond. Graphite is extremely stable and resistant to change in its crystalline
structure. Even at very high pressures and temperatures, the carbon atoms do not break apart and
reform into a diamond.

They looked to nature for clues. Diamonds are found in extinct volcanic pipes, called kimberlite
pipes and brought to the surface by lava moving up; they form at depths of around 200 kilometers
within the Earth, where pressures and temperatures are very high. To create diamonds, scientists
had to find a method to simulate these same very high pressure and very high heat in a controlled
environment.

Then scientists found a clue while studying a meteor crater. They discovered tiny diamond crystals,
surrounded by trace amounts of metal, which they believed formed upon impact of the meteor.
The scientists tried dissolving the graphite in a molten metal so that the carbon atoms from the
graphite would be free to crystallize as diamond. They placed a capsule containing metal and
graphite in the presses and turned on the pressure to 55,000 atmospheres and the temperature to
between 1,400 and 1,500 degrees Centigrade for a few minutes.

On February 15, 1955, GE announced to the world that "Project Super-Pressure" was successful.
They were the first to publish and patent the process of making diamonds. However, the team at
ASEA in Sweden had achieved making diamonds by a very similar process a year-and-a-half earlier
but elected not to patent it for fear competitors would steal their methods.

Now man had successfully created diamonds, but they were not the sought-after gem quality and
they were the size of grains of sand, less than 1 mm in diameter. Since then, scientists from the
U.S., Europe, Russia, Japan and other countries, have studied and experimented numerous ways to
create laboratory-grown diamonds of a desirable size, color and quality that is demanded by the
jewelry industry.

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Copyright 2009 Neil Koppel 9
 Chapter I
THE HISTORY OF GROWING DIAMONDS:

The CVD Method

In the early 1950s, when most of the scientific community was working to grow diamonds
by the HPHT method, only a few scientists were studying low-pressure techniques because
success seemed unlikely. As fate would have it, in the winter of 1952-1953, a scientist at
Union Carbide, William G. Eversole, recorded the first successful experiment at creating
diamonds using a method he called Chemical Vapor Deposition or CVD.

Inside a vacuum chamber, Eversole exposed tiny natural diamond “seeds” or small pieces
that were used to start the crystal growth to hot carbon-rich gases, such as carbon monoxide
and methane gas. As he hoped, the carbon atoms from the gas deposited onto the diamond
seeds and added new layers to form a larger atomic crystal lattice. The time-consuming and
tedious process forced scientists to virtually abandon CVD research and focus on the faster
growing and seemingly more viable HPHT methods.

Boris Spitsyn was the first scientist in Russia to further the CVD research and by 1956 had
discovered how to grow polycrystalline diamond on non-diamond substrates. This new
discovery had great potential for applications as coatings on cutting tools, windows, etc. The
process was still painfully slow and several days were needed to grow even a thin coating. In
1982, scientists at the National Institute for Research in Inorganic Materials (NIRIM)
located in Japan attained growth rates to over 1 micrometer per hour. In the late 1980's, the
Industrial Diamond Division of De Beers started production of CVD polycrystalline
industrial products and research into single-crystal CVD diamonds. General Electric
patented the production of transparent polycrystalline diamond films in 1995-

Rapid advances in CVD research continued, and in 1998 Apollo Diamond Inc., a Boston-
based company announced the ability to grow single-crystal CVD diamonds over 0.5 mm
thick with their own technology. By the spring of 2004, a team of researchers at Carnegie
Institution's Geophysical Laboratory in Washington, D.C. reported a breakthrough of
growing crystals over 3 mm thick in only one day. In 2005 this laboratory produced a single
crystal CVD-grown diamond reported as 10 carats.

©
Copyright 2009 Neil Koppel 10
 Chapter 2
DIAMOND TYPES
EARTH-GROWN & LABORATORY-GROWN
OR

THE RELENTLESS DEBATE OF

REAL VS. FAKE

©
Copyright 2009 Neil Koppel 11
 Chapter 2
IDENTIFICATION:

Diamond Types
Diamonds only fall into two categories:

Earth-grown, commonly called Mined or Natural Diamonds.

Or…

Laboratory-grown, commonly called Created or Cultured Diamonds.

Earth-grown diamonds
Typically Earth-grown diamonds are found in various shades of white or clear. Roughly 1 in
10,000 diamonds are colored or what are referred to as “fancy colored” diamonds, ie:
yellow, pink, blue, etc.

Natural diamond sources are found in the following environments:

§ Kimberlite Rock
§ Placer Deposits or Alluvial Deposits

An Earth-grown diamond is formed when extreme heat (temperatures of 2200 degrees

Fahrenheit) and extreme pressure cause carbon atoms to crystallize forming diamonds
approximately ninety miles under the earth's surface. Diamonds move up to the surface of
the earth via volcanic pipes or kimberlite pipes. Kimberlite is a blue rock that occurs in
ancient volcanic pipes and is the most common host of diamonds. When a volcano erupts
diamonds are also deposited on, or near, the surface. If they fall near water, some of the
kimberlite host rock is washed away by streams and rivers and diamonds are deposited as
sediment in the stream sands in ‘placer deposits” also called Alluvial deposits. These deposits
are caused by volcanic eruptions or by millions of years of erosion caused by rainfall and
snow-melt which unearth the diamonds from their kimberlite source.

Where are Earth-grown diamonds found around the World?

Earth-grown diamond sources have been uncovered in about 35 different countries around
the World. South Africa, Russia, Canada and Botswana are the world’s largest gem-quality
diamond producers and Australia is the major producer of industrial diamonds.

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Copyright 2009 Neil Koppel 12
 Chapter 2
The following are some of the more notable countries with diamond deposits:

§ South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola,

Tanzania and Sierra Leone
§ India
§ Russia/Siberia
§ Brazil
§ Northern and Western Australia
§ China
§ United States
§ Canada

The states in the U.S. where diamonds have been found are Arkansas, Wyoming and
Colorado. These are the only states to that have a verifiable source of diamonds.

Laboratory-grown diamonds
It is technically, ethically or otherwise scientifically inaccurate to describe laboratory-
grown diamonds as “synthetic”, “fake” or “not real diamonds”. They are diamonds
indeed, with the identical physical and chemical properties of their counterpart, Earth-grown
diamonds. The only true distinction is their origin and otherwise, they are exact, chemically,
physically and optically.

There is an important fact to be aware of, in recent years it has become popular to “coat”
the surface of a diamond simulant like cubic zirconium or other glass-like crystal with
diamond by CVD or another method. These are in-fact “fake diamonds”, they do no not
possess the diamonds characteristics for hardness, durability, light dispersion, etc. The
surface of the stimulant is prone to scratch, chip and break and does not offer the eternalness
of Earth-grown or Laboratory-grown diamond.

Laboratory-grown diamonds by the HPHT are primarily found in shades of yellow to

orange. This is due to trace amounts of nitrogen in the growth chamber that cause the
diamond to take on the yellow to orange color. Further processing of the diamonds after
they are grown can produce a wider variety of colors. As with Earth-grown diamonds,
irradiation and additional HPHT treatment are the primary color enhancement methods
used to change the color of laboratory-grown diamonds.

Diamonds grown by CVD technology tend to be more pure and transparent than HPHT
diamonds. But the majority of CVD diamonds are brownish in color when grown, and like

©
Copyright 2009 Neil Koppel 13
Earth-grown diamonds, they benefit from further processing to make them whiter or even
pink in color.

Where are Laboratory-grown diamonds made?

Producers of diamonds grown by the HPHT and CVD methods can be found in many
countries around the World. The following are some of the more notable countries with
laboratory-grown diamond manufacturing:

§ United States
§ Russia
§ South Africa
§ India
§ Canada
§ Finland

Identification of Laboratory-grown diamonds

Laboratory-grown diamonds to the novice as well to many expert jewelers is virtually
impossible without sophisticated testing equipment. However, because some diamonds may
contain a small amount of metal from their growth process (HPHT), they may exhibit an
attraction to a magnet. Other tests may include fluorescence under long and short wave
ultraviolet light and examining under UV light.

Some manufacturers of laboratory-grown diamonds elect to have their diamonds inscribed

by the certifying agency with a lasered mark with identifying details. They may also provide a
document that indicates they are Laboratory-grown and back them with a Certificate of
Authenticity. Presently, there are no governmental rules requiring manufacturers to mark the
origin of their diamonds, so working with a reputable company is crucial for your safety.

Summary of Laboratory-grown Diamonds or “Real vs. Fake”

The position by most Laboratory-grown diamond manufacturers is that they are quite
simply, diamonds… period. This has been the bane of the Earth-grown or natural diamond
industry, especially where the jewelry industry is concerned for almost half a century. From a
scientist’s point of view, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck and looks like a duck, then it
is a duck is an appropriate analogy here. Laboratory-grown diamonds, whether for jewelry
adornment or industrial applications are in fact diamonds with every benefit of their
counterparts properties except cost. Laboratory-grown diamonds are real diamonds; they
offer substantial advantages in availability, carat size and countless others to consumers who

©
Copyright 2009 Neil Koppel 14
would like to possess fine diamond jewelry or companies that use diamonds for precision
cutting instruments.

©
Copyright 2009 Neil Koppel 15
 Chapter 3
GROWN DIAMONDS… THE INHERIT GOOD & BAD

Spend Less and Get More, a New Concept.

Obvious benefits of Laboratory-grown diamonds
… to be continued.

©
Copyright 2009 Neil Koppel 16