Carved single-crystal diamond rings are rare, with few examples to reference. But with advancing technology in the laboratory-grown diamond industry, the creation of solid faceted diamond rings is now a reality, GIA reports.
Recently submitted to the New York laboratory was a 4.04 ct single-crystal laboratory-grown diamond ring. The 3.03 mm thick band had an inner diameter of 16.35–16.40 mm and an outer diameter of 20.32–20.40 mm. The ring was produced by Dutch Diamond Technologies in collaboration with the Belgian jewelry store Heursel, established in 1745.
This laboratory-grown diamond ring was cut from an 8.54 ct plate grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Laser cutting produced a near-perfect circular ring, as demonstrated using digital imaging analysis to measure its inner and outer circumferences.
Manufacture of a solid single-crystal diamond ring is a very complex and challenging process. Once material is removed from the crystal, very fine fractures and imbalanced strain can have severe consequences and the ring can shatter.
Creating the single-crystal laboratory-grown ring involved about 1131 hours of processing (including pre-grinding) in the Dutch town of Cuijk, followed by 751 hours of polishing in Belgium.
The solid laboratory-grown diamond ring was studied by GIA and specified with a VVS2 clarity based on dark non-diamond carbon pinpoint inclusions (growth remnants typical of CVD-grown diamonds) with good polish (polishing on the interior surface of the ring precluded very good).
Although the ring is a near-perfect circle symmetry was considered not applicable. The diamond has a high color based on GIA’s color grading scale. The ring was laser inscribed “Laboratory-Grown” on a side facet.
The quality and size of this solid diamond ring are a great example of the advancing technology in laboratory-grown diamonds and changing trends in the jewelry industry. This is the first time a GIA laboratory has examined a colorless diamond ring fashioned entirely from a laboratory-grown diamond.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished
