How to Make Manmade Diamonds

Use pure diamond slivers as a growth medium. Jewelry quality artificial diamonds always begin with an already existent diamond. Since diamonds depend upon carbon aligning itself in tight bonds, the presence of a diamond can serve as a template for further bonds to occur, continuing a crystallization pattern that produces diamond, rather than the similar molecular structure of graphite. Luckily, you will require nothing like a cut diamond. All it takes is a barely visible sliver of diamond material.

Surround your diamond sliver with pure carbon. While people are used to the clear white of diamonds, there are a variety of different colors, such as pink and yellow. Colored diamonds are the result of trace amounts of other elements. Just a few atoms of nitrogen can alter the way light interacts with a diamond, creating a yellow hue. As such, crafting pure diamonds necessarily involves absolute purity.

Apply tremendous pressure. A number of machines have been able to do this since the 1950's. Designed by GE and other companies, diamond presses of the past were used to crush diamond's at 50,000 atmospheres of pressure. These machines were large, utilizing 400 ton presses, and could only produce small diamonds more useful for production purposes, rather than marketable diamonds. The newest technology requires Russian built electric and hydraulic presses that condense the carbon into a sphere.

Allow time for the diamond to coalesce. If foreign contaminants are introduced, such as nitrogen, a colored stone can be made in a matter of days. However, a pure diamond of two carats or larger can take up to three weeks of constant pressure.

Hammer it open. Once your press has stopped running, popping the lid may be initially unimpressive. The diamond is likely to be covered in a film of semi-coalesced carbon. Whack it with a hammer. Don't worry, the diamond will remain totally unharmed, but you should knock away the chaff carbon.

Sell it as an artificial diamond. Unfortunately, although machine-made diamonds are exactly identical to real diamonds, the FTC has ruled that selling machine-made diamonds as "diamonds" constitutes false advertising.