CBS 5-San Francisco
(CBS 5) SAN FRANCISCO A flawless diamond can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but a San Francisco man has discovered a controversial way to manufacture real diamonds that are sold for a fraction of the price. Decades ago, Tom Chatham's father figured out how to mimic conditions miles below the earth's crust where natural gems form. Since then, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires have been created in labs. Now Chatham is pulling a new creation from the laboratory lava: rare-colored diamonds. Minerals are mixed under high pressure and intense heat inside computer-controlled ovens. "Hardness, gravity, index, refraction -- everything you measure a gemstone by -- is identical," said Tom Chatham. Molecule per molecule, these colored diamonds are exact clones and are sold for a fraction of the cost. A ring containing 1 carat of pink, Chatham-created diamonds costs $3,000. With naturally occurring diamonds, the ring would cost $30,000. But you won't find Chatham's gems at Shane, a big-name diamond jeweler that is is running radio advertisements aimed at steering Valentine's Day shoppers away from synthetic gems. And while Wal-Mart and QVC carry man-made gems, The Jewelry Exchange, one of the largest diamond importers in the United States, won't be selling them. "Bottom line, they don't have value. It's a controversy for the industry. It's not something we care to sell or discuss," said Manal Arikat, manager at The Jewelry Exchange in San Bruno. Arikat said selling Chatham-created diamonds would "confuse the shopper." Strict regulations require sellers to disclose whether gems are man-made or natural. But that doesn't always happen, according to professional gemologist Antoinette Matlins. With more labs involved in producing high-quality synthetics, Matlins said the industry is concerned that smaller man-made gems are flooding the market, priced as naturals. "If you are offered one without a document, the alarm bells should sound loudly," Matlins said. Concern and opposition are also coming from worldwide natural diamond producers, Chatham said. "We were definitely threatened," he said. "they went so far as to have us banned in Israel, where a lot of diamond is traded." But it's the $60 billion industry's moneymaker -- the colorless diamond -- that many say is most threatened by synthetics. Chatham is among the first to grow them, and as production costs come down, he plans to bring them to market. "There will be demand. They will become popular as the diamonds become available, and the market will expand in this area," Matlins said. The synthetic colorless diamond will get a rating, Matlins said, unlike cubic zirconia, which is a diamond look-a-like. "A synthetic diamond is a diamond, physically and chemically a diamond," she said. Chatham is selling his synthetics at small jewelry stores almost as fast as he's making them. "We are not trying to cheat anyone," he said. "We are making a better product for our consumers, a more affordable product."
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