Scientists GROW diamonds in just 150 minutes that could cost $2,000 less than real gemstones… Can YOU spot the difference between lab-created and natural gemstones?

Scientists can now produce cost-effective lab-grown diamonds that look identical to a natural diamond in just 150 minutes.

Researchers from the Republic of Korea have created small diamonds that could provide a more environmentally friendly alternative to natural diamonds.

The researchers combined silicon and a range of liquid metals with carbon gases under extreme temperatures, reducing them to carbon atoms that fused with the silicon to create the diamond.

In the US, a one-carat princess-cut diamond would cost an average of $2,500, while the lab-grown equivalent costs just $500.

Lab-grown diamonds look no different than natural diamonds to the naked eye, but because the differences are clearly visible through a microscope, they are a cheaper alternative.

Researchers mixed liquid gallium, iron, nickel and silicon in a crucible – a bowl-shaped vessel used to melt substances – and heated it to 1,877 degrees Fahrenheit. The combination of the molten metals and the gases, combined with silicon, created small crystals

Diamonds take billions of years to fully form, making them more expensive for buyers, but the lab-grown alternative can save you thousands of dollars.

To the naked eye, lab-grown diamonds look no different than the natural alternative, but under a microscope they do look drastically different. That is why there is such a big price difference.

The researchers mixed liquid gallium, iron, nickel and silicon in a crucible — a bowl-shaped vessel used to melt substances — and heated it to 1,877 degrees Fahrenheit.

The metals in the crucible were exposed to methane and hydrogen gases that dissolved in carbon gas.

When the remaining carbon gas fused with the silicon, the carbon atoms were forced to bond together, forming small crystals.

Study co-author Rodney Ruoff said silicon was the key to success, tellingly Science: ‘If we don’t add some silicon, we won’t get a diamond.’

Ruoff and his team tested the growth of the crystal after 15 and 30 minutes, but found that only a small portion of the diamond crystal protruded from the metal surface into the crucible.

The diamond had continued to grow when researchers checked after 60 minutes, but it was only after 150 minutes that it was fully formed.

Despite the major breakthrough, the crystals are still just 100 nanometers across – about the size of a typical virus – but researchers believe they will be able to improve their methods enough to eventually create larger diamonds.

“A lot of labs around the world are going to make things up,” Ruoff said.

In the US, a one-carat princess-cut diamond would cost an average of $2,500, while the lab-grown equivalent costs just $500.

If his prediction comes true, it could revolutionize the already growing diamond industry.

In 2015, lab-grown diamonds made up less than one percent of global sales, but that amount rose to about 20 percent by the end of last year.

This could be a response to the price drop, with lab-grown diamonds costing a fraction of what people would spend for a naturally grown diamond.

A two-carat round cut diamond with high color and clarity typically costs between $13,000 and $14,000, but lab-grown diamonds are a fraction of that price, costing $1,000.

‘The prices of lab-grown diamonds are falling. The reason is simple supply and demand. So many manufacturers are coming out and flooding the market with them, which is causing prices to drop,” Mehul Sompura, CEO of Diamond Hedge, a diamond price comparison tool, told me. CBS Money Watch.

“For the most part it’s hard to distinguish between the two, but it has to do with impurities, and with a microscope you can see growth patterns,” Sompura said, adding, “You won’t get your money back, that is the problem. main problem.’

Researchers aren’t sure how long it takes for diamonds to form naturally because it is not a continuous process.

Diamonds can begin to grow in the upper mantle of the Earth’s crust, but the process can be interrupted by a change in climatic conditions, including temperature, the amount of pressure placed on them, or the amount of carbon they are exposed to.

It is for this reason that diamonds can remain for millions or hundreds of millions of years before they begin to grow again.

Lab-grown diamonds could provide a long-term alternative to blood diamonds – also known as conflict diamonds – that are mined in war zones and sold to fund the ongoing war effort.

It could also replace diamond mining, which can destroy surrounding land and release harmful chemicals.

For every carat of diamond mined, nearly 100 square meters of land is disturbed and 5,798 pounds of mineral waste is created. Demand is estimated to rise to 292 million carats. Groenmatchan organization for sustainability and renewable energy.

“Diamonds are deeply ingrained in our culture,” said Paul Zimnisky, a leading diamond industry analyst. ABC news.

“I think as humans we just crave these rare, precious gems and metals. It’s not practical, but it makes us feel good.’