Gemesis

Infobox Company
name = Gemesis Corporation

type = Privately-held company
genre =
foundation = 1996
founder = Carter Clarke
location_city = Sarasota, Florida
location_country = United States
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key_people = Reza Abbaschian, Clark McEwen
industry = Diamond
products = Cultured Diamonds
services =
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homepage = http://www.gemesis.com/
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intl = The Gemesis Corporation is a privately-held company founded by Carter Clarke in Sarasota, Florida, United States. The corporation grows diamonds using proprietary technology.

During the Cold War, Soviet scientists developed diamond growth technology because diamond is the best substrate for strategic semi-conductor electronics that are less susceptible to the electromagnetic pulse of nuclear blasts. The Soviet technology was acquired by Gemesis after the downfall of the Soviet Union. The technology is no longer used for weapon development, but for gemstone production.

While visiting Moscow in 1995 someone asked retired Army General and West Point graduate Carter Clarke if he wanted to buy a diamond making machine. Three months later he visited Moscow again with the scientist Reza Abbaschian and brought 3 of the machines and also 3 Russian scientists to Sarasota, Florida. After 7 years of research and development in cooperation with experts from the University of Florida his company brought high quality diamonds onto the market.

Gemesis started marketing it's diamonds by polishing them and selling directly to jewelry retailers. In 2005 diamond industry vet Clark McEwen joined the company and change the distribution model to emulate that of natural diamond miners. The company now sells rough diamonds to polishing companies.

Carbon, in graphite form, is placed in a cylindrical "core". A tiny seed diamond is placed at the bottom of the cylinder. The graphite is subjected to extreme pressure, 850,000 lbf/in³ (5.9 MPa) and temperature, 3000 °F (1600 °C) for four days. During the period, the carbon atoms within the molten metal crystallize on top of the seed diamond. A three carat (600 mg) fancy color yellow gem quality diamond grows inside the resolidified metal cylinder at the end. The metal cylinder is then dissolved in mild acid until the diamond crystal is extracted.

With the addition or elimination of certain impurities under controlled conditions, diamonds of various color can be produced. Since nitrogen is abundant in the atmosphere, this process is more likely to produce bright yellow diamonds than any other color. The yellow tint occurs when approximately five out of each 100,000 carbon atoms in the diamond crystal lattice are replaced with nitrogen atoms. It is ironic because natural yellow diamonds often have higher value than white diamonds.

Manufacturers and Suppliers

* Diamande Jewellery
* Pintura Diamonds
* Renaissance Diamonds
* Savannah Jewellery
* Sienna Gems
* Solaura Jewelry

External links

* [http://www.gemesis.com/ Gemesis homepage]
* [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.html Wired 11/9/03: The New Diamond Age]
* [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.02/start.html?pg=6 Wired 2/07: Updata: Lab-Grown Diamonds Make the Cut]