Interesting article from smithsonian.com about the growing success of companies to synthesize in the lab gem-quality diamonds indistinguishable from natural stones.
Normally I’d roll my eyes at technologists trying to recreate something natural, but I’ll make an exception in this case. The De Beers cartel has successfully hoodwinked the world into believing that diamonds are rare and expensive (with that concomitant malarkey about three-months’ salary for a ring), and many workers’ lives have been ruined or lost in perpetuating these myths. If lab-grown diamonds eventually pop the De Beers bubble and make diamonds as cheap as costume jewellery, I give the natural diamond industry a Nelson Muntz “Ha ha!” (sorry, Canadian diamond companies.)