lostonearth35 wrote:
Does this mean diamonds will get really cheap now? Which they are are, actually, but the diamond industry has brainwashed us into believing they're really rare and valuable.
Also I doubt the diamonds come out of volcanoes looking all polished and dazzling like the ones in that second image.
If the diamond monopoly was broken and all the flawless cut diamonds were dumped on the world market at one time, it has been estimated that the going price for a 1 carat cut diamond would drop down to $10. It would stabilize at that price due to demand. You can buy them below that price, but they will not be in one piece. Very large (30+ carats) flawless diamonds would still be expensive.
Side note: I have 5.005 carats of real diamonds in my office that I bought for my own research purposes. Grand total cost to me: $38. The diamonds are quite small and have inclusions, so they are not in high demand. I am fine with them because I am only interested in using their surfaces for a particular catalytic reaction process. The smaller size works in my favor because it increases the net surface area for the amount I have. The best part is that I will only need a few per reaction, so the amount I purchased will last a very long time. I could reuse them, but it would take more time than they are worth.
I spent more for 1 gram of Buckmeisterfullerenes (C60) than I did for 1 gram of diamonds. The buckyballs were $120/gram. They are allotropes of the same element, but with different structures and hybridization.