Quote:
Originally Posted by hambone1983
it is inaccurate to say lab-grown diamonds are fake. They are 100% genuine diamonds, made by the exact same process as natural diamonds. The only difference is where this process occurs.
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This is not accurate. While I agree the outputs are physically near-identical (and the differences are irrelevant for “practical” purposes) the production process is not comparable.
Most jewelry synthetic diamonds are created using CVD methods. Simply put, layering carbon using a carbon-rich gas as the carbon source, rather than using high pressure (which is closer to replicating the natural process).
Back to whether equivalent or not, it has to do with expectations and how you define something. Is the diamond defined in part based on its formation? “A naturally occurring gemstone formed over geological-scale time periods” or simply its constituent parts and properties “carbon, compressed into a crystalline form in a tetrahedral lattice structure, with the following properties”….
If Patek replaces a “handmade” guilloche dial and swaps to one entirely automated (or even cast) that was physically identical in every single way, would the value be different and/or is it still guilloche? I believe the cast version would not be, because it is not engraved - yet assume product is indistinguishable in this example, absent a special instrument. Simply put, the process matters when the value of something is not purely utilitarian.