ericfranklin

7 ms·

1.
by ericfranklin 9y ago
The testers a typical jeweler or diamond merchant might use only identify between diamond, cubic zirconia or moissanite. They do not identify origin of a diamond. The testers that can identify a diamond's origin are quite expensive an
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by ericfranklin 9y ago
Major gemological labs can certainly identify a diamond's origin (mined or grown). There are many characteristics that can identify origin, and color or clarity is rarely used as the conclusive indicator. Here is a semi-recent study
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by ericfranklin 9y ago
Correct. The Soviet technology for growing diamonds is HPHT (high pressure high temperature). There are a handful of known producers and research facilities in the former Soviet Union that can grow diamonds, but all using HPHT. These wer
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by ericfranklin 9y ago
Even today there are only a couple places in the former Soviet Union that can grow gem-quality synthetic white diamonds. Their production numbers are far less than the output of a single mine, and the results are still rather random. Prio
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by ericfranklin 10y ago
Diamond growers try their best to keep out impurities and imperfections. Elemental impurities do add color (nitrogen=yellow, boron=blue), same as mined diamonds, and faults and inclusions do naturally happen in the process. However, at an
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by ericfranklin 10y ago
I have other comments in this thread about cost, but it basically comes down to "they cost a lot more to grow than people think", and the costs after the rough diamond is grown are basically the same as mined diamonds (cutting, gr
7.
by ericfranklin 10y ago
Yes, we can sell brand-new presses along with the IP and recipes, or can consider a JV, production contract or some similar arrangement. Otherwise, for HPHT, you can find used BARS presses, mostly in Russia. They are certainly capable of g
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by ericfranklin 10y ago
If a large enough production facility (no R&D) had nearly every growth cycle yield large enough, colorless, flawless diamonds (or close to it), the retail prices could come down more than they currently are. However, that does not refl
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by ericfranklin 10y ago
I just added this related comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13089809 TL;DR They have very similar cost structures as mined diamonds (rough [mine vs. grow], polishing, grading, etc.), plus the R&D and failure
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by ericfranklin 10y ago
They are smaller than people think. Not counting the years of R&D, one average growth cycle for one white diamond actually costs more than what mining companies typically report for their cost-per-rough-carat dug from the ground. Mine
11.
by ericfranklin 10y ago
The core science of diamond growth inside an HPHT cell is essentially the same (a diamond seed, heat, pressure and graphite). There are a lot of variations in the composition of the cell though, which can control color (brown, orange, yell
12.
by ericfranklin 10y ago
Yes. Cutting blades are in the middle of the industrial spectrum. They are generally 2-5mm in dimension and need to be grown relatively clean, but color does not matter, so they are commonly yellow or brown (those colors grow faster than
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by ericfranklin 10y ago
We do sell online: https://d.neadiamonds.com They are 100% real diamond, just grown instead of mined. A typical jeweler cannot conclusively identify a diamond's origin, however gemological grading labs with more advanced e
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by ericfranklin 10y ago
The core HPHT technology was originally developed by Soviet research institutions. After the fall of the Soviet Union, this information basically became public domain. It took decades of incremental improvement to get the diamonds up to j
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by ericfranklin 10y ago
For HPHT, there are three primary machine designs, but they all create intense heat and pressure, and dissolved graphite slowly builds up on a diamond seed (<1mm). 1. BARS press. It is a Russian design from the 1980s capable of up to 2-
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by ericfranklin 10y ago
They all need polished into their final shapes (round brilliant, princess, pear, anvil, etc.), or can be sliced into plates, cubes or cylinders with lasers. HPHT (high pressure, high temperature) grows from a tiny diamond seed (<1mm) and
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by ericfranklin 10y ago
Gemstone and high-value industrial. Industrial diamonds fit into a couple different levels. Low-grade diamonds are made spontaneously by the ton, mostly in China. They are generally small (<2mm) with poor color and clarity and are use
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by ericfranklin 10y ago
I've been running a lab-grown diamond company since 2005. I'd be happy to answer any questions in the morning.
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by ericfranklin 12y ago
I've seen the induction loops "presence" sensors too. One near where I used to live would never change to green unless the sensor was triggered, but wouldn't register until your car was beyond the crosswalk, nearly in t
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by ericfranklin 12y ago
Yes, I suspect major cities already have complex and optimized traffic routing, along with full-time traffic engineers. The mid and small cities are what I experience most, but I suppose these also have less traffic, so less need to be ful
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by ericfranklin 12y ago
Traffic lights. While not directly personal or "Internet of Things", traffic lights could really use some AI. It would be fantastic if they could learn routine traffic patterns (rush hour, weekends), detect flow (green light, bu
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by ericfranklin 12y ago
If looking only at jewelry-quality diamonds, there are millions of carats of diamonds mined per year, while there are generally thousands of carats of diamonds grown per year. In that regard, lab-grown white diamonds are much more rare
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by ericfranklin 12y ago
As a producer of synthetic diamonds ( http://d.neadiamonds.com ), I can say the production costs for jewelry-quality diamonds are not as low as people seem to think. It is one thing producing brown/yellow diamond powder&#x2F
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Russia plans to abandon International Space Station in just six years(mercurynews.com)
2 points by ericfranklin 12y ago|0 comments
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by ericfranklin 12y ago
While this looks like progress, and a potential path for graphene production, it still seems a long ways off from commercial viability. Diamonds went through a similar hype. It may be technically possible to make diamond with a torch or e
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by ericfranklin 13y ago
"We'll replace glass with sapphire crystal. A material so hard, you'll need diamonds in your pocket to leave a scratch" I got a laugh from this because the back of my iPhone 4 had a few big scratches in it literally fro
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by ericfranklin 13y ago
If you are already logged in to an account with Dragon running, will it let you dictate into system password boxes (OS X Dictation does not when I tried it)? If so, having the computer auto-login on boot to a secondary account should accom
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by ericfranklin 14y ago
I had the same "Leai ndot" impression of the blog logo, though felt it was more legible on your homepage. Maybe connect the post and dot with a bar, or remove some of the spacing. Make the "o" a solid dot instead?
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by ericfranklin 14y ago
Same thoughts here on the web context of dot spelled out. However, that is an easier hurdle to overcome than the difficult pronunciation/spelling of your former name, as long as you write it as "Learndot" instead of "Learn." Once people l