Golcondia Cultured Diamonds-- The New Era of Real Diamonds

Diamonds In A Time Machine

Flashback to the time that only the Creator’s timepiece could measure….

Carbon deposits in the Earth’s mantle instantaneously crystallized due to crushing pressure and intense heat.  The formed crystals or rough diamonds clustered in lattices that were encapsulated inside graphites beneath the Earth’s crust for probably millions of years.   A point in history came when ultra-strong underground volcanic eruptions occurred repeatedly.  One or more of these explosions hit and carried the diamond-bearing graphites out of the Earth’s crust.  The graphites ejected the rough diamonds amidst intense speed of eruption.  The diamonds scattered and were buried within volcanic materials that spread and cooled on the Earth’s surface.    These are the diamonds that are being unearthed through mining.

Graphite rocks containing diamonds

19^th Century

In 1867, Eureka Diamond, the first diamond ever to be discovered by mankind was unearthed in Kimberley, South Africa.  It weighed 10.73 carats Thereafter, more diamonds were discovered, mined, cut and created into jewelry and industrial pieces. 

The Eureka Diamond is cushion-shaped and is brownish-yellow in color.  It has been on display n the Kimberley Mine Museum since De Beers purchased it in 1967 and donated it to South Africa, where it was discovered.

20^th Century

In the circa ‘50s, General Electric pioneered the High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) technology used in growing the diamond seeds in laboratories (lab) which mimics the condition of heat and pressure in the Earth’s mantle. 

An HPHT press

21^st Century

Global lab-grown diamond producers such as IIA Technologies (formerly Gemesis), Scio and D. NEA of the US and Deluxe Diamonds of UK trade their lab-grown gems via their websites.  In 2011, D. NEA put up a lab-grown diamond boutique in Greenville but it was short-lived.  

In 2014, Thomas Florencio and Daniela San Agustin established the world’s first brand and showroom of cultured diamonds called Golcondia Cultured Diamonds.  Golcondia cultured diamonds are also essentially lab-grown or lab-created diamonds.  However, the “cultured” nomenclature is what the company opted to use.  Apparently, the closure of the short-lived D. NEA boutique makes Golcondia the only existing brick-and-mortar cultured diamond retailer in the world. 

The brains behind Golcondia-- Daniela "Danii" San Agustin and Thomas "Tomy" Florencio

The Golcondia Cultured Diamonds Showroom is located at the Mid-Level 2/3, East Wing of the Shangri-La Plaza in EDSA, Philippines.

  

The Golcondia Showroom's entrance

Elegant wood and glass counters of fine diamond jewelry are seen through Golcondia Showroom's glass panes

Golcondia, A Diamond in the Rough

Establishing the world’s first brand and showroom of cultured diamonds is an ambitious move, owing to the popularity of mined diamonds as perpetually promoted by De Beers, Tiffany & Co, Harry Winston, among others.  Similar to cultured pearls that are already regarded in the jewelry industry as real water gems alongside its forerunner, the genuine sea-harvested pearls, lab-grown or cultured diamonds seem to encounter the same kind of resistance that Mikimoto experienced when he announced that he could grow cultured pearls.

Golcondia is driven by a noble vision, to promote real diamonds that are environment-friendly and guaranteed conflict-free.  No mining bloodshed nor child or abusive labor practices were involved in the growth of cultured diamonds.   The prime mover, Mr. Thomas “Tomy” Florencio, a third-generation diamond trader and jeweler from the Matheu-Florencio clan established Golcondia Cultured Diamonds after reconnecting with his former classmates in Gemological Institute of America who ventured into growing diamonds in Singapore.  Mr. Florencio chose the name Golcondia for the company and its brand of cultured diamonds, as a reminder that the purest forms of diamonds came from Golconda, a fabled mining region in India. 

An innovative and forward-looking spirit, Mr. Florencio did not allow himself to be stifled by the initial reaction of people that they have never heard of cultured diamonds.  Mr. Florencio went on to obtain the exclusive distributorship of cultured diamonds in the Philippines from all of the diamond growing facilities of the world.  Ms. Daniela San Agustin, Managing Director, assists and collaborates with Mr. Florencio for the sales and promotion of the Golcondia brand of cultured diamonds.

Golcondia in itself is a diamond in the rough.  Its raw vision has been unearthed from the unpopular, polished by technology and is set to shine in the jewelry industry. 

From A Tiny Seed To A Sparkling Jewelry

Mr. Florencio states that only a diamond can create a diamond.  Thus, diamond seeds are needed to begin the process for a diamond to grow.  The diamond seed is then placed in a diamond growing greenhouse, a highly controlled environment that replicates the nature’s conditions for a diamond seed to grow, atom-by-atom, in a vacuum.  The diamond growing greenhouses are state-of-the-art facilities run by highly-skilled engineers, scientists and physicists to calibrate heat and pressure identical to what occurs deep beneath the Earth’s surface. 

Similar to what happens in a typical flower greenhouse, which is temperature-controlled to make possible the growth of exotic plants all year round, it is still nature that plays the role in the growth of the plant.  Therefore, a harvest results in a variety of colors, shapes, sizes, etc.  Not one plant is like the other.  The diamond growing greenhouse’s conditions vary just like the growth of diamonds near the Earth’s core.  Golcondia has contracted independent Greenhouses, which are located in Singapore, United States, Belgium and Netherlands to supply the gems.  These Greenhouses utilize both HPHT and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) technology to grow diamonds.  It takes about 8-12 weeks to grow a diamond to the rough form and due to the natural environment effect in the Greenhouses, these have so far produced diamonds weighing from 30 points to 3 carats only.

Shown here is the chronology of what happens in a diamond greenhouse.

A diamond seed is inspected prior to growth

A highly-skilled technician mounts the diamond seed into the diamond growing machine

It takes 8-12 weeks for a diamond seed to grow into a rough diamond

Here, a rough diamond is harvested and cut prior to polishing. 

After harvesting as rough diamonds, Golcondia’s cultured diamonds go through the same supply chain as mined diamonds.  They are sent to the same diamond cutting and polishing centers located in Israel, Belgium, Russia and China.  Afterwards, these diamonds are sent to international buying offices located in Dubai, Hong Kong and United States.  Once selected, the diamonds are sent to reputable third-party laboratories such as HRD Antwerp, GIA and IGI for grading and certification.  Once certified, they are sent to the Golcondia head office where some are selected for setting into fine jewelry while the remaining loose diamonds are sold to the wholesale market.

A curious customer might say, “A diamond seed comes from mined diamonds so it might have also involved the social and environmental conflicts associated with a full-grown rough diamond”.  However, Golcondia states that they source the diamond seed from their own greenhouse.  Very minimal carbon footprint (the greenhouse facility is certified with ISO 14000, the highest in environmental standards) and an elite group of highly-skilled workforce are employed in the growing of cultured diamonds.

Is Cultured Diamond A Real Diamond?

This is the jewelry industry’s 100 Million Dollar question with a simple direct response.  Yes, it is!  A cultured diamond is a real diamond.

The only difference between a cultured diamond and a mined diamond is the point of origin, or what has been poetically called, the “origin of the rough”.  A cultured diamond grows in a Greenhouse while a mined diamond grows in the Earth’s mantle.  The former grows above the ground while the latter grows under the ground.  But in all facets of being a jewel, cultured and mined diamonds measure the same.

So, how does a cultured diamond measure up to its predecessor, the mined diamond?  The International Gemological Institute (IGI) and Gemological Institute of America (GIA) certified that cultured diamonds have the same properties as mined diamonds.

Comparative table showing the same properties of mined and cultured diamonds while the simulants  have lower properties  

Local jewelers also have attested that they cannot identify a cultured diamond from a mined diamond since both have identical measurements and properties when put under the same gem scale.

How Much Do Cultured Diamonds Cost?

The price of a cultured diamond is also dependent on the 4Cs of mined diamond:  Carat, Color, Clarity and Cut. 

Carat

Carat is the unit of weight for a diamond.  A carat is subdivided in 100 points.  0.01 equals 1 point. 1 carat is equal to 0.20 grams.

Color

Color refers to the amount of tint that occurs naturally while a diamond is being formed.  Depending on the type of impurities, a diamond’s color may range from clear, yellow, pink, blue and green.

Clarity

Clarity refers to internal features or inclusions and surface characteristics or blemishes within or on a diamond when magnified 10x under standard viewing conditions.

Cut

Cut refers to how the proportions, polish, symmetry of a diamond affect its overall appearance.  These factors determine the brightness, fire, scintillation and weight ratio of diamonds. 

In general, cultured diamonds cost less by 25%-30% from the price of mined diamond with the same 4Cs, not because it is an inferior version of the mined diamond, but because the distribution channels of cultured diamonds do not involve several change of hands that bloat overhead costs, which is usually the case in the distribution of mined diamonds.

How Do You Know You Are Getting Your Money’s Worth?

Each Golcondia cultured diamond piece comes with a Certificate of Authenticity from international diamond graders such as IGI, GIA and HRD Antwerp.  These certificates are identical to those of mined diamonds which contain the diamond grade and full disclosure of its origin.  Each cultured diamond piece is also laser-inscribed with the certificate number and point of origin.

A Certificate from HRD Antwerp

You are assured that you are purchasing a real diamond that peacefully grew and created without damage to the environment and innocent lives during production.

Golcondia also conducts workshops to educate the public on cultured diamonds.  So, a prospective buyer does not only have the chance to own a diamond jewelry piece from the world’s first brand and showroom of cultured diamonds, he also acquires or increases knowledge on gemology.  Now, that’s worth your money.  

The Prestige of Owning Golcondia Cultured Diamonds

Golcondia is categorized as a fine diamond jewelry Company that provides real diamonds through modern technology. Golcondia sets its cultured diamonds only in 18K gold to create superior quality jewelry.  It offers an array of choices from colorless (white) diamonds to the fancy-colored ones such as vivid blues, vivid yellows and the most sought-after vivid pinks.  

Golcondia Collection

The Golcondia Showroom features a collection of fine jewelry in a variety of clear and vivid-colored cultured diamonds.  

Cultured diamond fine jewelry and loose stones

The collection shown here is modeled by Vanessa Matsunaga. 

Model wears the dangling earrings made of clear cultured diamonds

The blue cultured diamond stud earrings as seen by the display window

Model wears the stud earrings made of blue cultured diamonds

Close-up view of the blue diamond stud earrings

The pink cultured diamond clip-and-pendant earrings as seen on the display shelf

A closer look at the pink cultured diamond earrings shows the dual purpose of the jewelry-- a clip earring with detachable pendant

Model wears the clip-and-pendant earrings made of pink cultured diamonds

Close-up view of the pink cultured diamond clip earrings with detachable pendant that could be worn separately

Yellow cultured diamond earrings

Since a Golcondia cultured diamond is real diamond, it also appreciates in value, hence every Golcondia diamond purchase is a smart investment.  Since the Golcondia authentic cultured diamond jewelry are priced less than mined diamond jewelry, it provides the modern buyers with the option of either using the cost savings for another important life milestone or using the total cost of a mined diamond to buy a cultured diamond that’s bigger in carat and more radiant in appearance.   

For example, a man who is buying a solitaire engagement ring with a budget of Php300,000 can get a 1 carat average grade mined diamond.  With the same budget, he can get a 1.5 carat Golcondia cultured diamond.

Golcondia, Value of A Lifetime

More than the monetary factor, Golcondia diamond jewelry is a piece of heirloom that tells a sentimental story behind it, which may be passed on from generation to generation.  Part of the story could be a statement that brags like, “this piece of diamond jewelry did not abuse the environment and did not take advantage of laborers, this is a peace-loving jewelry and I am passing it on to you.”    

Credits:

Thanks to Ms. Danii San Agustin and Mr. Tomy Florencio for the interview, professional photos and additional information.