CONTRADICTION ISSUED

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21416, 7 March 1935, Page 15

CONTRADICTION ISSUED

REPORT OF DIAMOND MANUFACTURE NOBEL COMPANY'S EXPERIMENT RECALLED [THE PRESS Special Service.] AUCKLAND, March 6. A direct contradiction of the recent story from London of the manufacture at a cost of £SO of a synthetic diamond valued at £12,000 has been received by cable message by the representatives of Messrs E. A. P. and A. Triefus, who are at present in New Zealand. Their principals are one of the largest firms oi diamond merchants in the world, and the contradiction comes from its head office. The making of synthetic diamonds has actually been accomplished at least once. Some years ago, the Nobel explosive Company succeeded in making two small stones, each the size of a pin's head, which withstood many tests whereby the authenticity of a diamond is proved; but the cost of production was £30,000. Some years ago the world was surprised to read of a Frenchman who had discovered a process of manufacturing diamonds. After forming a company and collecting considerable capital, he was arrested and sentenced to a long term of imprisonment for fraud. What he actually did was to secrete some ordinary rough diamonds from mines into his retort before demonstrating the processes of his discovery to eminent scientists. After various chemical operations, he rediscovered the diamonds. No less than 98 per cent, of the world's supply of diamonds comes irom South Africa, and the remaining 2 per cent, from Brazil. The supply is limited. Experts have forecast that, without restrictions and rationing the output from the mines, the supplies would vanish in a few years. Recently some new fields of diamonds were discovered in South Africa but they were purely alluvial, and the stones were of poor quality and of little use for jewellery. For a short while diamond interests were somewhat perturbed at the'news; but the Government speedily took control and rationed the output from the field as it does the output from all the diamond mines.