Pure Grown Diamonds Unveils World's Largest on NBC News Today & NY Post

Gemological Institute of America: Impressive Size, Shine, Brilliance

Lab-Diamonds Rival Earth-Mined Diamonds But Cost 30-40 Percent Less

Contact: Bryan Glazer - World Satellite Television News & Media Relations - 212-673-4400 / 561-374-1365

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Dec 12, 2014, 03:30 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Pure Grown Diamonds, NBC News Today and the New York Post unveiled the world's largest laboratory-cultivated white-brilliant diamond – the result of the company's just-announced 21^st Century technological achievement growing thousands of colorless, yellow and pink stones that are indistinguishable under a microscope to earth-mined diamonds, yet cost 30 to 40 percent less at www.PureGrownDiamonds.com and 25 retailers in 19 states.

Gemological Institute of America

Pure Grown Diamonds Unveils World's Largest on NBC News Today

Pure Grown Diamonds President & CEO Lisa Bissell with NBC News TODAY anchor Sheinelle Jones in Green Room.

Side-by-side: world's largest 3.04 carat & one carat Pure Grown Diamonds.

The segment reported by NBC News anchor Sheinelle Jones and produced by Michele Leone, featured Tom Moses of The Gemological Institute of America, examining the 3.04 carat round, I color, SI1 clarity, very good cut Pure Grown Diamond. He told NBC News, "I was quite impressed with the size of the lab-grown stone." He explained, "The polish, the shine, the brilliance was what one would expect to see also in a natural diamond."

NBC News Teaser

In his pre-segment "teaser" that presented a close-up shot of the world's largest Pure Grown Diamond next to an earth-mined diamond, Today Show host Matt Lauer said, "Can you tell the difference?" He continued, "The growing popularity of diamonds made in a lab -- they can save you thousands."
http://sharetv.com/watch/865211

Savannah Comparison

While comparing the just-harvested Pure Grown Diamond to a near-identical size, color and clarity earth-mined diamond, supplied by Diamonds by Israel Standard of 34 West 47^th Street, New York City, NBC host Savannah Guthrie said, "I have been staring at them all morning and I can't tell the difference. They are identical."

Anchor Jones M-O-S

That was the consensus of people featured in a man-on-the-street interview component conducted by Jones. She asked one women, "What if I told you it was 30 to 40 percent cheaper?" The woman responded, "Totally worth it, in my opinion."

Scientific Breakthrough

The nationally-televised news segment, seen by an estimated 5 million viewers, started with an interview of Pure Grown Diamonds President and Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bissell. "After 70 years of research and development, a scientific breakthrough has been achieved -- growing a laboratory diamond of gem quality."

Jones' narration continued, "We're not talking about man-made look-a-likes like cubic zirconia. Experts say lab-made diamonds have the same quality as natural diamonds."

Gem Author Concurs

Antoinette Matlin, author of a half dozen books on diamonds and a certified gemologist, told Today, "Natural diamond and lab-created diamonds are virtually the same thing." She continued, "They have the same pop; they have the same sparkle; the same durability, hardness; they weigh the same; they react to many gem tests as the same thing."

Matlin forecasted the price of earth-mined diamonds would soon become exorbitant and rare and they will be unaffordable for most consumers.

Holiday Season Sticker Shock

During December, 26 percent of all American couples who get engaged this year will do so between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, according to Brides Magazine.

"Rough diamond prices are at an all-time high – up 75 percent since 2009, due to depletion of natural resources and increasing consumer demand," explains Bissell. She is one of the few diamond industry women CEOs. "On average, men spend a quarter of their annual salaries on diamond engagement rings. This year, guys shopping for rings and other diamond jewelery are suffering sticker shock. Pure Grown Diamonds is the affordable option."

New York Post

In The New York Post, on December 11, 2014, Bissell told features editor Jane Ridley, "These are the diamonds of the future. They are revolutionary because they're sustainable and conflict-free. They're a whole new choice for eco-minded consumers."

http://nypost.com/2014/12/11/would-you-propose-with-a-lab-grown-diamond/

Diamonds by Israel Standard

Israel Standard's President and Chief Executive Officer Yinon Baruch says both stones featured on NBC News Today are from his inventory. They are a 3.02 carat earth-mined diamond priced at $40,000 and a 3.04 carat Pure Grown Diamond priced at $23,012.

Baruch's Manhattan Jewelry Row showroom stocks hundreds of Pure Grown and earth-mined stones, bracelets, earrings, necklaces and women's and men's rings. The three-generation family retailer is considered amongst the most-respected in the nation for affordability, honesty and transparency.

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend But at Huge Expense to Mother Nature

"Pure Grown Diamonds is the new affordable option for shoppers seeking value; for consumers concerned about the environmental impact of mining; for people troubled with the history of human rights violations in the mining industry and the deadly armed conflicts ignited by greed," says Bissell.

She emphasizes that incidents of violence and violations have tapered-off in recent years because of global news coverage that exposed these once commonplace incidents.

The Inventor

"Pure Grown Diamonds is about to change the landscape of the mining and jewelry industries," says Pure Grown Diamonds Chief Technical Officer Dr. Devi Shanker Misra, Ph.D.

"Mining dramatically alters eco-systems and wild habitats, unlike Pure Grown Diamonds, which are marvels of technology that do not undermine the sustainability of the environment."

Misra is a world-renowned physicist, former professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Mumbai, India. He is the inventor of the patented Pure Grown Diamond process that cultivates incredible diamonds in a Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition chamber from a small carbon seed. It takes from one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half-months to grow a diamond.

"Consumers now have an intelligent choice that ultimately preserves human life and the planet's natural resources for future generations," says Misra.

Federal Trade Commission

"Pure Grown Diamonds are not artificial or synthetic and not cubic zirconium," emphasizes Bissell.

According to the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the term 'synthetic' in reference to lab-grown diamonds, is misleading as it implies that such stones are imitations.

The only difference is that one is grown in a lab and the other is grown under the earth's crust, according to Misra.

Pure Grown Diamonds are Type IIa diamonds, which have a unique growth structure. Pure Grown Diamonds are detectible only by highly sophisticated equipment and from their laser-scribed identifications on the stones' girdles that read, "Lab Grown."

The Pure Grown Diamond Process

"Pure Grown Diamonds are cultivated at its Singapore sister company IIa Technologies' state-of-the-art facilities where the earth's process of crystalizing carbon is exactingly replicated.

A diamond seed is placed inside a low-pressure microwave chamber. Hydrogen and methane gases are introduced. A microwave generator pumps energy into the chamber that ignites a glowing plasma ball. Carbon molecules rain on the seed. Crystallization begins. The process is completed within 42 to 70 days.

The diamond is cut with a laser, polished and then certified.

On-Line & In Stores

Pure Grown Diamonds are only available for sale at www.PureGrownDiamonds.com, at its New York City showroom and at an increasing number of selected fine jewelers in these U.S. cities:

American Fork, UT: Jamestown Jewelers
Ann Arbor, MI: Lewis Brothers
Arlington, VA: Ascot Trading
Bellevue, WA: J. Lewis Jewelers
Conshocken, PA: White Marsh Jewelers
Ellwood City, PA: Blocher Jewelers
Fort Lauderdale, FL: Carroll's Jewelers
Goodyear, AZ: Osborne's Jewelers
Grafton, ND: Golden Harvest Jewelers
Kokomo, IN: Palmer's Jewelers
Las Vegas, NV: John Fish Jewelers
Los Angeles, CA: Simone & Sons
Macedonia, OH: Don Basch Jewelers
Maplewood, MN: Hoff Family Jewelers
Marietta, OH: Goldline Jewelers
Neenah, WI: A &E Jewelers
New York, NY: Diamonds By Israel Standard / Pure Grown Showroom
North Palm Beach, FL: Wilson's Jewelers / Pure Grown Showroom
Ocean City, MD: Park Place Jewelers
Palo Alto, CA: Mansoor & Gore
Philadelphia, PA: Love & Pride
Portland, OR: Mia Donna
Portage, MI: Cachet
Rochester, NY: The Gem Lab
Rock Springs, WY: Reynolds
Rutherford, NJ: Corbo Jewelers
San Jose, CA: Classic Rock
Scottsdale, AZ: Joseph Schubach Jewelers
Sudbury, MA: Precious Metals of Sudbury
St. Louis, MO: Raphael Design Studios
Temecula, CA: LA Masters
Washington, DC: Continental Jewelers

IIa Technologies

Pure Grown Diamonds is the sister company of IIa Technologies of Singapore.

Pure Grown Diamonds are cultivated in IIa Technologies' hi-tech facilities

Pure Grown Diamonds is the exclusive retailer and distributor of diamonds grown by IIa Technologies.

The company is named after the purest and rarest diamonds – Type IIa, which comprise less than 2 percent of all mined diamonds.

CEO Vishal Mehta characterizes IIa Technologies as, "A one-of-a-kind, cutting edge company, which, after years of research and development, finally achieved a revolutionary breakthrough – cultivating actual gem quality, near colorless diamonds of significant carat size."

He continues, "The company's mission is to further enhance the cultivation of high-quality, sizeable diamonds with the end-goals of marketability and commercial viability and to strive for perfecting processes for a diverse set of diamond applications."

Factoids:

Not Synthetic, Not Artificial, Not Cubic Zirconium.
FTC: "Calling Lab-Grown Diamonds Synthetic Diamonds is Inaccurate and Problematic."
Pure Grown Diamonds Cost 30%-40% Less Than Earth-Mined Diamonds.
First Successful Certified Lab-Cultivated, Near Colorless Diamonds of Significant Carat Weight
Others Have Tried and Failed. Others Offer Tiny Diamonds of Less Clarity.
3,000 + Dazzling White, Yellow, Pink Lab Grown Diamonds on Sale:
Certified .030 – 3+ carats / E-to-J Color / VVS1 – I2 Clarity.
True 21^st Century Technological Advancement.
Identical Physical, Chemical, Optical Properties as Mined Diamonds.
Indistinguishable with Naked Eye; Jeweler's Magnifying Glass Loop and Microscope.
Certified by International Gemological Institute.
Diamonds are a Girl's Best-Friend but Huge Cost to Mother Nature.
Pure Grown Diamonds Are Conflict-Free: Refers to Violent Control of Mining Regions.
Mining Previously Associated with Human Rights Violations
Rough Diamond Prices Up 75% Since 2009 (Various Sources).
2014 Holiday Season Diamond Shoppers will Suffer Sticker Shock.
Lab Cultivated Process: Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition.
Diamond Seed Placed in Chamber: Carbon Molecules Rain on Seed.
Crystallization Occurs in Six to 10 Weeks.
26% Diamond Ring Marriage Proposals Occur During December Holidays.*
25% Man's Annual Salary Spent on Diamond Engagement Ring.*
65% Brides Have Input on Ring Purchase.**
31% Brides Shopped for Diamond Engagement Ring with Future Groom.**
47% Brides Say Surprise Engagement Important Factor. **
46% Women Say They Would Help Pay for Diamond Engagement Ring***