Apollo Diamond

Diamonds have always been a prized possession of those who could afford them. By wearing diamonds, a status of wealth was generated. Diamonds were a prized natural resource that couldn’t be duplicated; at least that is what people thought.

Recently, a company by the name of Apollo Diamond developed a way to “grow” diamonds. According to an article in USA Today, these new diamonds can be used to “make computers run at speeds that would melt the innards of today's computers. Manufactured diamonds could help make lasers of extreme power. The material could allow a cellphone to fit into a watch and iPods to store 10,000 movies, not just 10,000 songs. Diamonds could mean frictionless medical replacement joints. Or coatings — perhaps for cars — that never scratch or wear out (Maney).”

This type of technology would have a definite impact on the supply of diamonds in today’s economy. The supply would increase (shift to the right); causing the price of diamonds to fall and the quantity to increase.

The ultimate goal of Apollo Diamond is to promote innovation and sell these diamonds to producers of high tech products. However, to maximize profits and raise money for further research, they will sell the diamonds as gems in the short run. For those who mine for diamonds, this change in supply could be detrimental to their business. A competitor who can sell a diamond for 1/3 of the price is definitely something to worry about.

Do you think that the current suppliers of mined diamonds can compete in this environment? Will they be able to convince the buyers of diamonds that man made diamonds do not carry the same value as mined diamonds? Will diamonds lose their status among society? Only time will tell.