Horizon 2004 Diamond Labs 2004
Top quality diamonds at knock down prices? The only catch is: these rocks don't come out of the ground, but are made in a lab. This is the promise offered by a series of recent scientific breakthroughs. For most of us, it seems we may soon be able to bejewel ourselves like movie stars. But for De Beers, the world's largest diamond trader, could this, one day, be a serious threat? Following a dodgy meeting in Moscow, retired US Army General Carter Clarke acquired some experimental diamond growing machines, originally destined for the Russian military. He created the world's first gem diamond production line, to mass produce highly prized coloured diamonds. In a secret location south of Boston, a father and son team developed a different technique. Robert Linares and son Bryant have made colourless diamonds, allegedly higher quality than those found in nature. De Beers, at vast cost, set up a new scientific division called the Gem Defensive Programme. Its goal: to find ways to tell apart their natural diamonds from these new synthetic gems. But will the new synthetics slip through De Beers detection net? And could anyone really tell the difference? Horizon tells the story of the Diamond Labs.
- Released: 2004-03-04
- Runtime: 60 minutes
- Genre: Documentary
- Stars:
- Director:
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1. The Demonic Ape 2004-01-08
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2. The Moscow Theatre Siege 2004-01-15
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3. The Atkins Diet 2004-01-22
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4. Secrets of the Star Disc 2004-01-29
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5. The Dark Secret of Hendrik Schön 2004-02-05
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6. Thalidomide - A Second Chance? 2004-02-12
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7. Diamond Labs 2004-03-04
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8. T-Rex - Warrior or Wimp? 2004-03-11
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9. Project Poltergeist 2004-03-18
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10. The Truth of Troy 2004-03-25
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11. The Truth About Vitamins 2004-09-16
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12. King Solomon's Tablet of Stone 2004-09-23
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13. Derek Tastes of Earwax 2004-09-30
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14. What Really Killed the Dinosaurs? 2004-10-07
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15. Making Millions the Easy Way 2004-10-14
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16. Saturn - Lord of the Rings 2004-10-21
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17. The Hunt for the Supertwister 2004-10-28
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18. Dr Money and the Boy with No Penis 2004-11-04
