For Release: January 14th, 2000
Nature takes millions of years to make a diamond and then stingily keeps it hidden deep underground unless perfect conditions send it erupting to the surface.
Scientists, on the other hand, need only a few hours to do the job.
Airing at 9/8 p.m. CT Tuesday Feb. 1 on KET and at 7/6 p.m. CT Saturday, Feb. 5 on KET2, Nova's presentation of "The Diamond Deception" explores the high-stakes struggle between diamond miners and diamond makers to control the world's hardest, most glamorous substance.
Equipped with ultra high-pressure machines, seeds, solvents and other top-secret tricks, diamond makers in the U.S., Russia and elsewhere are getting ever closer to producing gem-quality stones that cannot be distinguished from the natural product.
Meanwhile, the DeBeers cartel that has long monopolized worldwide diamond mining and marketing is devising ever more sophisticated tests to show the differences between diamonds formed underground and those made in a lab. They are going so far as to brand their diamonds with microscopic trademarks.
Nova "The Diamond Deception" is produced for the BBC by Adrian Pennink and is a BBC-WGBH/Boston co-production. The program is closed-captioned for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Viewers can find out about more programming on KET by visiting the KET Web site at http://www.ket.org, a Kentucky.com affiliate.
Contact: Todd Piccirilli
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