"If it is a diamond, then it is a ~real~ diamond, which is the only kind."
That's true, but it is scarcity that gives diamonds their value as jewelry, isn't it? If you could pick up 15 karat stones on any beach in the world, they'd be worth about as much as sand.
And that's what the artificial diamonds threaten. Nobody's going to pay de Beers prices for something that's not scarce, so they need to create a distinction between "natural" diamonds and man made.
I like colored stones better, anyway. Those yellow diamonds in the National Collection at the Smithstonian look like crystallized p*ss to me.
Now, if you want to talk about value, I read that they're going to manufacture diamonds with (was it boron?) in them to make semiconductor chips, and they'll be able to operate at speeds that would melt silicon.
"That's true, but it is scarcity that gives diamonds their value as jewelry, isn't it?"
Diamonds are not scarce. DeBeers has tons of diamonds in Antwerp that they keep off the market.
The DeBeers monopoly was broken when the Ikati mine came into production.
Now DeBeers has to hawk their diamonds in the retail market just like anyone else.
Synthetic diamonds are like recyled oil. Are you going to put re-refined oil in your car are get it fresh from the ground?