comptometer

The market for industrial-grade diamonds operates much differently from its gem-grade balance. Industrial diamonds are valued mostly for their hardness and heat conductivity, making many of the gemological uniqueness of diamond, including clarity and color, mostly irrelevant. This assists explain why 80% of mined diamonds (equal to about 100 million carats or 20,000 kg annually), inappropriate for use as gemstones and known as bort, are destined for industrial exercise. In addition to mined diamonds, artificial diamonds found industrial applications almost right away after their invention in the 1950s; another 3 billion carats (600 metric tons) of artificial diamond is produced yearly for industrial use—nearly 25 times the mass of normal diamonds mined over the same period.

The dominant industrial use of diamond is in cutting, drilling, grinding, and polishing. Most uses of diamonds in these technologies do not require large diamonds; in fact, most diamonds that are gem-quality excluding for their small size, can find an industrial use. Diamonds are implanted in drill tips or saw blades, or ground into a powder for use in grinding and polishing applications. Specialized applications include use in laboratories as containment for high pressure experiments (see diamond anvil), high-performance bearings, and limited use in specialized windows.