The cover story of the September Wired magazine hits straight to the DeBeers diamond cartel jugular. Two U.S. startups are manufacturing diamonds. And these aren’t the ol’ tiny crystals suitable for coating drillbits and sawblads. These are gem quality, perfect diamonds. So perfect, in fact, that some jewelers look for a lack of flaws to distinguish them from natural ones. Gemesis is starting with yellow diamonds which are faster to create than white, and offering gems weighing up to three carats. Their technology comes from Russia; the same machines you may have seen on a Nova’s “Diamond Deception” episode. Apollo Diamond is growing diamonds with a process called chemical vapor deposition. While both companies are dealing with the gem market, their eyes are firmly on the real long term prize: diamond computer chips. The high thermal conductivity of a girl’s best friend means that diamond semiconductors are on the horizon.