Gemesis had the world's largest facilities for both the high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond production methods.
In Gemesis' process, a yellow gem-quality diamond up to 3 carats (600 mg) in size would grow inside the resolidified metal cylinder.
Available in the purest Type IIa colorless and rare fancy yellow colors, the company's diamonds have basically identical chemical, optical and physical characteristics as the highest-quality mined diamonds and can also have the same type of cut, color and clarity for gemstone purposes.
Gemesis was founded in 1996 by Carter Clarke, a retired United States Army brigadier general.
The company announced in November 2010 that it planned to begin offering gemstone-quality colorless diamonds for sale on the internet, and ultimately launched its website to do so in March 2012.
[14] The company was heading toward bankruptcy in 2010 when diamond industry businessman Jatin Mehta stepped in with an investment of $US8.4M in exchange for a controlling interest in the firm.
"[11] Jatin Mehta then reportedly suggested it was possible that Bhansali "had misappropriated stocks held previously by the partnership" or that "some people who had left Gemesis … might have stolen our technology and are thus producing our typical Gemesis characteristic goods", and showed that the Su-Raj parent company (a large publicly listed company based in India and also known as Winsome Diamonds or Jewellery USA[15][16]) had taken some steps to sever its ties with its New York subsidiary (although the degree to which the separation had taken effect was unclear).
Lux said that internal issues at the company and "distractions" (speculated to include the reports of undisclosed synthetic diamonds) had recently made it difficult for him to focus on his goals for building the business.
[15] Disputes over the incident lasted until at least 2017, when Su-Raj filed a complaint with the Supreme Court of New York against its broker, Sterling Diamonds, Inc.[19] Gemesis created the world's largest lab-created diamond in April 2013, broke that record in November 2013, and then broke the record again in July 2014.
[4] In June 2014, Gemesis named a new CEO, Lisa Bissell, and re-branded itself as "Pure Grown Diamonds".
[8] In the wake of the company's restructuring, Jeweller magazine reported that "Gemesis' rebranding and its strong emphasis on transparency could be perceived as an effort to dissociate from previous speculation and confusion."