I think the largest disclosed un-certified gem right now is a 155 carat diamond. Which, sure, it’s a big gem. But if it was possible to make unreasonably large gems, we’d be seeing one-piece emerald kitchen counter slabs on the market right now and people with enough means would be making gemstone windows.
So, why is the largest synthetic gemstone still ‘only’ palm-sized? Is it a matter of scaling the size of equipment? The cost of materials? Some inherent fragility in the gems once they reach a certain size?
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The answer to any, “We have the technology, why doesn’t it exist?” question is almost always, “Because no one actually wants it.” (Or more accurately, “No one wants to pay for it.”)
Like, you assume that *surely* some eccentric billionaire out there would pay any sticker price for a comically huge lab-grown gem, but like, *would they, really*? It does have to compete with all the other stupid crap they could buy instead, like a yacht, or investing it somewhere it will grow and make them even more money.
Also, this isn’t Minecraft. You can’t just build a countertop or a window pane out of diamonds and expect it to perform those functions well. Whether a gemstone has the correct strength properties to maintain being machined into that shape and stay there, hold up against forces like people leaning against or sitting on it (for the countertop), hold up against wind and rain battering against it, whether it meets energy emission standards (for the window), or even just a question of if the gem can be mounted in those places due to its own weight… there’s a lot of open questions, and all the while trying to justify them you have the nagging question over your head of, “And why exactly did I not just go for the material that already exists, is significantly cheaper, is more widely available, and works better in every way?”
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