ABSTRACT
Due to its outstanding and unique properties, diamond is used in a multiple of industrial fields, ranging from mechanical, thermal, and optical to electronic applications. Since natural diamond is rare, expensive, and unavailable in desired sizes and shapes, the applications are fairly limited. High-quality natural diamond (colorless, flawless, >0.01 carats) is evidently used for gemstones, whereas small stones or stones having impurities and large inclusions are used in industry, for example, in drilling, polishing, cutting, and sawing applications. The estimated entire world’s production of mined natural diamonds in 2009 was about 160 million carats (equal to 32 tons), with 71 million carats thereof accounted for in industrial use [1]. The extreme hardness and high abrasion resistance of both natural and synthetic diamond make it a widely used material in industrial machining. Since synthetic diamonds cost from 15% to 40% less than naturally
mined stones, it is not surprising that man-made diamonds account for 90% of the industrial market nowadays [2]. This chapter presents industrial applications and commercial perspectives of nanocrystalline diamond, with a focus on the utilization in mechanical watch movements. Diamond deposition and further processing concepts can be mostly adapted for application in the tooling industry and for any wear-resistant surface.
