Diamonds are nearly 1,000 times harder than quartz and 150 times harder than corundum, its closest counterpart. When sandwiched between two steel plates, a small diamond crystal can easily cut through metal without showing any significant deformation.
This unparalleled strength has driven scientists to seek ways to create synthetic diamonds, as natural ones are quite rare. The first synthetic diamonds, produced in 1880, are housed in the British Museum. However, the method used by the Englishman Hennay to create them remains a mystery. Remarkable progress was made by our Soviet specialists, who proudly announced at the XXII Party Congress:
— The government task has been accomplished! Synthetic Soviet diamonds have been created!
This means that yet another important mystery of nature has been unraveled, and Soviet science has solved a problem that scientists from many countries struggled with for decades without success.