Sonani Industries From Seed to certification and beyond

Agastya Sonani

During my recent visit to Surat, I had an opportunity to meet Agastya Sonani, Director Industries. The young and dynamic Agastya along with his elder brother Jayam and father Mahesh Sonani are carving out a distinct niche for the Sonani group in the global lab grown diamonds business. Sonani Jewels is the division of Sonani industries. Following are the edited excerpts of my conversation with him… Anil

Prabhakar

SONANI INDUSTRIES

FROM SEED TO CERTIFICATION AND BEYOND.

Mahesh Sonani

High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) is the technology used for growing diamonds in a laboratory. It is an old technology as compared to Chemical Vapor Deposition technology (CVD) that is used to grow diamonds. The acronym HPHT is thus associated with growing. Very few people know about HPHT processing that is used on natural and CVD grown diamonds to enhance their color as well as removing stress of the diamond.

We begin our conversation with the HPHT process. Mahesh Sonani is the pioneer in the Indian lab grown diamond industry. His journey started in the year 2006, when he incorporated Tenth Planet Diamond Pvt. Ltd; in Surat. They were the first to use the HPHT process in India. In the initial years they use to make grinding tools out of diamond powder. Diamond powder is made from cubic press. As technology advanced, cubic presses began to be used in growing diamonds with HPHT technology. Extremely high temperature and pressure causes the diamond to reform, adjust and improve it resulting in a better diamond.

Mahesh Sonani’s frequent visits to China and Russia for sourcing diamond powder proved to be a learning experience, as these countries had developed technology for growing diamonds for industrial purpose. The next

Jayam Sonani

step for the group was to manufacture diamond powder in Surat rather than importing it.

The company today has a patent in HPHT processing with toroidal technology. Apart from the gem quality diamonds Sonani jewels also caters to the industrial sector where diamonds are used in cutting tools and other applications. Agastya tells me that Sonani group has many firsts to their credit.

In 2010, they were the first to venture into growing diamonds using CVD technology. Over the years, the group has mastered the technical aspects in growing single crystal diamonds using microwave plasma reactors. They have also developed their own recipe for growing diamonds. The recipe is the most crucial and important aspect for successful growing of diamonds.

Sonani‘s single crystal lab grown diamond has high consistent and predictable properties and behaviour, and is used for cutting, optical, electronic and detector applications. They also supply diamond plates and blocks for many research labs throughout the world for R&D in different diamond related futuristic applications. The year 2016 was a crucial year as the company changed its name to Sonani jewels and fast tracked its expansion plan of HPHT processing and CVD growing. While the state of the art new HPHT processing factory in Surat Hira Bourse jewellery park was completed in 2019, the CVD factory doubling the earlier capacity will be completed this year. Continuous R&D efforts led to the introduction of fancy colored diamonds in Pink, Green and Blue among others. Sonani group’s vision is to become a large scale integrated manufacturer with a specialization in fancy colors and shapes. During Diwali last year, the group launched their jewellery line. A jewellery factory in Icchapore, Surat has already been operational. Within the company duties are assigned and the brothers’ responsibilities are clearly