The rise of lab-grown diamonds has been rapid. Christoph Spitzl’s company specializes in the synthetic production of diamonds. On the one hand, it produces high-quality jewelry diamonds in Switzerland, and on the other, it aims to tap into new business areas in the tech industry near Bonn. Together with Trumpf, the global market leader in lasers, it aims to revolutionize semiconductor manufacturing.

The established diamond industry, on the other hand, is fighting for survival. Dieter Hahn from Germany’s oldest diamond cutting workshop and many others in the gemstone town of Idar-Oberstein must reinvent their companies if they are to weather this transformation. Take, for example, the Giloy family’s diamond jewelry business. They deliberately focus on “real” gemstones, even for those on a tighter budget.

The film explores questions whether synthetic diamonds an alternative to expensive gemstones and whether our computer chips will soon be made of diamonds.