Once the chemists and engineers have finished analyzing, the diamond is pressurized.

Along the walls of the factory are pressing chambers, nearly completely filled by a monstrous six-piston press.

Each piston, about 2 feet across, will come together to compress a small rectangular box made of special heat-insulating material about 2 inches wide and 3 inches tall. Inside the box is a cylinder that holds the diamond.

The pressurizing — with pressure comparable to taking the Eiffel Tower and turning it upside down on one point — takes about 10 minutes. The diamond, with its new color, is then cut free from the slightly squished chamber, repolished and sent back to the wholesaler. The company doesn't have a store and will probably just work on selling to already established retailers.

But this million-dollar diamond business that began in earnest in 2003 is only a sliver of the work going on at the factory at 1260 S. 1600 West in Orem.

Nearly 600 employees stay busy with US Synthetic's primary item of sale — diamond cutter bit inserts for drills used in oil and gas exploration.

Synthetic, or man-made, diamond powder is heated to nearly 1,500 degrees Celsius to form small discs, ranging from 5 mm to 25 mm. The disc is then attached to a tungsten-carbide base, which can be melded onto a drill head.

The company is quick to point out that although their drilling business uses synthetic diamonds, everything in the gem side is 100 percent real.

"The synthetic diamonds we create, the natural diamonds we enhance," Modersitzki said.

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E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com