As the market for lab-grown diamonds grows, so does the debate about the pros and cons of lab-grown vs. mined diamonds. Though lab-grown diamonds have been widely available for about a decade now, it’s still a fairly new technology, and you need to be sure that you’re getting a high-quality product, especially when there are so many claims coming from advocates of both mined and lab-grown diamonds. So why should you choose lab-grown over mined? Here are a few factors to consider when making your decision.
Price
One of the most important factors driving the popularity of lab-grown diamonds is their price. There was a time, years ago, when lab-grown diamonds were actually more expensive than mined diamonds. Over the years, however, lab-grown diamonds have become increasingly affordable, and in 2022, a lab-grown diamond can cost anywhere between 50% and 70% less than a mined diamond of similar size and quality.
Size
The lower price of lab-grown diamonds has the potential to put a diamond into the hands of someone who never thought they could own one. But it also gives those with a larger budget the opportunity to purchase an even larger diamond than previously possible.
Creativity
Not only does the lab-grown revolution allow you to purchase a larger diamond; you could potentially purchase a piece containing multiple diamonds. Designers are less limited by the cost of diamonds when creating pavé designs (a large number of small stones placed close together, like paving stones), or when choosing accent stones.
Quality
There has to be a tradeoff for the lower cost of lab-grown diamonds, right? Their lower price could lead one to believe that diamonds grown in a lab are cheaper because they are of a lower quality than mined diamonds. Fortunately, that is not the case. When you buy a lab-grown diamond, you are not sacrificing quality in any way. This is because lab-grown diamonds are chemically identical to mined diamonds. Both have the same brilliance, fire, and scintillation because they are both the same substance: 99.95% carbon arranged in a crystal structure. The rough crystals are both cut into the same shapes, using the same techniques. No one, not even an experienced gemologist, can spot the difference between a mined diamond and a lab-grown diamond.
All of our diamonds come with a grading report from the International Gemological Institute, an independent organization dedicated to accurately grading gemstones and verifying their origin (mined or lab-grown) and the presence of any additional treatments. Our diamonds are sold as-grown, which means they are given no post-growth treatment to improve color.
Environmental Considerations
It’s important for us not to oversell the ethical benefits of lab-grown diamonds. Those benefits exist, but they are not as cut-and-dry as some would make them out to be. Though the diamond industry has taken steps to clean up its act both ethically and environmentally, you still might have concerns about the impact your diamond has on the climate, on the environment, and on the people who either mined it or live close to the mine. Lab-grown diamonds can be the answer to those concerns, but the consumer still has to do some work, as not all diamond-growing labs are the same.
Lab-grown diamonds are often touted as the clean alternative to mined diamonds, but it’s important for those in the lab-grown diamond industry to be transparent about these claims. It’s not always the case that laboratories use less electricity or emit less carbon per carat produced than diamond mines, but many lab-grown diamond operations are cleaner than mining operations. You can’t assume that all lab-grown diamonds are better for the environment than all mined diamonds, but if environmental stewardship is important to you, you can certainly find lab-grown diamonds grown using only renewable energy, or that use less energy overall than a diamond mine.
Cutting-Edge Science
In addition to the more tangible benefits, owning a lab-grown diamond means owning a scientific marvel. It takes millions of years for a diamond to form inside the Earth, and not every diamond that comes out of the ground is the clear, colorless crystal that is so sought-after. We can now do it in a matter of weeks, producing high-quality diamonds more consistently than nature can. Just because it comes out of a HTHP press and not a mine doesn’t make it any less miraculous that under the right conditions, carbon atoms in a molten solution can align themselves in a way that produces one of the most beautiful objects in existence.
There are so many reasons to purchase a lab-grown diamond. Which of these was the deciding factor in your decision?
