With so many diamond products on the market today—what do consumers need to know before buying that perfect diamond for their taste, budget and lifestyle? You may want to consider buying a lab grown diamond. This gorgeous stone has been around for a while, but lately its wider availability has made it a very popular option.
What do you call lab diamonds?
Lab diamonds often confuse shoppers with its many names, but it doesn’t have to. Lab grown diamond, lab diamond, created diamond, synthetic diamond, cultured or cultivated diamonds are essentially the exact same product—they’ve just been given a flurry of names that resonate in different markets.
Lab diamonds VS Natural diamonds
Let’s look at the pros and cons of buying lab diamonds. This will help you make an informed decision and have confidence in your purchase. First of all, a lab diamond is truly a diamond, not simply a lookalike, and here’s why. Natural earth mined diamonds were formed billions of years ago some 125 miles below the earth’s surface. It took all that time under conditions of extreme heat and intense pressure to transform simple carbon into the dazzling diamonds we love.
A laboratory grown diamond relies wholly on that specific recipe of creation to synthesize it in the lab. The fascinating part about lab grown diamonds is the laboratory’s faithful replication of the environment that transformed carbon naturally into a sparkling diamond. In a lab setting, a minute diamond ‘seed’ is confined to a special containment under extreme heat and intense pressure. What a lab does is speed up that natural process of creating a diamond.
Diamonds are the only gemstone composed of one single element—which is carbon. Time, heat and pressure transform this simple element into the shimmering stones we cherish. Lab diamonds exhibit the same optical, chemical, and physical characteristics that natural diamonds display. Both lab and natural diamonds are very hard, ranking 10 on the Mohs scale. They both reflect light brilliantly. Lab diamonds can be cut in the popular shapes that diamond lovers want knowing their beauty will last a lifetime. With lab grown diamonds, scientists took their cue from nature, and gave us a diamond whose creation process was sped up tremendously — just a month rather than billions of years. As GIA says, the difference between natural diamonds and lab grown diamonds, is like the difference between ice that forms outside versus in your freezer.
In the controlled environment of a lab diamond, high clarity and high color grades are also achieved. These are valuable traits one looks for when shopping for diamonds.
Why do some people only want natural diamonds?
So why do some people still prefer earth mined diamonds when lab stones are so appealing? Everyone has their own reason for the jewelry they fall in love with. Some consumers simply want the rarity that natural diamonds provide. And that’s fair. Did you know that about 250 tons of ore are moved from mines just to recover a single carat of diamonds? There’s an undeniable mystery surrounding the creation of diamonds grown miles below the earth’s surface—free from man’s intervention, and shrouded in a mystique we’ll never understand.
What’s the attraction to lab diamonds?
With lab grown diamonds, there’s another appealing story that unfolds with consumers. There’s no denying their head-turning beauty. But some shoppers are not so much influenced by the romantic history of earth mined diamonds. Rather they are dazzled by lab diamond’s glamour and knowing these stones provide an eco-friendly alternative to diamond mining itself. That’s a valid point to consider. With lab diamonds, no earth was disturbed or displaced from its eco system. And with lab diamonds, because they aren’t a rarity, their prices are very attractive. A large size high clarity and color lab diamond is far less costly than its natural counterpart. Perhaps that’s the reason why many jewelry fans collect both natural and lab diamonds. It doesn’t have to be either-or with lab diamonds. One can have natural earth mined diamonds to cherish while enjoying an opulent lab grown diamond for the sheer pleasure of wearing a stunner that doesn’t break the bank.
With all these facts in hand—you will make the decision that’s right for you. You love earth mined diamonds and remain devoted to these treasures? Great! Then you’re making the right choice with a natural diamond. Maybe you adore the pristine brilliance of lab diamonds in a larger carat size than your budget for natural diamonds—then you’ve made the best decision with a lab diamond. Enjoy both diamond types and let one speak to you. We wouldn’t be surprised if you fell in love with both earth mined and lab diamonds. They both have their own charm. For more questions or information on lab grown diamonds and engagement rings see our Lab Grown Diamond Education Page or contact us on Instagram!
