Lab Grown Diamonds - Pros & Cons

Lab grown diamonds have gained a lot of popularity in the past few years. I would say almost 50% of the bespoke commissions I do involve lab grown diamonds but like any stone, they have their pros and cons.

Pros:

Cost effective

Lab diamonds are incredibly affordable compared to their mined counterparts. Before it would be difficult for most people to have a 1.5ct plus diamond in a desirable colour and clarity. Now is possible for the large majority of buyers to have their dream diamond.

Look exactly like mined diamonds

Other synthetic stones can look very ‘artificial’ but lab diamonds look just like a natural diamond. The only true way to know if your diamond is mined or lab is to send it to a gemmological lab to obtain a lab report.

Hard wearing

They are the perfect every day stone. Like mined diamonds, they are 10 on the Mohs scale of hardness meaning they are the hardest material know to Man. So, if you want to wear your diamond every day you can! However, they may be very hard but they are not indestructible.

Cons

No long term value

Unlike mined diamond, lab diamonds don’t and won’t have a long term value. Much like a car or a boat, once bought the value depreciates.

Not as sustainable/environmentally friendly as you may think

There isn’t any mining when it comes to retrieving lab grown diamonds directly as they are grown in labs. However, the two main processes to grow the diamonds (CVD and HPHT) need raw minerals such as graphite, nickel, iron and cobalt or green house gases such as hydrogen and methane. So, there is greenhouse gases and mining involved with lab grown, you just can’t ‘see it’.

Labs Diamonds are great if you want to achieve a look that is difficult to obtain with natural diamonds due to cost and availability but I think it’s so important that consumers are properly informed. If you want to talk further about lab grown diamonds then do get in touch.