About Natty vs Lab…
We are often faced with the question by clients whether to go for a lab-grown diamond or a natural diamond. I may be a bit biased as a passionate diamanteer, but still we need to look at all the different factors before making this decisions
edited by Angelique Gous
Main Difference
How are they made?
Both Lab-grown diamonds and natural diamonds consist mainly of carbon. With natural diamonds having traces of nitrogen mainly, but other elements can be found in coloured diamonds.
Natural diamonds were formed billions of years ago under extreme heat and pressure under the earth’s mantle and brought to the surface by volcanos and tectonic plate shifting.
Lab-grown diamonds are grown in the matter of days using a “diamond seed” under replicated conditions called HPHT (high pressure, high temperature) treatment. Lab-grown diamonds have been commercially available to consumers for approximately 5 years now.
Appearance
In terms of appearance with the eye you will struggle to tell the difference. Usually to determine between lab-grown and natural diamonds a laboratory test will need to be done or a skilled gemologist with the right equipment will be able to test for natural or lab-grown.
Value & Investment
At the end of the day this is what people usually base their decision on, but there are quite a few factors you must consider first.
Lab-grown diamonds when they started in the commercial sphere were on average 30-40% cheaper than the natural diamond equivalent. On average a middle quality 1ct natural diamond will cost around $6000-7000 with the lab grown counterparts being priced at around $3000-4000 up until the end of 2018.
With lab-grown diamonds not having a ceiling to their supply and more manufacturers entering the market has caused the price of lab-grown diamonds to drop substantially with the average quality 1ct now available from $200-800.
For initial consumers who purchased at the $3000-4000 mark this obviously has left them feeling cheated. It has given the lab grown diamonds the same stigma as a synthetic or fake diamond.
Natural diamonds purchased at a main street retailer also do depreciated sometimes as much as 50% right after purchase. However, if you spend time sourcing your natural diamond from a retailer that sells at fair market price, your diamond will always hold in value and be resalable or tradeable, even grow in value. This can’t be said for lab-grown diamonds as most jewelers and traders won’t want to buy in your lab grown diamonds.
Ethical Sourcing
Ethical sourcing has always been a concern for the consumer and reassurance is needed that no human rights abuses take place during the sourcing of not only the diamonds, but also of the gold. In South Africa our track record is excellent when it comes to ethical sourcing and under new regulations artisanal miners now have the opportunity to mine for diamonds and make a living for their families and communities where previously only big corporates could mine. This means in many ways buying diamonds in South Africa from factories that source from small miners is giving an opportunity to impoverished communities.
The human rights abuses seen in the diamond mines in central and northern Africa have brought about the Kimberley process that bars those diamonds from entering the market. Of course, they often still do enter the market, but this is where buying from a reputable and trustworthy company comes into play. Be wary of cheap underpriced diamonds and online traders with no credentials.
Carbon footprint
Many believe that lab grown diamonds are “green diamonds” and environmentally friendly, but it must be taken into consideration that to manufacture these in a factory requires immense amount of energy as you are recreating earths most incredible phenomena being a volcanic eruption.
At the moment there is no conclusive study yet on a per carat basis which emits a higher carbon footprint when compared to a large-scale mining operation.
What is certain though is that small scale mining and artisanal mining on a per carat basis emits far less carbon dioxide when compared to lab grown diamonds.
In Conclusion
If you are looking to just buy something for the flashiness of the diamond without the price tag consider Moissanite or Cubic Zirconia as these are even cheaper options to lab grown diamonds. If you are looking for something to hold or grow in value in the future natural diamonds will still be your best option.
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