Natural or Lab-Grown Diamonds? A Guide
Three lab-grown diamonds.
At the start of 2024, lab-grown diamonds have deluged the slow-moving jewelry business with a tidal wave of change. For the first time in history, consumers have a low-cost way to own a diamond of relatively large size and high quality.
What are lab-grown diamonds? Are they real diamonds? Are they “forever”? Are they as beautiful and durable as natural diamonds? How are they different from natural diamonds? How much do they cost? Are they rare in any sense? Will they hold their value, say, six months from now? Are they more ethical than natural diamonds? Are “blood” (or “conflict”) diamonds still around?
Now that lab-grown diamonds have reached nearly full awareness in the diamond market, these questions are being asked more than ever before. Whether they are for you is your choice. Click the button at the bottom of this page for a side-by-side comparison of the similarities and differences between natural and lab-grown diamonds.
Please be warned, on the comparison page, you will find a deep dive. The story is complex and constantly changing. (I have revised this blog several times since I wrote it two years ago.) But for those of us who are fascinated by technology and the new choices it has given us, this story takes us on a journey through science, commerce, ethics, the nature of “value,” and the new choices available to us in the modern world.
First, an overview. Diamond is a remarkable substance that is essential to how we live: from the production of oil and gas, for instance, to the manufacture of cell phones, cars, and airplanes. It has supreme hardness and a great ability to conduct heat. These characteristics make diamonds so important to various industries that there has never been enough in nature to satisfy demand.
The technology to manufacture diamonds (known in gemology as “diamond synthesis”) began to be developed in the 1950s. That technology was perfected to the point that gem-quality (that is, large and fine enough to be faceted) yellow diamonds began to be produced in 1971. Colorless lab-grown diamonds finally made their appearance in commercial quantities in 2012. “Lab-grown” diamonds had arrived.
When De Beers, which has been in the synthetic diamond business since 1959, opened its Lightbox stores in 2018 to sell one-carat lab-grown diamonds to the public for $800, it startled and panicked the fine jewelry business. Were they trying to make money? Destroy the market by ruining profitability for manufacturers? Redefine lab-grown diamonds to consumers as having little or no value?
Whatever their intentions, De Beers’ move has signaled full acceptance of LGDs. This June, the luxury conglomerate LVMH, owners of Tiffany and Bulgari, announced a $90 million investment in an Israeli company that manufactures lab-grown diamonds. Many brand-name retailers, both high-end and mass merchandisers, have embraced LGDs.
So have consumers. Last Christmas season, one national retail jewelry chain sold fifty times as many lab-grown diamonds weighing in the 2.00-carat range as natural diamonds in the same size. In 2021, by one estimate, LGD’s worldwide market share was 7.5% of all diamond sales; that share is forecast to double by 2025.
Especially for the millennial population, the appeal of paying only 15% of the cost for a natural diamond of the same size and quality, or spending the same amount and getting a much larger stone, has triggered a revolutionary change in the diamond business.
The appeal of natural diamonds is far from lost. They retain a superior value proposition. Lab-grown diamonds are not rare. Because we can tell them apart, LGDs will always lack the authenticity of natural diamonds. Although natural diamonds are not investments in the sense that they provide a stream of income, nevertheless, over time, they are often a store of wealth.
To some consumers, LGDs are an ethical alternative to natural diamonds. They do not have as immediate and profound an effect on the environment as mined stones do. The history of the political, social, and economic impacts of natural diamond mining has been long and difficult, which the industry is still working to overcome. Still, many people and entire countries depend on the natural diamond industry to a degree the LGD industry cannot hope to match. Diamonds strive mightily to do good, and in many ways, they do.
If you’re considering an LGD purchase, you should know that wholesale prices for lab-grown diamonds get lower all the time, while retail prices are all over the map. It’s more important than ever to work with a gemologist-broker who is constantly studying the market to bring you the best stone at the best value. That’s what I do. I find stones for your approval, and I show you the best ones the market has to offer.
This market is still very new and quite fluid. Buyers and sellers are deciding what makes one lab-grown diamond better than another. The market is differentiating them based not only on the old quality standards but also on how they’re grown and whether they’re subject to post-growth treatment (and which laboratory report they come with). Does any of these things matter as to how a lab-grown diamond looks? I have my own opinions and am willing to share them.
Finally, you choose. I hope this detailed comparison of natural and lab-grown diamonds will help you to do that. If you have questions, please feel free to contact me.