The jewelry industry has been captivated by the allure of lab-grown diamonds in recent years as celebrities, like Jennifer Lopez and Lady Gaga, and companies like steel jewels flood the market with them. But what exactly are lab-grown diamonds? Where do they come from? And how are they better than their mined counterparts? Here’s your guide to the new celebrity obsession and why everyone wants lab-grown diamonds.
What Are Lab-Grown Diamonds?
Lab-grown diamonds are not quite as well known as their mined counterparts, but they’re on their way to becoming a household name. Manufactured in a lab through a process called chemical vapor deposition (CVD), lab-grown diamonds offer many of the same characteristics as naturally occurring ones and then some. The only real difference is their price tag.
Which will typically be anywhere from 50% less to up to 80% less than that of mined diamonds. In fact, celebrities have gotten so attached to these cultured jewels that many now prefer them over mined options when shopping for lab-grown diamond Pendants.
How are they made Diamonds?
Lab-grown diamonds are made through a method called chemical vapor deposition (CVD). In short, a machine puts a small diamond seed at high temperatures and pressures under a hydrogen atmosphere. After several weeks or months, a diamond crystal forms. Many people find them to be more beautiful than mined diamonds because they don’t have inclusions or imperfections. They’re also frequently cheaper than natural diamonds because they aren’t as highly valued in certain markets.
What are their benefits?
There are a number of benefits to choosing lab-grown diamonds. For example, a 4 CTS natural diamond will always have a yellowish to brownish tint; however, a 4 CTS lab-grown diamond can be completely clear or any other color such as blue, pink, or black.
The same is true for clarity: Due to impurities in mined diamonds and no two diamonds being alike, lab-grown diamond rings are almost impossible to find two diamonds with exactly identical clarity grades; however, each lab-grown diamond makes with identical grades for clarity.
The truth about synthetic diamonds vs. mined diamonds
The first factor affecting diamond quality is its purity. Synthetic diamonds are identical to mined diamonds, but they’re up to 99.9% pure (the remaining 0.1% is carbon). However, 100% natural, mined diamonds can have impurities as high as 4%.
This means that, if you’re spending thousands of dollars on a ring, an extra 0.1% impurity in your lab-grown diamond rings may not be a big deal compared to a 4% impurity found in natural gems that cost significantly less. While synthetics aren’t perfect (and let’s face it – perfection comes at a price), there are simply better options for less money out there than 100% natural mined gems.
How Much Do Lab-Grown Diamonds Cost?
Lab-grown diamonds are a lot more expensive than traditional ones. While they don’t technically cost ten times as much, they’re pretty close. Most lab diamonds cost between $2,000 and $3,000 per carat. While that might not sound like an outrageous amount of money to spend on a piece of jewelry.
it certainly isn’t cheap either. Traditional diamonds only cost around $400 per carat on average. Considering how much bigger those stones are, lab-grown diamonds definitely aren’t for everyone – but that doesn’t mean there aren’t benefits to spending thousands on them!
Where Can You Buy Them?
All lab-grown diamonds are not the same. Some companies use dodgy techniques to produce lower-quality stones, which can be hard to tell from genuine diamonds; others create laboratory-created melee or synthetic gemstones that don’t carry as much value. When shopping for these jewels, you want to find a company with strict quality control practices and a variety of GIA-certified diamonds on display. To learn more about these jewels, check out Stefeejewels.
While all diamonds are graded on a scale from D to Z,
Lab-grown diamonds can be even higher quality than those sold in stores. While most mined diamonds start out as low quality and receive grades of either J or K, lab-grown diamonds generally fall somewhere between SI1 and VS2.
What’s more, while a large percentage of mined diamond sales come from recycled sources (some estimates claim up to 60 percent), lab-grown diamond jewelry makes from scratch. In other words, they have no pre-existing imperfections—something that makes them a lot easier to wear on a regular basis.
Conclusion
It’s a better investment, less expensive, and doesn’t harm animals to make. It seems that celebrities really are onto something with their new obsession with lab-grown diamonds. It turns out that celebrities aren’t just born with good looks; they were also born as trendsetters. In an age when everything from clothing to food is super-sized. It makes sense that even jewelry would follow suit—after all, diamonds are forever.
