If you’re undecided about whether to have lab-grown diamonds or natural diamonds in your jewelry, here are some helpful tidbits. The decision need not be hard or earth-shattering. All you need a is a little bit of knowledge to help you out.
First, I need you to know that lab-grown diamonds are still diamonds. From a chemical/material standpoint, there is no difference. Water is a great substance for comparison here. H20 is still H20 whether it comes out of your kitchen faucet or a mountain stream. Same with diamonds. Whether that diamond is grown in a lab or grown in the earth, it’s still a diamond.
Second, There’s really only two ways to tell the difference between lab-grown diamonds and natural diamonds.
1. Some lab-grown diamonds are now being laser engraving with and “LG” on the girdle of the stone (that thin band that comes to a point between the top and bottom of the stone). In fact, almost all reputable companies are now engraving their lab-grown diamonds.
2. Look at the diamond under a microscope. Natural diamonds have trace amounts of nitrogen in their chemical composition (which they get from the earth’s atmosphere). Lab-grown diamonds have no nitrogen in them because they are made in a controlled, laboratory environment.
Lastly, there are some key differences between the two types of diamonds that you should be aware of in order to make your decision. And I’ve broken those differences down into Pros and Cons to make it easier for you to see the difference and decide on which diamonds are best for you.
LAB-GROWN DIAMONDS
-PROS:
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Price: lab-grown diamonds cost up to 55-75% less than their natural counterparts.
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Quality: since these diamonds are grown in a lab, their quality is “controlled.” They have little to no inclusions (the black spots that you may see in natural diamonds), and they all usually have high clarity ratings.
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More Environmentally Friendly: these diamonds come out of a lab, not the earth. So, these stones don’t hurt the planet through a mining process.
-CONS:
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Less Personality: since all lab-grown diamonds are grown in a controlled environment, they don’t have the same “personality” as natural diamonds… they don’t fluoresce (have a florescent flash under some artificial light) and they don’t have inclusions (those same black spots I just mentioned). Some people really value these qualities because they make the diamond more personal and unique.
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Less Investment Value: since these diamonds cost less, they do not hold their value as much as natural diamonds. And they do not have as much value on the secondary market… meaning if you decide to sell them to another buyer in the future, you will receive less money in the sale.
NATURAL DIAMONDS
-PROS:
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Huge Investment Value: investing in a diamond is almost like investing real estate. A natural diamond will hold its value and even appreciate over time as long as you invest in a good quality diamond.
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More Personality: all those inclusions and strangely colored flashes in the stones can only be created by Mother Nature. This gives the stone more personality and more uniqueness.
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Easier to Identify: if you have a stone with a unique inclusion, it can be easier to identify if it is ever stolen.
-CONS:
- Price: natural diamonds can be as much as 55-75% more money than their lab-grown counterparts.
- It Takes More Education to Purchase a Quality Natural Diamond: I’ve taken the guesswork out of the equation for you by only putting top-quality natural diamonds into my designs (if that’s what you choose). But, when you’re buying a diamond specifically for investment purposes, you need to know your 4Cs of diamond buying (Color, Cut, Clarity, and Carat Weight) inside and out!