Can Diamonds Made In A Lab Replace Natural Ones? | Rise And Fall

For years, diamond-mining companies advertised their gems as symbols of love and romance. But hiding behind that narrative was an industry linked to conflict, corruption, and colonialism. Now, diamonds can be grown in a lab at a fraction of the cost. So is this the future of diamonds?

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[pitervain]

Lab is chemically, physically, optically the same as natural. It is designed and engineered in a lab, which to me is very impressive. After spending ten thousands of dollars on jewelry for my wife over the years (Natural diamonds), I came across a factory on Reddit who sells lab diamonds (For like 50% off the market price), I purchased her an amazing tennis bracelet, Even big brands such as James Allen are selling lab diamonds 90% of the time, more and more people understand that natural diamonds are mostly a marketing gimmick. diamonds are not actually all that rare. Their value comes from the DeBeers being able to control their flow into the market

[nikhilstephen]

I'm from south Africa and I'm glad that the mining conditions of workers are being made well aware.

[kpkxgtj]

Man-made diamonds would be an easy substitute for natural diamonds if they were significantly cheaper than they currently are. Moissanite on the other hand is a great replacement for diamonds - extremely affordable, very shiny, almost as hard, available in multiple colours, and the quality only keeps getting better.

[marcuscarana]

Diamonds are crystals. Ice is also a crystal. If you don't consider lab grown diamonds as real diamonds, then you don't consider fridge ice as "real" ice because it didn't crystalize naturally.

[lanycera]

I never understood the hype for diamonds. There are many, many more gems that truly outshine and are so much more beatiful - including opals! Even salt & pepper diamonds are way more interesting, and they're considered "flawed".

[epreston]

My diamond ring is lab grown, and it was a decision my fiancé and I made together. It's as clear and sparkly as a natural diamond that would be out of our price range. I kind of like that lab grown diamonds are making the diamond much more accessible.

[rololoy]

My family owns 3 jewelry stores and I can tell you diamonds are the biggest scams ever pulled on people.
We received a few samples of lab grown diamonds recently and are considering to switch our entire supply from natural diamonds to lab grown but that’s the easy part because most our clients think lab grown diamonds are fake or not as good and prestigious as the mined ones so it’s slow process because of the risks involved.

[marcmckenzie]

Before seeing this video De Beers had achieved a permanent negative brand with almost everyone I know. Now that I’ve seen this, not only is there no way in hell we’d buy from them, we will now only support open market purchasing of man-made gems. It is nuts to pay more for a product because it is defective. If you want imperfection for esthetic reasons, buy hand made rugs and pottery.

[jessicawood]

In my teens, in the early 2000s, I had mentioned to several people that I would never want a diamond engagement ring; rather I’d choose sapphire or something with color. Every single person I mentioned this to gave the same reaction: I was told I was silly, stupid, or crazy as they rolled their eyes.
While window shopping in a franchise jewelry store, I made this declaration of not caring for diamonds. The clerk didn’t even have a response, & said gemstone rings aren’t available in the engagement ring selection.
Now, I see gemstone engagement rings everywhere!

[joeblack]

It has irritated me for a long time that so much of the Diamond craze is so utterly contrived. Diamonds are cool. They are even useful.
But they are not worth the trouble the exploitation of the global sourcing and marketing has caused.

[johnnyonthespot]

I almost married a gal about 35 years ago and she was into Diamonds in a big way which obviously made me
interested in them, however, we absolutely looked at these rocks very differently and I find it fascinating the
conversation I would have with this girl if she were alive today about these rocks.
I wish you were still here Susie.
I would love to have that argument with you 1 more time.

[kwidzius]

I've worked in the jewellery industry for the last 6 years. If people/consumers knew only a tiny friction of what I know about the industry they would stop buying jewellery all together.

[yerlee]

I never thought about getting a diamond when my husband was planning to propose bc they're crazy expensive, but after finding out my ring is lab grown, I couldn't be more happy bc I feel better about ethics and price. He did well 😂

[scratch]

I’m a gemologist and have been working in the diamond industry for twenty years. I can say that there is absolutely no difference between lab grown and mined diamonds.

[rachelreeves]

As someone who works in fine jewelry sales in a very low to middle income area (or high income blue collar who isn't interested in but a few very special pieces of jewelry), my lab grown sales have increased a lot in the last two years, and our selection has increased about three-fold from when I first started my current job in '19.

[sprig]

Truth is yes if they're given or percieved to be value. Once people are prepared to pay what is perceived or accepted as a quality stone you have a market. Swarovski after all is glass cut in a particular way.

[thekingtroll]

I remember an old 60 minutes episode about diamonds from YEARS ago. Russia was in need of a lot of stuff but had a hard time buying it. Medicines, etc. They showed a warehouse full of diamonds and the reporter asked why they didn't sell them. They were told if they sold all those diamonds on the open market that children would be playing with them like jumble jacks in the street. Diamonds are kept high priced and it's a sham in my opinion. They are worthless.

[BAstudios]

I offered my wife any stone she wanted on her engagement ring, I told her about conflict diamonds and I told her about other rare stones and she has a Tanzanite on her ring. She loves it and never looked back, guranteed conflict free.

[ethan]

its crazy how we overvalue a stone whose best use is in industrial applications. in reality, diamonds should be around the same value of other gems like ruby and emerald. as a result, alot of the conflict in africa could and would have probably been avoided. on the other hand, gold is limited by its carat and the value added by the labor of jewelry, we have created a scenario where diamonds don't follow this as people overpay for "imperfections" and other insignificant characteristics

[cinemaipswich]

When Australia found diamonds in it's north west lands, De Beers wanted to buy them. They said no, because Australian Trading and Commerce laws prohibited geographic monopolies. After this announcement, the price of De Beers stock market shares went down by 30%. Australia has a large range of colored diamonds.