What You Need to Know Before Buying a Lab-grown Diamond?

As anyone who has bought an engagement ring can tell you, diamonds are expensive. However, the tradition around giving them to a significant other as a symbol of love may be tough to crack, as it is as deeply embedded in Western culture as the precious stones once were in the ground.

But what if there was another option? No, not cubic zirconia, but a gem that is chemically, physically and optically exactly the same as a mined diamond – only a lot cheaper.

If you if that’s what you’ve been waiting for, you’re in luck.

According to Donna Hawrelko, the president of the Canadian gemological association, the production of lab-grown diamonds has gotten to the point where the precious crystal are on par with their mined counterparts, in terms of carats and quality.

“The only difference is the ones that are mined are created by mother nature, the ones that are man-made are made by us through a couple of different methods,” she told Yahoo Finance Canada.

In fact, one of these methods, chemical vapour deposition, creates “cleaner” stones as they’re made in a sealed chamber where dust and other particles, called inclusions, can’t get mixed into the process.

While this doesn’t result in a diamond that looks any different to consumers, natural stones with fewer inclusions are more valuable. However, gemologists are able to distinguish the gems based on these differences in inclusions.

Lab-grown diamonds are your wallet’s best friend

They’re also significantly cheaper.

As a general rule, Hawrelko said synthetic diamonds should be about 20 to 30 per cent less expensive than their peers that were mined.

But, she added, the best bargains can be had if you’re looking for coloured diamonds.

Hawrelko said lab-grown coloured stones are “far cheaper.” She said a natural one that costs $1 million can likely be had for about $10,000.

“If they want colour, that’s the only way to go, because, personally, I think $1 million a carat for a pink diamond or red diamond … is ludicrous,” she said.

And consumers can expect those prices to drop even further.

Hawrelko said that it “won’t be long” before lab-grown diamonds retail for less than half of their current price, as the market becomes flooded by gems created in China and Russia, and technology improves.

A 2016 report found that the global synthetic diamond market was worth US$15.7 billion three years ago — including those produced for industrial purposes and gemstones — and predicted that it would grow by nearly 100 per cent over the following eight years.

Hawrelko compared it to the depreciation of cubic zirconia, which she said was initially valued at $100 a carat on the market, but now is only worth $1 for the same amount.

And prices of lab-grown diamonds have already dropped significantly. Hawrelko said when she first started working as a gemologist 25 years ago, they were more expensive than mined diamonds.

“They were just something of awe that you saw at a conference that you could hold. They were really not for production and they were costing more than natural,” she said.

“It’s really come full circle – naturals are far more expensive.”

Earthly sins

The other appeal to synthetic diamonds is that they don’t have the same dark past shared with many of those that have been dug from the earth.

Precious stones created in a lab don’t have ties to conflicts and forced labour like “blood diamonds.”

Synthetic diamonds are also removed from the environmental impacts of mining.

Love may be eternal, but not the value of a lab-grown diamond

The one major flaw to swapping out a lab-grown diamond for a mined one, is that, according to Hawrelko, they don’t appreciate in value.

So if you’re not sure love is eternal, maybe opt for a natural stone.

The aforementioned factors that will cause the price of lab-grown diamonds to fall, will do the same for their resale value.

Even though the two precious stones may be exactly the same, the increasing access to those grown in a lab, and the difficulty in digging up those found underground,  makes mined diamonds a lot more precious.

“The availability of mined diamonds is always at risk at any time,” said Hawrelko.

“There are lots of diamonds in Africa, but you can’t mine in some of the countries. There are lots of diamonds in Canada, but it is expensive to mine because you’re way, way up (North) and accessibility to the mine site is limited.”