“Diamonds are a girl’s best friend”
The famous quote by Marilyn Monroe still lives on as people around the world scramble towards finding the best diamond ring for their partner. But during a time of climate crisis, people are becoming more and more aware of the negative environmental problems faced with mining.
Although the process can be traced back to the 1950s, synthetic diamonds are becoming more and more prevalent due to the changing nature of people’s minds.
Diamonds are Earth’s hardest material and also one of the rarest gemstones. Miners spend insane amounts of time and resources trying to find the precious raw and natural gems, but is it a better idea to buy lab-created diamonds?
There are many pros and cons to each, and both types show no signs of slowing down either.
The best thing to do is to make a decision on which one you prefer more. We’re here to help:
What are traditional diamonds?
To put it simply, a traditional diamond is an element of natural origin that has been mined from the Earth. Natural diamonds are formed deep in the Earth over billions of years, and are a result of extreme pressure and temperatures. After it is formed it gets brought to the surface of Earth through volcanic activity.
Diamonds are thought to have been first mined in Ancient India, where a significant amount of the stone could be found along various rivers. They have been known in India for around at least three thousand years, but more likely six thousand years.
Although moderately popular throughout history since then, they only really started to take off in the 1800s due to a higher supply, better cut and polish methods, growth in the economy around the world and more impactful marketing campaigns.
Until the 1950s, this was the only way of obtaining a diamond. Massive machines would dig out wide chunks of the Earth in a lengthy process.
What Are Synthetic/Lab Diamonds?
Also known as laboratory-grown, man-made, artisan or cultured diamonds, synthetic diamonds are diamonds that have been created in a laboratory that is extensively controlled. Unlike imitation diamonds, synthetic diamonds are identical in chemical and physical properties to a regular diamond.
Over the years, there have been various claims of laboratory diamonds being created since the late 1800s. Although each of these attempts were highly documented, not one was confirmed as being a legitimate diamond. In the United States, Sweden and Russia, researchers of diamond creation came together which led to the first-ever lab created diamond in history in 1953.
More research led to other tactics in creating lab-grown diamonds, like HPHT and CVD.
HPHT stands for high-pressure high-temperature, and involves a “diamond seed” being exposed to extreme temperatures and then being cooled down.
Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) is a much newer technique that is used to create synthetic diamonds. A diamond seed which is often HPHT created is put into a chamber which then gets heated up to eight hundred degrees celsius. Carbon-rich gas is then dispersed into the chamber along with other types of gasses. Microwaves and lasers get used, chemical processes occur and a diamond is slowly built layer by layer.
There’s also a third and fourth method which are not as common and involve tiny sized diamonds being part of a detonation process and then there’s treating graphite with high-power ultrasound.
The Pros of Natural Diamonds
Many people prefer to have the “real deal” of something. That is one of the reasons why people prefer natural diamonds to synthetic diamonds.
Mined diamonds are often considered better than the lab-grown kind simply because of the idea that a natural diamond is one hundred percent real, rather than being created in an artificial lab. Around sixty-eight percent of American consumers follow this idea too.
Natural diamonds might also be able to retain their value over time much longer than lab diamonds – lab-grown diamonds are created in a factory, they use technology that is advanced and relatively high-tech. New machines start out as expensive, but later on begin to become more mainstream and inexpensive.
Because lab-grown diamonds are cheaper than natural diamonds, many partners would prefer something of higher value and natural origin. Natural diamonds can be considered a limited resource too, meaning that there is only a certain amount of diamonds that we can mine. Lab diamonds are theoretically unlimited, leading to a less overall value.
Buying natural diamonds can be considered an investment in a couple ways because of this.
The Cons of Natural Diamonds
One of the first things that get mentioned when considering a natural or synthetic diamond is price. Natural diamonds, because of their scarcity and “original” value, along with the processes behind obtaining them make them more expensive than getting a lab-grown diamond.
If you are a couple that decides to save a bit of money, then this may not be the option for you.
Natural diamonds are also known to be less environmentally friendly than getting lab-created diamonds. Natural diamonds require large amounts of land to be dug up, possibly disturbing habitats and making a large carbon footprint.
The Pros of Lab Diamonds
There are also a handful of advantages to choosing lab-grown diamonds. Natural diamonds are notorious for being unethical in the way that they have been used to fund African wars.
Blood diamonds are diamonds that are from a result of being used as a means of funding all sorts of wars in Africa. Other labour related ethical issues like poor working conditions and unfair wages, human rights violations and child labor come into play too.
Choosing lab grown diamonds helps you steer away from these problems.
Another thing to realise is that lab diamonds are in fact considered to be real diamonds. The Federal Trade Commission declared synthetic diamonds real in 2018. Lab diamonds even test as real too; The Gemological Institute of America has been grading laboratory-made diamonds since 2007 and identification reports no longer use the word “synthetic”.
The Cons of Lab Diamonds
Funnily enough, lab-grown diamonds can also have a negative effect on the environment as well.
Lab-grown diamonds, although providing better environmental benefits to natural diamonds, also come with eco-friendly concerns. HPHT lab diamonds will require massive amounts of power because of the large amount of heat needed in producing the diamond. A CVD diamond needs the same amount of electricity needed to power a household for a month.
Another con of lab-grown diamonds is that they can only be created in small sizes. Although this may change with the development of technology, natural diamonds can be found in more unique (sometimes unbelievably large) sizes and variations as opposed to lab diamonds being created basically all in the same way.
Conclusion
Both natural and lab-grown diamonds have their pros and cons, but at the end of the day it is an entirely personal decision to decide what you prefer.
Natural diamonds are considered more valuable and authentic, have a higher value and can also retain that value over time. Natural diamonds are considered worse for the environment in comparison to lab-grown diamonds, and also can be part of a “blood diamond” situation.
Synthetic diamonds are cheaper, still considered “real” and are more ethical and environmentally friendly than getting natural diamonds.
by Australian Diamond Brokers : August 22nd 2022 Come visit our store or browse our website to find out more.