Diamonds sparkle and shine and are also incredibly expensive, especially if you’re a fan of a larger carat. But no matter the price, people love adorning their fingers, necks, wrists, and ears in ice, as some might call it. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, after all. However, couples are now opting for a much cheaper variant, just as sparkly as ever — lab-created jewels!
The Making of Lab-Grown Diamonds
The diamond grown in a lab might not be as spectacular and rare as its natural counterpart, but people still find them extremely beautiful. They come in different colors too. You can find them in pink, blue, green, yellow, orange, and clear. And there are two methods of creating colorful beauties — chemical vapor deposition or high-pressure high temperature.
During HPHT, a metal cube is used in which carbon is pressed into and exposed to immense heat and pressure through electrical pulses. The carbon breaks down and crystallizes. Metal traces are minuscule after the process, and most experts consider this a better method for CVD. People, however, can rarely see the difference.
Why Lab-Grown Is Preferred
For one, lab-created diamonds are a lot more sustainable and not to mention a whole lot cheaper than a natural gem — around 85% cheaper. That’s one of the main reasons couples choose the options. Some said they weren’t even aware of the lab-created counterpart, but a recent study showed that in 2023 sales of the lab-grown gems grew by 81%. Clearly, couples are beginning to go for the cheaper option.
The famous retailer of diamonds, Queensmith, put the lab-created gem to the test of the public eye. People and passersby were simply stunned by the difference in price between the naturally occurring diamond and the one from a lab. However, they all said the same thing — that they’d never be able to tell the difference. So, lab-created for the win!