Why lab-grown diamonds are booming in popularity

Comparing natural and lab grown diamonds

The process by which natural and lab-grown diamonds are made is exactly similar. The only difference is one is made in nature and one is made (you guessed it) inside a lab.

In nature, a chemical reaction happens in an environment of immense underground pressure, where carbon, nitrogen, and sometimes boron are present. This unique cocktail of pressure and chemicals starts the process of diamond formation.

Obtaining them is an environmentally taxing process, due to volume of extraction required. In most cases, the damage done to the landscape during mining is irreversible. It often leaves behind deep, irreparable holes in the Earth’s surface that can be captured by satellites in space.

This human-driven activity disrupts surrounding natural habitats, while posing a huge threat to wild animal species, biodiversity, soil quality, and forest health. In areas where intensive mining takes place, land erosion and sinkholes are common.

Unearthing natural diamonds is also a water-intensive process. For every 1-carat diamond unearthed from the ground, around 126 gallons of water is needed. By stark contrast, a 1-carart lab grown gem only requires 18.5 litres of water.

The increasingly popular process by which lab-grown diamonds are formed is called Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). It’s energy efficient, low-cost, and requires less time than the alternative lab method called High Pressure and High Temperature (HPHT).

The process of CVD involves placing a tiny ‘seed’ diamond inside a chamber, where it is subjected to extremely high temperatures (around 800 degrees Celsius). Added into the chamber is an ionised, carbon-rich gas that molecularly attaches to the diamond seed.

The carbon then builds and bonds with the diamond seed over time, causing it to expand into a suitable size for jewellery, rings, and other accessories. Before they are ready to be sold, lab grown diamonds undergo the same process a natural stone would.

They are professionally cut to the desired shape by experts and meticulously polished to produce the sparkle and brilliance you’d expect from a diamond. And on the upside, the price of a lab grown diamond sits anywhere from 30-85 percent cheaper than a natural one, due to its far less restrictive and finite nature.

As members of society has become more conscious of our individual environmental impact, consumers have started opting for products made intentionally by science more frequently.

Last year, lab grown diamonds accounted for almost 10 percent of all diamonds sales. They accounted for £4.7 billion of the global diamond market, which experts say is a 500 percent increase in sales in just 4 years time.

It’s also encouraging to see that sales for natural diamonds fell by 12 percent in 2022. It seems that the industry is being shaken up, in favour of the greater good.

In conclusion

Lab-grown stones are real diamonds, despite common false narratives which claim that they aren’t comparable to those found in nature.

It is true that even the most seasoned gem experts have a hard time telling a CVD diamond apart from a natural diamond, because lab-grown diamonds are diamonds.

They have the exact same chemical, physical and optical properties, and can even pick up the similar flaws while forming or during wear. The only major difference is human exploitation and land degradation are wiped away from the picture.

So the saying rings true. Pressure does make diamonds, regardless of where they’re grown – and I think we can all agree they’re far more beautiful when they’re guilt-free.