Lab grown Diamonds - Thoughts?

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#16
Lab for me. I've done the whole ethical, sustainable research and to my mind, lab is by far the more mind-clean purchase.

This was even more so cemented when I realized how bad the loopholes in the Kimberley process were and how many blood diamonds got through the system.

IMHO, no one should have to die for someone else to have a pretty stone. This point is even more personal because I'm going into healthcare, it seems somewhat hypocritical for me to help preserve life whilst wearing things that have taken lives.

(Yes, I know phones, clothes etc all have questionable manufacturing processes, but I need those. I don't necessarily need diamonds.)
 
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#17
papertiger said:
I value natural over lab because it is natural, created over millions of years and an a chain of chemical/pressure accidents.

Lab diamonds are real, pretty and cheaper (but not quite as ethical/sustainable as marketers would have us to believe) and yet they don't mean anything to me at all except decoration along with synthetic rubies, composite turquoise or dyed corral.
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This is the thing diamond dealers hate about lab diamonds. They seem to cheapen the entire allure of diamonds. Personally, I think that’s a good thing to expose how easily marketing can create demand for a piece of carbon.

FWIW I think if you want to compare actual quality of lab vs natural it is difficult because I haven’t seen any with grading that compares actual cut which is most important.
 
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#18
Bookie2020 said:
However when I looked at yellow gold equivalent the prices were much higher so found a lab grown alternative. I justified it as I don’t want to spend “too much” on yellow gold as I gravitate more for wg/silver. I wear yellow rarely.
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To your actual buying decision, I think the price difference is so large because of silver vs. gold (and Tiffany's insane markup over the actual price of materials). Looks like the entry level silver DBTY is $350 whereas the yellow gold is $750. For example, James Allen sells the same setting (without a diamond) for $450 already, and they don't have Tiffany's designer markup to account for! https://www.jamesallen.com/fine-jew...old-bezel-diamond-pendant-mounting-item-55975

I think the price difference you're seeing is not driven by lab vs. mined diamond. It's probably just the difference between with and without the Tiffany markup.

If you really want to save money on the piece, you might go with yellow gold filled or plated instead. That'll save you the cost.

In terms of lab vs Like sonicxml said, the price difference for a smaller stone (looks like DBTY are 0.05 carats?) is negligible. Might even be more expensive to buy lab. I'd be surprised if someone used a lab diamond that small. Are you sure it isn't CZ or some other simulant instead?
 
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#19
Thank you all for sharing your thoughts. I am particularly grateful for those that highlighted the negatives about the diamond mining industry, I somehow forgot about this. I think more then anything this makes me want to go towards the lab grown diamond. I’ve never really been a mindful spender (environmental impact, ethical) so want to do my part where I can.

OogleAtLuxury said:
To your actual buying decision, I think the price difference is so large because of silver vs. gold (and Tiffany's insane markup over the actual price of materials). Looks like the entry level silver DBTY is $350 whereas the yellow gold is $750. For example, James Allen sells the same setting (without a diamond) for $450 already, and they don't have Tiffany's designer markup to account for! https://www.jamesallen.com/fine-jew...old-bezel-diamond-pendant-mounting-item-55975

I think the price difference you're seeing is not driven by lab vs. mined diamond. It's probably just the difference between with and without the Tiffany markup.

If you really want to save money on the piece, you might go with yellow gold filled or plated instead. That'll save you the cost.

In terms of lab vs Like sonicxml said, the price difference for a smaller stone (looks like DBTY are 0.05 carats?) is negligible. Might even be more expensive to buy lab. I'd be surprised if someone used a lab diamond that small. Are you sure it isn't CZ or some other simulant instead?
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You are right the price is probably driven by the designer mark up and the gold vs silver prices. I am (was) aware of this. I already brought my gold one which was lab grown, but didn’t think too much of it, it was at a great price point and I really wanted a gold equivalent. What prompted my original post was that I started coming across more brands stating lab grown diamonds, etc where I liked the jewelry and that’s where I started getting curious.
 
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#20
I was buying a new diamond ring recently birthday gift from DH, I ended up with an estate piece so older and I love it.I haven’t seen any lab diamonds that I think cost less I think they are expensive to be honest.Even if you go to therealreal you can get natural diamonds for the same price as lab grown.
 
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#21
Aprilmay said:
I was buying a new diamond ring recently birthday gift from DH, I ended up with an estate piece so older and I love it.I haven’t seen any lab diamonds that I think cost less I think they are expensive to be honest.Even if you go to therealreal you can get natural diamonds for the same price as lab grown.
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I bought an estate piece as well recently. I've bought a few over the last few years because of the whole blood diamond issue. Sometimes the stones aren't as sparkly because of the old way of cutting, but I'm ok with that.
 
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#22
All “diamonds” I wear are either estate, preloved, or lab/synthetic. Even my wedding set was made with preloved stones. This just feels right to me and I’ve made a commitment to never buy brand new mined diamonds. The effects of open-pit mines on the environment, the potential for conflict diamonds, and the whole DeBeers marketing “scam” aren’t things I want to support for something that isn’t an essential item.

Just my personal opinion, and no offence to other opinions!
 
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#25
Very informative thread. I was just thinking recently of upgrading my engagement ring and it was the first time lab-grown diamonds came on my radar. I was surprised to see them sold at JA and Blue Nile now (not the case when I got engaged)... the price difference is pretty stark! I'm now wondering if I should just wait as the price seems to be going down over time for lab growns.

Just my opinion, and I don't have any lab-growns, but I think it's pretty brilliant. If you can find one that looks like a regular diamond in cut and other quality elements, the savings are great enough to make that worth it. Honestly I might never buy real diamond jewelry again unless it were in a designer item (until designers embrace them). The resale value is bad either way though I do think selling a diamond with GIA certification gives a leg up compared to buying a lab grown where there isn't an industry standard or leader in standards yet. If GIA begins grading lab growns one day, I'd be fully sold.
 
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#26
lalame said:
Very informative thread. I was just thinking recently of upgrading my engagement ring and it was the first time lab-grown diamonds came on my radar. I was surprised to see them sold at JA and Blue Nile now (not the case when I got engaged)... the price difference is pretty stark! I'm now wondering if I should just wait as the price seems to be going down over time for lab growns.

Just my opinion, and I don't have any lab-growns, but I think it's pretty brilliant. If you can find one that looks like a regular diamond in cut and other quality elements, the savings are great enough to make that worth it. Honestly I might never buy real diamond jewelry again unless it were in a designer item (until designers embrace them). The resale value is bad either way though I do think selling a diamond with GIA certification gives a leg up compared to buying a lab grown where there isn't an industry standard or leader in standards yet. If GIA begins grading lab growns one day, I'd be fully sold.
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Hi @lalame GIA started grading Lab diamonds last year.....look forward to seeing your new bling ;)
 
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#29
lalame said:
Wow, thanks for correcting me! I didn't see any on the JA site and assumed they didn't do it.
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Just went through this with BF last month, and there really aren’t that many places that sell GIA-graded lab diamonds that we could find. The ones that are GIA certified tend to be more expensive than IGI or other certification, of course. We got our GIA lab off of Clean Origin.
 
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