By Katherine Those who have actually went diamond hunting at various retailers will know the answer to this question through a single word and as far as they know the only difference is price – and this is in fact the actual truth. It is an overwhelming task to say the least given the fact that choosing jewellery with diamonds is an endeavour that involves achieving the right balance between price and the diamond features itself.
There are so many elements that one needs to weigh when it comes to selecting the right type of crystallised carbon stone, the shapes, the cuts, the hues and even the type precious metal that the stone is set into, everything plays a role, and the biggest element of consideration is always ‘price’.
The price of a natural diamond is about three to four times higher than a lab diamond of the same size, shape, cut and hue, the primary reason for this is almost always attributed to the high cost of mining for natural diamonds. There is also the ‘perspective’ or ‘notion’ of natural diamonds taking billions of years to form naturally through geological processes, whereas lab diamonds are created in less than a month.
Based on these explanations pertaining to the question “why the difference in price between natural and lab diamonds differ as significantly as they do” well, it is the cost and the production (diamonds produced naturally by nature and diamonds produced by lab techs) which brings us to another question! What is the difference between the two types with regards to quality and aesthetics?
If one was to present a lab grown diamond and a natural diamond to a gemologist or a jewel expert to tell them apart, they will not be able to do so with the naked eye as in terms of the chemical and physical structure of both diamonds are almost identical.
In other words it is impossible to tell them apart unless it is examined under a powerful microscope where the presence of nitrogen traces in natural diamonds will reveal the difference (therefore it can be deemed that lab grown diamonds which do not contain nitrogen traces are better in quality).
Therefore in summary, lab grown diamonds are as beautiful as natural diamonds (in fact in most instances, lab diamonds are aesthetically much more desirable), lab grown diamonds therefore are ‘actual diamonds’ and the only difference is their origin. However, natural diamonds retain higher value simply because they were produced by nature over millions of years naturally, whereas lab diamonds are created in weeks.
So if one was to purchase or choose a lab grown diamond store for their jewellery, nobody is going to know unless a gemologist gets the stone or stones under a microscope. In general lab diamonds are cheaper by an average of 50% in most case scenarios which has resulted in enhanced demand for lab grown diamond according to comparative statistics of the sales of diamond engagement rings.