5 Reasons You Should Go Lab-Grown
Lab-grown diamonds are an increasingly popular trend for engagement ring center stones and fine jewelry—and for good reason!
Lab-grown diamonds are an ethically sourced, environmentally friendly gemstone that is identical in appearance and chemical composition to natural diamonds. If that wasn’t enough, lab-grown diamonds are priced 50-70% lower than natural diamonds allowing you to maximize your budget with carat size and decorative setting.
Those certainly are impressive incentives to choose a lab-grown diamond for your engagement ring center stone. At Lauren B, we place a heavy emphasis on diamond education, so we wouldn’t leave you with such little detail and send you on your way.
Let us dive a little deeper into some lab-grown diamond incentives with 5 reasons you should choose a lab-grown diamond center stone.
Reason #1: A lab-grown diamond is a real diamond.
Plain and simple. Lab-grown diamonds are real diamonds… that is, if you consider two gemstones with identical physical properties and chemical composition to be the same. (Hint: everyone including the GIA institute, the FTC, and jewelers at large acknowledge lab-grown diamonds as real diamonds.)
Lab-grown diamonds have the same brilliance and refractive index as natural diamonds. Translation: your lab-grown diamond will sparkle and scintillate with the same gusto as a natural diamond.
In addition, lab-grown diamonds have identical durability to natural diamonds with a rank of 10 on the Mohs Hardness Scale. This means that a lab-grown diamond can handle the inevitable wear and tear of daily activities with the same grace and elegance attributed to natural diamonds.
The only difference, and we truly mean the only difference, between a lab-grown and natural diamond is its origin. This may be an inconsequential detail to some and a game-changer to others, depending on who you ask. A lab-grown diamond, as its name reveals, is created in a lab environment, which mimics the natural conditions required to form a natural diamond.
Reason #2: Lab-grown diamonds are ethically sourced and environmentally friendly.
For the altruistic bride, lab-grown diamonds are environmentally friendly and ethically sourced as a result of their origin.
Lab-grown diamonds are created using one of two methods: High Pressure-High Temperature or HPHT or Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD).
In the HPHT method of lab diamond creation, a small diamond seed is placed into carbon. Using either a belt press, a cubic press, or a split-sphere press, the diamond seed is placed under extreme pressure (approximately 1.5 million pounds per square inch) and temperatures upward of 1,500 degrees Celsius. The carbon melts and subsequently forms a diamond circulating the diamond seed. Once cooled, the result is a pure carbon diamond.
The CVD method also requires a sliver of diamond seed, which is placed in an efficiently sealed chamber. The chamber is heated to around 8000 degrees Celsius and filled with a carbon-rich gas. The gas is ionized into plasma with microwave-like technology, which collapses the molecular bonds in the gas. The carbon sticks itself to the diamond seed and begins the crystallization process.
As you can infer, neither of these processes requires mining for diamonds. The environmental impacts and ethical sourcing of lab diamond creation are obsolete. Though, it is important to note that since the creation of the Kimberley Process in 2003, 99.9% of mined diamonds are free from conflict.
Reason #3: Lab-grown diamonds have a price tag of 50-70% lower than natural diamonds.
You read that correctly! Lab-grown diamonds are substantially less expensive than natural diamonds. When paired with the identical physical properties and chemical composition as a natural diamond, this price gap becomes particularly compelling. So what is the reason for this exaggerated price difference?
1.50ct Lab-Grown Pear Shape Diamond Halo Ring
The lab origin of lab-grown diamonds eliminates the expenses associated with natural diamond mining while the cost of cutting, polishing, and inspecting the diamond remains the same.
In recent years, technological advances and increased competition have contributed to even further cost savings with the production of lab-grown diamonds. The result is a lower price tag with the same high-quality standards.
Now is undoubtedly the best time to choose a lab-grown diamond center stone for your engagement ring as prices for lab-grown diamonds have finally stabilized following volatile fluctuations.
Reason #4: Lab-grown diamonds are always cut to maximize brilliance and face-up dimensions.
2.61ct Antique Lab-Grown Diamond
$5,220
Natural diamonds are rare. The formation process takes well over a billion years, and the mining process is equally tiresome. Lab-grown diamonds, while identical to natural diamonds in both physical properties and chemical composition, as we discussed, are created in a lab environment, which by nature, eliminates the cap on supply.
As a result, when diamond cutters fashion a natural diamond into its optimal shape, the primary goal is to retain as much of the raw natural diamond as possible even if that means cutting a stone with lower than standard color and clarity. Alternatively, when diamond cutters set out to cut a lab-grown diamond, the emphasis is placed on achieving the maximum brilliance and face-up dimensions regardless of diamond shape. The result is a pristine diamond with exceptional brilliance and larger than average face-up dimensions.
Reason #5: With lab-grown diamonds, you can scale up in center stone size without the hefty price tag of a natural diamond.
When choosing a lab-grown diamond for your engagement ring center stone, there is more flexibility to scale up in carat size without breaking the bank.
$9,750
Take, for instance, this 1 carat, F color, VS1 clarity round natural loose diamond. The price tag for this exceptional round natural diamond center stone is $9,750.
1.00ct Round Lab Grown Diamond
$1,710
This round lab-grown diamond with the same carat weight, color grade, and slightly lower clarity grade (which is inconsequential with the faceting of the round cut diamond) is priced at $1,710.
2.30ct Round Lab-Grown Diamond
$7,130
With a $10,000 budget, you could get this 2.3 carat, F color, VS1 clarity round lab-grown diamond for $7,130 with some money left in the budget for a posh setting.
If you or your partner envy the look of a larger center stone, lab-grown diamonds allow you the flexibility to maximize your budget without sacrificing quality or brilliance.
The Lauren B LAB Ready Collection
If those reasons weren’t enough to send you head-over-heels in love with lab-grown diamonds, our *new* LAB Ready Collection will certainly do the trick.
Our LAB Ready engagement rings offer a wide variety of shapes and setting styles to suit the deepest desires of every bride. Even better? Our LAB Ready rings are shopping cart ready! All you need is your or your partner’s ring size, your metal preference, and (of course) a rough proposal plan.
You can view the entire collection here, or you can browse a few of the most popular pieces, below.
1.96ct Radiant Cut Lab Grown Diamond Solitaire Engagement Ring
2.58ct Antique Cushion Lab Diamond Three-Stone Ring
1.7ct Pear Shape Lab Diamond Pave Prong Solitaire Ring
1.5ct Round Lab-Grown Diamond Halo Ring
1.72ct Cushion Cut Lab Diamond Engagement Ring
1.55ct Oval Lab Diamond Invisible Gallery™ Three-Stone Ring
3.06 ct Emerald Cut Lab Diamond Engagement Ring
LAB Ready is Proposal Ready
As you have inevitably witnessed, lab ready diamonds are extraordinarily swoon-worthy. So much so that they may seem too good to be true! Fortunately, for brides everywhere, lab-grown diamonds are worth the hype, and we predict more and more brides will flaunt their lab-grown diamond center stones in the years to come.
Are you interested in a custom design lab-grown diamond engagement ring? You can schedule an appointment with one of our talented design consultants here, or visit the Lauren B store at 44 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017.
For questions or general inquiries, email info@laurenbjewelry.com.
