I may be in the minority here (we shall see) but I have no problem with lab created. I like the look/sparkle so I don't really care if it came out of the earth vs lab. If the cost is the same, I'd pick natural but it's not the same.

Now having said that, my DH completely disagrees and the last couple of presents have been real/natural even though I told him lab created is fine with me.

They are not quite the same color. They look more like a zircon.

ETA: It has been since 2010 since I worked in a jewelry department. The high end lab created may be much better now.

They are better now.

I like real, but real is now falling in price because the fakes are so good. I sold my G-grandmother's 3 carat ring, and bought a look-alike ring to really wear. I don't wear my jewelry at all, so I'm in the minority, but I do like real gold and silver, and I don't wear costume-y stuff. I say, go fake, and you can then travel without worry. For stud earrings? Who's going to get close enough to notice?

I'd have no problem with the lab grown. Diamond prices are so inflated-- artificial scarcity, etc. and the industry is so dirty-- and the lab grown quality is so good right now. For that price difference, who would know, and who would care? I know you can say that about a lot of things, and I'm not one who usually buys dupes, but with diamonds, I'd make an exception.

A guy I used to work with and I got to talking about diamonds once. He pointed out that deBeers had coined the slogan ”diamonds are forever” to create scarcity, keeping diamonds from being traded once purchased. From a Sotheby’s article “How deBeers Changed the Diamond Market with One Simple Tagline”: There were sub-messages to the campaign too; the slogan inherently discouraged resale, and positioned diamonds as long-term financially sound investments. To a degree, this helped keep diamond prices buoyant—there was a limited secondary market, which reinforced the rare and valuable messaging. LINK

Unless you are investing in diamonds with a view to selling in the future when prices go up, go with the lab grown. Mine are real, mostly inherited and/or purchased from a time before good lab grown was available. But I’ll bet if you were wearing your lab-grown earrings and I was standing next to you wearing mine, no one would be able to tell the difference - a theory @jsk and I can test at the GTG. 😁

Lab-grown diamonds aren't fake--they're actual diamonds.

I know a couple of recent brides whose engagement rings were lab-grown diamonds. One did it for ethical reasons, as the diamond industry is really seedy, and the other for cost. Jewelry is not a good investment, and given the divorce rate (just being real here), I would advise young couples to buy lab-grown for engagement/wedding purposes.

RNmom, your occasion is more sentimental, so I would say get what you want (and happy bday!). But for myself, I'd go with lab-grown and use the money I'd save for travel or something else. My sister has worked in the jewelry business most of her career, and I have some really beautiful diamond pieces that she sourced for me. But I've never been enthralled with diamonds.

From what I read, even a jeweler with a loop cannot tell lab grown from natural. They are chemically the same.

Link: Natural vs Lab Grown

Lab-grown diamonds are chemically, physically, and optically identical to natural diamonds. They have the same crystal structure, hardness, and sparkle. The difference is in the origin: one formed over billions of years underground, the other was created in a lab over a few weeks. A certified gemologist would need specialized equipment to tell them apart.

When we took some items in to a local and highly-regarded metals and jewelry dealer. He said the diamonds in the jewelry were not as sought after (iI.e., fetching a good price):anymore, because it was so much easier to create a lab-grown in the shape, size, color, that one wants. An existing stone might not fit a setting or item that a buyer wants.

That said, I think I prefer natural, just from a sentimental point of view. But I would not be able to tell the difference.m

You can't tell the difference but you would pay the difference 1.5k vs 11k!?? 🤦🤦🤦

I know nothing about lab created...They are chemically the same, no one can tell one from the other so why are they so much less expensive then? I knew they were less but that price differance is not to be ignored.

Well, *I* wouldn’t pay the difference! But the giver could. I’m worth it!

Although I guess I couldn’t sell it for the same amount. I’ll stick with vintage.

I offered one of my sons a good quality nice sized real diamond for a coming engagement. The girlfriend wants a different shape and is happy with lab grown. It won't be as big as the real diamond. Son is happy not to spend extra money and in any case, some day, he'll inherit that diamond, my larger engagement (real) diamond and more jewelry!

Interesting that a knowledgeable person is unable to distinguish between natural and lab grown.

Weird that we might find natural ones, mined by poorly paid people under dangerous conditions more romantic or something.

I’m an outlier because I find diamond engagement rings embarrassing, like a bride price.

I have decided that I will get lab grown if I get them at all. There are many companies online wanting my busniness now that I have looked at them!

We are going to our local jeweler tomorrow to check out what they have. I talked to them today and was told that going forward the lab created stones will not be graded with the 4 C's because they were such a good quality it was irrelevant. Cost vs benefit was not favorable. I found that interesting.

No problem here with the lab grown. I even considered having Mom's ashes made into a diamond, but then I thought again and said no. But an interesting concept...better than keeping a loved one in a dusty urn somewhere. And Mom was a real gem for sure!

"Turning cremation ashes into a diamond involves extracting carbon from the remains, purifying it, and placing it into a high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) machine that mimics the earth's natural diamond-growing process. Prices typically range from $750 to over $17,000 depending on size and color, taking several months to complete. [1, 2, 3]The Process

• Carbon Extraction: Labs like Eterneva or Algordanza take about 0.5 cups of ashes, heat them in a crucible to remove unwanted elements, and isolate the carbon. [1, 2, 3]
• Graphite Conversion: The isolated carbon is transformed into graphite, which serves as the base material inside the diamond growth cell. [1, 2]
• HPHT Growth: The graphite goes into a machine that applies extreme heat and pressure over months to grow a rough diamond crystal. [1, 2]
• Cut and Polish: The rough lab-grown diamond is faceted, polished, and certified just like a natural diamond. [1, 2, 3]" (AI)

Told you it had changed a lot on 16 years, lol.

That's a good idea Annie. Maybe when my third/last dog passes away I'll get all their ashes mixed together and make a diamond! That would definitely be a nicer memory than their ashes in their little wooden boxes sitting in the closet.

Mom was a real gem for sure

😁❤️

Happy birthday RN mom! 🥳🎈🎁

I honestly don’t give a flip where a stone comes from if it is beautiful. That said, I recently got a natural diamond bracelet (far left in picture, part of great perfume exchange situation) because it replaced a similar bracelet I lost several years ago. I would have kind of liked one with larger stones (turning into a shallow magpie in my dotsge) but it would have cost 20 times more than the original lost bracelet which was this same size, very petite. The perfume refund covered about two thirds of the cost,

(The emerald and diamond bracelet was a gift from my mother— also real stones. The heavy alternating yellow and white gold links with sapphires (several others on the clasp) was a milestone anniversary and the thinner link bracelet commemorated a trip with my DD. I wear these all the time.)

One thing I learned while shopping for the new bracelet is that if you like yellow gold as I do it sort of corrupts your perception of the color or the stone it surrounds. The salesperson brought several bracelets for me to try on and opined that natural diamonds in a yellow gold setting are a waste of money as they lose brilliance in the proximity. I still bought the natural diamonds to replace what had been a gift from DH but would have been happy as a clam with lab ones.

There’s something to that, Kswl. I recently had a pair bezel-set diamond earrings reset into a plain pronged style (the bezel post was offset and the earrings continually shifted on my ears, which was annoying). The bezel was gold, but the prongs are white gold so the diamonds do seem brighter. But I still love a classic yellow gold. I have a tennis bracelet similar to your new one with diamonds set in yellow gold. It’s 30 yrs old and incredibly well-made, with all original stones. I’ll never reset them to a white gold band.

Each of your bracelets is beautiful!

Chispa, I have a few cats‘ worth, maybe I can mix into one gem!

And my mom is in my office upstairs, not sure I want to wear her, though. (has anyone read ”Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant”?)

Bpath, I gave copies of that book to everyone in the family four or five Christmasses ago.

Great book.

I am in the process of having my engagement ring designed. My SO wants to purchase a mined diamond. After researching lab grown diamonds + digging deeper into DeBeer's inflation of diamonds + all the evil that surrounds blood diamonds, I feel like a lab grown diamond would be a better decision. While monetarily, it would cost much less - that's not the reason. It's everything else (although it seems silly to me to spend 10x the amount of money on a mined diamond with the same specs as a lab grown one when they are EXACTLY THE SAME - except for where they were made + the amount of time it took).

However, I'm not sure that my SO will be okay with a lab grown one. I'm trying to educate him about them - however, he feels that it should be a mined diamond that took MANY years to create vs. a few months in a lab.

If I do a bezel setting, the gold will probably cost more than a lab diamond!

I am still trying to decide on my bday present from him - and my bday was at the end of April LOL. I want an every day type of necklace. I keep changing my mind about what I want. He asks me about it almost every week!

If I want something, I want the real thing.

Lab grown ARE real diamonds!

We can argue semantics, but at the end of the day, the FTC does not allow you to call it a diamond without disclosing that it is synthetic. Legally it is not a diamond qua diamond. Hence, not "the real thing."

I am just stating my own preferences.

I agree with many of the arguments here, but they would lead me to avoid diamonds, not to buy a man-made one.

I have a pair of CZ studs set in 14K and have had them for at least 30 years and no one knows they aren't real. My mom gave these to me for a birthday years ago, they are the only earring that I wear these days.

Lab vs natural? Obviously these are individual preferences - no right or wrong. And if a natural diamond is your choice then you can look for traceable diamond. However most of the lab grown ones come from China and India and I'm not sure if that makes them ethically better. The manufacturing process requires huge amounts of electricity. There are countries where diamond mining is more ethical - Canada is one and the proceeds are used to fund education and healthcare. That still leaves the question of how precious metal is mined.

DH and I were engaged in the late Medieval period and after decades of gift buying I'm not interested in more diamonds other than as enhancement stones in a setting. If I were to buy a new stone it would be one that has a long term relatively stable value - and yes, I understand jewelry is not considered an investment unless it is rare, or of high value or provenance. Those stones are traditionally high quality rubies, emeralds or sapphires. For a special birthday DH gave me a padparadscha sapphire.

Another option is a good quality vintage stone or one of the lesser gemstones - I traded in some gold a few months ago and opted for a neon mint green tourmaline. It's in a simple pendant with a tiny diamond left over from a previous redesign.

At some point my DD, DDIL and 3 grand daughters will inherit the jewelry and I find value in that.

From AI - just more info to think about, if it matters to you

AI Overview

Lab-grown diamonds cost 80% to 85% less than natural diamonds. They are chemically identical to mined stones, but they have a very low resale value and are not financial investments. Their true value comes from upfront savings rather than long-term worth.

Upfront Cost vs. Mined Diamonds

• Price Difference: A 2-carat lab-grown diamond often costs between $1,500 and $4,000, whereas a natural equivalent can cost over $15,000 to $20,000.
• The 4Cs Apply: Just like natural stones, value is judged by cut, color, clarity, and carat weight.
• Falling Prices: Production technology improves rapidly, meaning new lab-grown diamonds become cheaper to manufacture every year.

Resale Value

• Low Return: If you try to sell a lab-grown diamond back to a jeweler or on the secondary market, you can usually only expect to recover 10% to 30% of what you originally paid.
• Not Unique: Because labs can continuously grow more stones on demand, they lack the artificial scarcity that holds up the market for rare natural gems.

Arapaho, if my kids ever want my opinion re: mined vs lab-grown engagement rings, I will advise them to purchase lab-grown and take the money they saved and put it in their Roth IRAs, which will return more than mined diamonds. If the marriage lasts and they’re prioritizing jewelry at their 25th anniversary, then go for whatever they want.

It just occured to me that humans are basically large crows. 😆 We are both drawn to shiny, sparkly things.

I love the sparkle of diamonds. I am old enough all of my real diamonds are mined. The only choice back then were mined, or CZ. I do have 1 pair of CZ earring studs that I occasionally wear.....and I feel fake when I wear them. I realize that is dumb.

I don't care what other people wear. When I see someone with a pretty diamond-ish piece, I don't even wonder or care if it is a natural stone. So why don't I like wearing them myself? I don't know, I will have to ponder this more.

That info I posted was strictly AI, not my opinions or feelings. In my younger years, maybe it all mattered to me but not now. The only things I care about are the meaningful pieces. Other than that, they can all go. I have no one to leave it to.

It's slightly better than Beanie Babies.

😂 😂 😂

It's slightly better than Beanie Babies

That is why it really doesn't matter either way, imho.

Agree with @mtnrdredux_gw jewelry is not a good investment most if the time. My mother had some nice pieces of jewelry. I had to have it appraised to divide it up when she passed. I used an independent jewelry appraiser, who did not buy jewelry. I was surprised at how little the pieces were worth compared to the prices paid. The appraiser told me unless it was something rare or made by Tiffany, Cartier or one of a couple of of other jewelers you are lucky to get 30% of retail. Even Tiffany and such you are not usually going to get 100% unless you bought it many many years ago.

OK...I used to buy ONLY mined diamonds and gems...then read up on what they mean by "conflict free diamonds" and eco friendly diamonds. Now...I do own lab diamond earrings set in solid 14k....and a large pear diamond set in solid 14k yellow gold. My latest purchase is this Annoushka sapphire + 18K bracelet.....real mined sapphires. The proceeds of the purchase went to an animal rescue charity...so I felt I wanted to support this. It's a choice....I'm not judging just offering what I've done....

@maire_cate - I love padparadscha sapphires! I also love Montana sapphires.

I've thought about having a different gemstone for my engagement ring - but I don't know what I'd select. Someone told me that I should do my birthstone - well, it's a diamond. One issue is that a diamond ring works with all of my other pieces of jewelry - while I love padparadscha and Montana sapphires - I don't know if I'd want one as a ring that I will wear every day.

I told my SO about this thread. He said that if I decide that my ring will have a diamond - he doesn't want to purchase a lab grown diamond = I will defer to him on this issue.

Now I just need to decide what exactly I want!

Mtn - I took a drink of my water while reading your comment re: Beanie Babies - made me laugh - and caused part of the water to go down the wrong pipe!

My aunt (also my Godmother) was really into "investing" in Beanie Babies. She had a TON of them - with protective plastic covers on every tag (in order to keep the tag in perfect shape) + many were in little acrylic display boxes (to keep her most valuable ones safe). I think she paid around $200 for her Princess Di BB (which is now worth $5 or maybe less). I remember how she would show them to her granddaughters - but they weren't allowed to play with them because it would bring their value down. 🤣

I haven't read the comments above but I inherited my mom's very large "real" diamond ring and tennis bracelet. My sister got her part. I have never seen a lab grown diamond in person and could care less if people want one, to be honest. The only thing I feel a bad about is it will hurt businesses in the real diamond industry.

edited

"The only thing I feel a bad about is it will hurt businesses in the real diamond industry."

That seems such an odd take to me given the horrendous treatment workers in that industry experience. The money from diamonds is used to fund wars and conflicts. Working conditions include (from AI) physical dangers from collapses and floods, health issues from respiratory diseases, injuries from the labor involved. There's also child labor involved, minimal pay, and debt bondage which is essentially enslavement. Moreover the wealth created by this labor isn't returned in even basic infrastructure. So while De Beers is worth a few billion $, the workers are making only $1-2 a day.

DH gave me a tennis bracelet very similar to your replacement, @Kswl. I adore it and never take it off. I told him I wanted one but lab grown was fine. He did not get lab grown. His claim is that the price differnce on smaller stones is not that significant. The real savings are when you get into bigger stones. Or so he said...

I would agree with that Jsk! The difference between the real and lab for my bracelet was just about a third. But for the larger stones I was eyeing the difference was HUGE 😳

OK you guys have inspired me. I've always wanted something alexandrite, but it's so $$$. But the manmade? Not so much. So I'm thinking I might get a pair of lab-grown alexandrite stud earrings...I'll start looking around.

Has anyone dealt with Angara? They seem to have a big on-line presence.

Any appraisal from a few years back will not get you a like-for-like replacement with today's gold prices.

I should really get all my stuff appraised and insured! I would hate to have to spend all that money to get "identical" replacements.

In my opinion, insurance on jewelry is a losing game. What are the chances you'll lose something or have it stolen? Probably very low. Why pay all that money over years for insurance?

Take my opinion for what it's worth. I also never buy trip cancellation insurance. In all these years I have never had to cancel a trip after final payment/deadline for refunds.

Annie, Alexandarite is my birrhstone. I wanted something special for my {and my fraternal twin sister) 70th.

My oldest DD did the research for matching stones.

What makes it special is how it changes color in different lighting. Will a lab grown be able to go from blue/ green to red/purple?

Yes, eld, the lab grown are chemically identical to the mined version and they will change color with the light. That may not be true of "man made" but is of "Lab grown".