Lab diamonds have become the subject of a heated debate. Are they as valuable as real, natural diamonds. Lab diamonds can be created in months or even just weeks. Real diamonds take hundreds of millions of years to form in the earth itself, and only a fraction of them are then found and mined. Real is rare and takes time to form via a natural process. Synthetic diamonds are less desirable, and both prices and consumer reaction reflect that.
Are Lab Diamonds Really Diamonds?
Chemically, a synthetic diamond is the same as a natural diamond. In many cases, it may lack the presence of other elements that help infuse a diamond with rare color and structural qualities over millions of years.
The Diamond Producers Association has disagreed with a recent Federal Trade Commission ruling that synthetic diamonds are diamonds. Their main worry is that consumers might be tricked into paying real diamond price for lab diamonds. This is why some diamond sellers are choosing to be exceedingly transparent about the differences and where a stone comes from.
What Do Customers Value?
Polls have shown that consumers value real diamonds more highly than synthetic ones. It's imperative that consumers know which is which, and the differences between them. A consumer who thinks they're buying a real diamond, only to discover they bought a synthetic diamond, is likely to consider themselves scammed.
Consumers understand that a manufactured product should be sold at a lower price point. Sellers who understand that real is rare and only use natural diamonds have a massive added value in comparison to sellers who don't differentiate.
Assessing Worth
The real diamond business should continue to thrive. Even De Beers' new synthetic line, Lightbox, is priced in a way that acknowledges the lesser value of a synthetic diamond. At the same time, you don't exactly see De Beers leaving any segment of their natural diamond brand – they know this will still make up for the bulk of the business, and that it possesses an added value that lab diamonds are incapable of matching.
