Lab Diamonds v. Mined Diamonds

Introduction

Now here is the big debate. Should you buy, Lab Grown Diamonds or a Mined Natural Diamond? This question has been one of the hottest topic in the jewellery industry for some years now, and for good reason. Lab grown diamonds have been the single biggest disruptor of an industry which has remained consistent for nearly a century.

Please note: given that this business supports and sells lab grown diamond jewellery, I will try my best to stay neutral in this blogpost and talk about these materials objectively to the best of my abilities. Additonally, we can use this space to talk about diamond simulants and their place in the world of jewellery.

A Case for Mined Diamonds

Okay, so let us first begin by talking about mined diamonds. Believe it or not, but the first diamond mine was discovered in the 4th Century BC in Golconda mines located in India. So technically, India was the birth place of diamonds. Golconda mines are famous for bringing us the Kohinoor diamond and the Blue Hope. Ever since the 4th century BC, mankind has been fascinated by this specific arrangement of carbon atoms.

Diamond mining has been done for centuries and has proven to be quite lucrative. Lucrative enough for big companies to form around these mines and take ownership of them. Today Russia, Australia and South Africa are home to the biggest diamond mines in the world by volume. Economically speaking, these mines have had a tremendous positive impact on their host countries by bringing additonal jobs and foreign investments. More over, it brings people’s attention towards these countries which impacts tourism.

A consumer may be interested in purchasing a mined diamonds by creating a romantic association with nature. As a luxury product, it is important to build stories to increase its purchasing appeal. So stories like, ‘how the diamond was formed over a million years by Earth’, ‘a diamond is formed in nature’ and even false statements like ‘real is rare’ are used. Now, I am not saying that buying mined diamonds are bad, most small jewellery businesses thrive and rely on the consumption of natural diamonds but the repurcussions of mining a diamond must not be overlooked.

Some Drawbacks

Diamond mining is a highly labour and resourse intensive job. On average to mine a single carat of diamond which is 200 milligrams - 250 tonnes of rock needs to be removed and 450 litres of water needs to be consumed. Let that sink in… 250 tonnes of rock and 450 kilograms of water to get something that weighs one-fifth of a gram.

Globally, around 120 Million carats of diamonds are mined each year, so you do the math. Additionally, diamond mining usually occur in places that are prone to droughts and cause irreprable damage to the surrounding ecosystems. In countries with poor labour standards, miners usually have extremely poor working conditions which can cause many respiratory diseases and ailments.

Lab Grown Diamonds: A ‘Brilliant’ Alternative

Alright, lets focus on Lab Grown Diamonds. Objectively speaking, mined diamonds have no benefits over lab diamonds. They are identical. The difference is the amount of time, and resources used to get a similar outcome. Lab grown diamonds aren’t perfect - they still have a carbon footprint which is measurable. But the emmision of gasses which casuse global warming is significantly lower to a point where it can be neglegible when compared to mined diamonds.

Additionally, growing diamonds in a lab causes no harm to surrounding environments and ensures acceptable working conditons for the people involved. There is no exploitation of human resources as the supply chain is completely transparent, so when you purchase a lab grown diamond, you can have peace of mind knowing that there is no conflict involved in procuring the diamond. All of these efficiencies add up to reduce the final cost bourne by the customer. So you can get a bigger and a better quality diamond for the same price when compared to a mined diamond.

Diamond Simulants

But, you may ask what about other materials like moissanites and cubic zirconia. That is a good thing to ask! Personally, I believe there is no harm in purchasing these minerals as an alternative to diamonds altogether (mined and lab grown) becuase they are also lab made. I specifically recommend moissanites becuase they have a hardness of 9.25 on the moh’s scale (Diamond has a hardness of 10) which makes it relatively durable. Mossanites on the other hand are even more affordable than lab grown diamonds, so it is encouraged to browse jewellery made with mossanites if you have are on a strict budget. The only downside I see with moissanites are that although they are similar in appearance to a diamond, an expeirenced eye will be able to tell them apart and they have relatively minimal resale value.

I ususally recommend people to steer away from cubic zirconia (CZ, Zircon, American Diamonds are aliases) for reasons like they are not durable, they become yellow over time and they distinctly look, ‘fake’. They also have no resale value.

It is important to understand that these minerals are diamond simulants. They are not diamonds nor are they trying to be, they have their own appearence which is unique to themselves.

Conclusion

To conclude, I will say that minerals that are created in a lab are far superior than mined minerals because of all the advantages linked with them. If you are in the market to purchase a diamond, I will highly recommend that you consider a lab diamond. Not only will you save a lot of money, but you will also have a better quality diamond. Diamond simulants are recommended if you are on a tight budget,

If you have any concerns, questions or you may want to discuss more with our team, feel free to contact us at info@anjain.in. If you are considering to buy lab grown diamond jewellery, I would like to invite you to our shop here. I hope this blogpost was able to answer some of your questions if you had any.