Lab-grown diamonds: The truth behind the ethical, affordable, identical(!) alternative to traditional diamonds
They're one of the few jewellery details that appeals to almost everyone. You can have a preference for daintier pieces or super chunky ones, lots of layers or simple singles, yellow gold, white, or even rose, but even the least traditional amongst us - whether we like to admit it or not - go a little weak at the knees for a truly mega diamond.
Asscher cuts, brilliant rounds, ovals... carat weights, GIA grades, clarity, colour - you're likely aware that there are seemingly a million different decisions to make when buying a diamond, but did you know that there's actually a whole other decision that needs to be made before you even get to this level of specificity? A decision that's usually made for you without you even knowing it, all thanks to 'tradition'.
Because there's more than one kind of 'diamond'. We're not talking about all the aforementioned aesthetic details, but rather the way in which the diamond is formed.
Traditional, natural diamonds - which are no doubt the majority of diamonds you've seen up until now - were formed over 3 billion years ago deep within the Earth's crust under conditions of intense heat and pressure. The majority of natural diamonds are found in Africa, and the extraction process often requires extreme labour. Despite this, millions of African diamond miners earn less than a dollar a day.
But not every natural diamond is extracted under such questionable circumstances, and there are a number of efforts and initiatives underway to improve the ethics of diamond mining. What is rarely discussed, however, is the alternative; lab-grown diamonds.
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A relatively self-explanatory concept, lab-grown diamonds are diamonds that have been manufactured by humans in a controlled environment. They don't require the back-breaking labour. They don't require the same amount of time (3 billion years would be one long waiting list).
‘Some consumers won’t see lab-grown diamonds as real diamonds, and they may not feel like it holds the same prestige as ordinary diamonds.’ explained Matilde Mourinho Felix, founder of newly launched lab-grown diamond jewellery label, Matilde. Felix also believes that the reasons that some leading jewellery brands haven’t tapped into the lab-grown diamond business is because they are traditionalist or because they may fear alienating their core consumers. However, demand is growing exponentially.
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“Although the shift towards demand for a more ethical, sustainable and affordable offering of diamonds has been gradual, for me 2019 felt like a pivoting point.” says Mourinho Felix. “Forbes has reported that in 2019, demand for lab-grown diamonds had increased by 20%, while the rough diamond market suffered a 25% decline in sales.”
Felix built her brand based on her love for jewellery, but the more research she did, the more she realised how little she knew about the origins of the most sentimental pieces that she already owned. During her market research she found that shopping priorities of consumers had changed and is changing with ‘sustainability and transparency becoming very much a priority’.
When building her own brand ‘Matilde’, Felix also took into consideration that her peers and younger customers whom may share the same passion for diamonds, won’t necessarily have the same disposable income and are often aspirational consumers.
“I really wanted to create a brand that allowed consumers from all economic demographics to be able to have the option to make conscious sustainable choices, with the best quality materials, same prestige, without breaking the bank.” That is one of the benefits of this offering. Costs for developing lab-grown diamonds make them much cheaper, but also likely due to the historical lack of awareness and subsequent demand.
As the popularity of lab-grown diamonds begins to gather pace, we also caught up with the girls behind Kimaï - a luxury ethical jewellery brand specialising in lab-grown diamonds - to discover some more truths about the phenomenon, and why their family backgrounds in natural diamonds encouraged them to make the move to lab-grown…
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Question: Talk us through your family's history in natural diamond mining?
Answer: Sidney: Jessica and I are childhood friends and grew up together in Antwerp, Belgium. Our families were both in the diamond and jewellery industry; Jessica was born into a family of [natural] diamond traders and both my father and grandfather were well established Belgian jewellers, so from a young age we grew up with knowledge and an understanding of the industry.
Question: What made you decide to branch out into lab-grown diamonds?
Answer: Jessica: Thanks to our families’ background, Sidney and I were both granted an unusual insight from a very young age into the diamond and jewellery industry which is famously shrouded in mystery and controversy. As we grew up, we were more and more curious about supply chains and it became important to us to know where the things we were buying originated from. So that’s why, in 2018, we joined our creative and business heads to co-found Kimaï. We wanted to address this lack of transparency and set out to realign the industry by creating a modern brand which set out to deliver progressive – but luxurious – fine-jewellery, catered to an ethically and environmentally conscious generation of consumers.
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Question: Lab-grown diamonds are no doubt more ethical, but is it also a more sustainable method than natural diamond mining?
Answer: Sidney: Lab-grown diamonds are created using extreme pressure and heat inside a machine. It is true that they need a significant amount of energy, however the type and quantity of energy used is very different. Mining in remote areas can require the use of Diesel generators, whereas we use labs located in areas where they use solar power and other renewable sources of electricity. This helps us to ensure a sustainable and human friendly production process, whereas mined diamonds can have a very large carbon footprint. Mining diamonds also uses double the amount of energy than that required in labs.
Question: What are the physical differences (if any) between lab-grown and natural diamonds? Would an expert be able to tell them apart?
Answer: Jessica: Mined and lab-grown diamonds are physically and aesthetically identical. The only difference is how the diamond is formed. To make a lab-grown diamond, we replicate the conditions in which traditional diamonds grow below the earth’s surface. The result is identical in colour, cut, carat and clarity and retains the sought-after magic of traditional diamonds without the ethical and environmental impact the industry has long been associated with. In 2018, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) re-categorised the definition of a diamond, removing the word ‘natural’. So, there is now no classified, scientific or molecular difference between mined and lab-grown diamonds, with industry experts unable to tell the difference visually.
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Question: Why are lab-grown diamonds so much more affordable, and do you see them increasing in value soon?
Answer: Value for us is knowing where things come from and being confident about the positive impact we have on our planet. Thats what our generation see as better value nowadays. It comes with the story of the piece and the moment in life.
So what are the pros & cons?
There is no compromise on quality, lab-grown diamonds are physically, chemically identical in every single way to traditional ones. The only difference is the origin - instead of being mined from the earth it’s grown in a controlled replicative environment
More ethical and sustainable
It’s cheaper
‘You could argue that lab-grown diamonds take away from a lot of mining jobs which are vital for communities, but taking into consideration the overall impact that the mining industry has on the environment, wildlife and on surrounding communities as well as it’s questionable ethical impact, makes you consider the compromise.’ says Mourinho Felix
Well, sounds like a no brainer to us. If you’re looking for a glamourous, sentimental yet ethical and sustainable gift for a loved one or even shopping for the big day, look no further than our pick of favourite lab-grown diamond brands offerings below.
