Diamond has always been a premium commodity that showcase luxury, preciousness and recalled as women’s best friend. But these days when you plan to buy a diamond jewellery and you start to research online, you will come across a term called ‘Lab Grown Diamond’. Now this will confuse you if you have never heard it before, but nothing to worry. In this article we will be covering everything in detail such as difference between Natural and Lab grown diamond? What should you buy and does it even matter?
What is Natural Diamond and Lab Grown Diamond?
Natural Diamond are the diamonds which are produced by the process of mining in various mining hub across the globe. These diamond are formed naturally, deep inside the earth’s mantle layer under extreme heat and pressure.
Lab-Grown Diamond as the name suggest are grown inside the Labs. They are developed in a controlled environment that mimics the conditions that results into the formation of Natural Diamond using Advance technologies. This is achieved using two primary methods namely High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD).
Now we know what are the basic difference between these two types of diamond. Lets understand what are the key points to consider before purchasing Natural and Lab Grown Diamond.
Key Considerations before purchasing Diamond?
As a buyer you need to understand few things and take it into consideration before choosing between Natural and Lab Grown Diamond.
Diamond Quality & Value
Quality of the diamond is what matters the most.
Natural Diamond : The value of a Natural Diamond is mostly based on the 4Cs of Diamond which is carat, cut, color, and clarity.
Secondly an add-on factor that affects its pricing is its natural rarity. Since these diamonds are made naturally they come with a premium cost for rarity.
Thirdly, these diamonds are extracted by mining. Hence its selling value has a cost associated to the mining cost.
Lab Grown Diamond: Like Natural Diamond, these diamond also adhere to the 4Cs of carat, cut, color and clarity. In terms of pricing, they are usually lower than Natural Diamonds almost around 20-30% cheaper as it is lab grown and does not have mining cost associated with it.
On the negative side we can say that Lab Grown Diamond lack the natural rarity which is found in Natural Diamonds.
Ethical & Environmental Impact
This could be the least bothering point for a buyer while choosing a Lab grown and Natural Diamond but we feel its important to discuss.
Natural Diamond : Traditional mining process usually comes with severe environmental and social impact. The wild environment of mining sites is hazardous, destroys the natural habitant around it and always inclined towards the unethical practices like labor exploitation.
Lab Grown Diamond : Lab grown diamond have lower environmental foot print as it is developed within a lab and is seen as more ethical option. Human rights issues which are usually connected with Mining gets avoided.
Resale Value
This should be an important criteria for anyone before purchasing a diamond jewellery. If we ignore the complexity of Jewellery Resale value which in itself is complex and stick to a laymen language. Then generally it has been observed that Natural Diamonds have better resale price compared to the Lab grown diamond.
As you already know Lab grown diamond are new for this market and it is still evolving. Secondly Natural Diamonds which are there from a long time in the world and have been tested by time. Naturally people will stick more towards Natural diamond who are looking to lock the higher value of assets along with having an exquisite jewellery.
But with time when the lab grown diamond market will evolve, resale value will automatically be adjusted.
Few FAQs
No, it is nearly impossible to distinguish between the two without any specialized equipment. This is because it has the same physical, chemical, and optical properties.
Yes, lab-grown diamonds are equally durable as natural diamonds because it has the same properties of a natural diamond.
Yes, Lab grown diamonds have resale value but normally it is observed to be lower than Natural Diamond.
Yes, Lab grown diamonds are 100% real diamonds just like Natural Diamonds and you should not have any negative thought about its authenticity.
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