Are factory made diamonds respectable/reputable/quality?

[pawnshopstop]

I've heard that they are made of the same material as mined diamonds and that they are technically 100% real diamonds, but FMD's are generally much cheaper then the ones that are mined; which is why im asking this question today.

I wanted to buy a 3.3 carat genuine diamond watch which is marked down from $2,700 to $927 from one site, but am now considering buying a factory made diamond watch which is marked down from $3500 to $450 (on amazon). It is 65 carats.

links to each below. in addition to my question, which do you think is better to buy?

http://www.itshot.com/joe-rodeo-junior-mens-diamond-watch-33ct-yellow-gold-plated.aspx

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LMW9SA/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=J6Y36A575A17&coliid=I2F38084PX079Sspe

My main questions are,

1.) Are factory diamonds generally respected by people who buy or know diamonds, and do they often have a good quality look?
2.) Which of the above is a better buy?


I appreciate your answers.

 

[c-k]

Sorry...you are in the wrong forum

 

[heididdl]

Agreed go real or go it alone sorry

 

[pawnshopstop]

Sorry...you are in the wrong forum

Sorry, just Googled diamond discussion forum and this is the first to pop up. thought someone mightve known something.

 

[vintageinjune]

Honestly, while lab grown diamonds are fantastic, they really aren't widely used as of yet (I'm talking real, solid carbon diamonds).

I think the second watch you were looking at is made with CZ, not lab-grown diamonds, so the first watch with the genuine, mined diamonds is the much better value in terms of what you are looking for.

As far as lab grown diamonds (not simulants) are concerned, you cannot tell a difference from a mined diamond by the naked eye, so yes, they will look great as long as you buy one with a good combination of the 4 C's. As far as "respected" goes, I think lab grown diamonds are in the sticky middle ground where some people love them, and others believe them to be worthless. Personally, I do not care much about where a stone originates from (beauty trumps origin in my book), but some people are very emotionally involved in the idea that if a stone is not mined, it isn't real, so it is something you'd have to figure out for yourself.

 

[pawnshopstop]

Honestly, while lab grown diamonds are fantastic, they really aren't widely used as of yet (I'm talking real, solid carbon diamonds).

I think the second watch you were looking at is made with CZ, not lab-grown diamonds, so the first watch with the genuine, mined diamonds is the much better value in terms of what you are looking for.

As far as lab grown diamonds (not simulants) are concerned, you cannot tell a difference from a mined diamond by the naked eye, so yes, they will look great as long as you buy one with a good combination of the 4 C's. As far as "respected" goes, I think lab grown diamonds are in the sticky middle ground where some people love them, and others believe them to be worthless. Personally, I do not care much about where a stone originates from (beauty trumps origin in my book), but some people are very emotionally involved in the idea that if a stone is not mined, it isn't real, so it is something you'd have to figure out for yourself.

Thanks!

I was sure at least SOMEONE here could provide some actual feedback.

 

[ChristineRose]

Unfortunately the vast majority of things marked as lab diamonds are mislabeled CZ.

Real lab diamonds are the same price as mined diamonds.

Mined white diamonds = $$$$
Lab white diamonds = $$$$
Mined colored diamonds = $$$$$$$
Lab colored diamonds = $$$$

Lab diamonds are identical optically and chemically to mined diamonds and there is no quality advantage to one or the other. They tend to on average be higher in cut and clarity compared to mined diamonds especially in colors, as colored diamonds are rare and people will sell some very ugly diamonds just because they are a rare color.

Nobody grows small white diamonds like are found in that watch. Whites are too hard to grow and small stones are not cost effective.

Respected is a mixed bag. Many people despise all diamonds, or despise mined diamonds, or despise lab diamonds. Many people love them. Overall the snobs prefer the mined diamonds.

As far as investment, all diamonds are terrible investments and cannot be resold for anywhere near what you paid for them. This is in contrast to something like gold, where you can buy in the morning and sell in the afternoon and only be out a small commission. The retail prices of diamonds go up and down, but the market is a monopoly and there is little relationship between what the stores must charge and what you can sell for. Labs are roughly comparable to mined here, except that the mined market is larger and the lab market is more passionate about their choices.

Better buy is hard to quantify. Two pieces can look and act identically but the CZ sells for 1/1000 of the price of the D IF. But personally I wouldn't even think of buying from someone who misrepresents CZ as diamonds. That's fraud, and you're better off walking away.

 

[vintageinjune]

Unfortunately the vast majority of things marked as lab diamonds are mislabeled CZ.... But personally I wouldn't even think of buying from someone who misrepresents CZ as diamonds. That's fraud, and you're better off walking away.

Very much this, as well as your other very well thought out and articulated points.

 

[pawnshopstop]

Thanks again guys.

 

[vintageinjune]

You bet, let us know what you end up going with, and don't forget to post pictures!

 

[nicko1985IPX]

I saw earlier someone said that mined diamonds are the same price as lab created diamonds.
From everything I have seen in my research this is completely wrong, very high grade lab created diamonds look to be around 40-60% of the price of a mined one. Am I missing something?

 

[ChristineRose]

There are several things you may be missing.

One is that you really can't compare prices of stones graded by GIA or AGL to stones graded by IGI. Almost all lab grown diamonds are graded by IGI.

Another is that the prices of mined diamonds vary enormously depending on where you buy them. You can find the exact same stone at Blue Nile for half of what it costs at Kay or Zales.

Another is that you may be looking at overpriced cubic zirconia. A lot of the crooks are trying to hit that sweet spot where you think it's too expensive to be a CZ but still cheap enough to convince you you're getting a bargain.

All that aside, the prices of lab stones are dropping.

The best way to get a fair price comparison is to use the diamond search here on PS and plug in the parameters for whatever lab stones you're looking at. But when you pick LAB, pick "Other."

I do this periodically and I'd say the lab discount is more like 25% right now.

 

[denverappraiser]

I saw earlier someone said that mined diamonds are the same price as lab created diamonds.
From everything I have seen in my research this is completely wrong, very high grade lab created diamonds look to be around 40-60% of the price of a mined one. Am I missing something?

Yes, you are missing something, although to be fair, you're hardly the only one. The media is anxious to see synthetics take a chunk out of the diamond business. It isn't happening but it might, and the first outlet to report it gets a scoop. That's sort of the way the media works. There are three easy ways to manipulate this statistic.

1) SOME outlets for natural diamonds are quite expensive, others less so. The hotel gift shop in Aspen isn't really the cheapest place to buy things and no one with any sense expects it, but the news people can compare prices there to prices at the discount outlets for synthetics and observe that there's a big 'discount'. Maybe so. Hot dogs cost more at the ballpark too. Markets matter.

2) SOME natural diamonds, notably fancy blues, reds, pinks and other colors, are psycho expensive. Synthetics compete at pennies on the dollar. If you look at what the growers have for sale, they've got a lot of this, for this reason. They've got a market niche here. That's not a criticism, that's good marketing, but at the same time it's fodder for people who want to produce deceptive statistics. The average manmade diamond is cheaper than it's natural counterpart. That's true, but it doesn't exactly mean what people think.

3) Some people just lie. Some of this stuff is just made up. If you say it enough times loudly enough, people start to believe it and start to repeat it in their own blogs.

Fortunately it's easy to look for yourself. Two of the biggest players in manmade diamonds, d.nea and gemesis, sell online. They publicly publish their entire inventories, with prices. Comparable natural stones are also sold online in a very similar marketplaces. There's a search utility on this very site for example. It's easy peasy to compare. You tell me. Outside of fancy colors, do you see manmade stones being offered for 40% of the cost of comparable mined ones? Neither do I.

 

[denverappraiser]

A few years ago I wrote an article on the topic of why tiny little manmade diamonds AREN'T cheaper than their mined counterparts.

https://www.pricescope.com/journal/why-aren%E2%80%99t-synthetic-diamonds-cheaper

It still applies. The chances that the diamonds in your watch might be synthetic is extremely low, and even if they are, that's not the explanation for the price.

 

[rockhoundofficiando]

I saw earlier someone said that mined diamonds are the same price as lab created diamonds.
From everything I have seen in my research this is completely wrong, very high grade lab created diamonds look to be around 40-60% of the price of a mined one. Am I missing something?

Yes, you are missing something, although to be fair, you're hardly the only one. The media is anxious to see synthetics take a chunk out of the diamond business. It isn't happening but it might, and the first outlet to report it gets a scoop. That's sort of the way the media works. There are three easy ways to manipulate this statistic.

1) SOME outlets for natural diamonds are quite expensive, others less so. The hotel gift shop in Aspen isn't really the cheapest place to buy things and no one with any sense expects it, but the news people can compare prices there to prices at the discount outlets for synthetics and observe that there's a big 'discount'. Maybe so. Hot dogs cost more at the ballpark too. Markets matter.

2) SOME natural diamonds, notably fancy blues, reds, pinks and other colors, are psycho expensive. Synthetics compete at pennies on the dollar. If you look at what the growers have for sale, they've got a lot of this, for this reason. They've got a market niche here. That's not a criticism, that's good marketing, but at the same time it's fodder for people who want to produce deceptive statistics. The average manmade diamond is cheaper than it's natural counterpart. That's true, but it doesn't exactly mean what people think.

3) Some people just lie. Some of this stuff is just made up. If you say it enough times loudly enough, people start to believe it and start to repeat it in their own blogs.

Fortunately it's easy to look for yourself. Two of the biggest players in manmade diamonds, d.nea and gemesis, sell online. They publicly publish their entire inventories, with prices. Comparable natural stones are also sold online in a very similar marketplaces. There's a search utility on this very site for example. It's easy peasy to compare. You tell me. Outside of fancy colors, do you see manmade stones being offered for 40% of the cost of comparable mined ones? Neither do I.

Interesting.