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Deciding whether to go lab grown

N

Nicm

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 27, 2020
Messages
53
Hi everyone

I had my earth diamond ring delivered the other day and have been clogging up the Rocky Talky page deciding whether to keep it. I had previously considered a lab grown diamond and talked myself out of it. Could you please help me with some questions?

1. Do you tell people it is lab grown? I worry people would think of it as a CZ and not understand.
2. Is IGI the best certificate for lab grown?

Thanks in advance for any responses!

(Edited to remove question on where to purchase after seeing the vendor list sticky.)
 
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It depends on the situation whether I tell people. None of their business....if you don't want to mention it then don't. Its still a diamond and will look much different from Cz imo. In my experience they'll just compliment your ring or whatever it's set in.

IGI is the best as of this moment but the GIA is starting to get into lab grown stones more now too. I haven't had any bad experiences with the IGI.
 
I am new to this area and just learning about it. Aren't lab grown diamonds exactly the same in composition as mined diamonds?

ThiaChelf said:
It depends on the situation whether I tell people. None of their business....if you don't want to mention it then don't. Its still a diamond and will look much different from Cz imo. In my experience they'll just compliment your ring or whatever it's set in.

IGI is the best as of this moment but the GIA is starting to get into lab grown stones more now too. I haven't had any bad experiences with the IGI.
Click to expand...
 
Nicm said:
Hi everyone

I had my earth diamond ring delivered the other day and have been clogging up the Rocky Talky page deciding whether to keep it. I had previously considered a lab grown diamond and talked myself out of it. Could you please help me with some questions?

1. Do you tell people it is lab grown? I worry people would think of it as a CZ and not understand.
2. Is IGI the best certificate for lab grown?

Thanks in advance for any responses!

(Edited to remove question on where to purchase after seeing the vendor list sticky.)
Click to expand...

It is your business and your business alone. What you tell people is up to you. NONE of their business. It's pretty nervy for anyone to come out and ask you IMO. From what I understand (and I am just learning about this area) lab grown diamonds are exactly the same as mined diamonds. They are "real" diamonds and nothing like CZ.
 
Who cares what they think?
It's a real diamond by composition using cutting edge technologies in an ever evolving market that will have beneficial results for many people. From another perspective it will somewhat erode the easiest traditional status symbol qualifiers; that can be a threatening proposition to the people that put a lot of intrinsic/monetary value on material markers for distinction. It will make those more attainable.
I personally think there is ample room for both and having the options to match your wants and parameters are a great thing.
Most people don't care truly in any event, they buy both mined and grown and take the same joy with the variety. Sparkly is sparkly, after all.
If they do take issue with your decision to do so, you have to wonder why.
Don't sweat the small stuff...it's not their ring. It's yours :))
 
Would you tell people if you are wearing a lab created gemstone?I think the people who would care to know are the same ones who make assumptions of people based on their material possessions. Do you care to feed their curiosity? Or is it a matter of sharing this new discovery and the fact that they too can find affordable diamonds? Lots of if’s
 
A diamond is a diamond. Vrai is coming with GIA reports now.
 
There have been several threads debating feelings about lab diamonds, if you do a quick search reading those threads might help you as you mull things over.

In my general life no one has ever asked for details about my mined diamond or my lab diamond jewelry. When someone compliments me on either I just say thank you. If lab-grown diamonds came up naturally in conversation I’d have no problem giving details and talking about mine because I bought them for myself to enjoy, and I’m not concerned with anyone else’s opinion.

I realize they aren’t for everyone though and that’s fine too! Often there are other emotions and considerations folded into our jewelry purchases — why do you worry if someone else thinks it’s CZ? Why would that bother you? Those are valid feelings that you should explore, and only you can decide your own personal resolution for those concerns.
 
123ducklings said:
There have been several threads debating feelings about lab diamonds, if you do a quick search reading those threads might help you as you mull things over.

In my general life no one has ever asked for details about my mined diamond or my lab diamond jewelry. When someone compliments me on either I just say thank you. If lab-grown diamonds came up naturally in conversation I’d have no problem giving details and talking about mine because I bought them for myself to enjoy, and I’m not concerned with anyone else’s opinion.

I realize they aren’t for everyone though and that’s fine too! Often there are other emotions and considerations folded into our jewelry purchases — why do you worry if someone else thinks it’s CZ? Why would that bother you? Those are valid feelings that you should explore, and only you can decide your own personal resolution for those concerns.
Click to expand...

Yes. These are valid concerns if they concern you!
 
123ducklings said:
There have been several threads debating feelings about lab diamonds, if you do a quick search reading those threads might help you as you mull things over.

In my general life no one has ever asked for details about my mined diamond or my lab diamond jewelry. When someone compliments me on either I just say thank you. If lab-grown diamonds came up naturally in conversation I’d have no problem giving details and talking about mine because I bought them for myself to enjoy, and I’m not concerned with anyone else’s opinion.

I realize they aren’t for everyone though and that’s fine too! Often there are other emotions and considerations folded into our jewelry purchases — why do you worry if someone else thinks it’s CZ? Why would that bother you? Those are valid feelings that you should explore, and only you can decide your own personal resolution for those concerns.
Click to expand...

This is me too. I talk about it if it comes up and I'm even willing to help someone with their purchase. I bought all my stones for myself...for my own enjoyment only....so their opinion doesn't matter to me much in the long run.
 
CZ is not a real diamond. It never looks the same. It’s also softer and tends to get a bit cloudy looking after a relatively short time of daily wear. These limitations are the reason CZ as a diamond ring sub has never caught on.

A lab diamond is a real diamond. It looks the same and is equally as durable. There are reasons many prefer to go with mined, but that doesn’t make lab inferior. It’s a preference.

Most people overestimate how much others judge them. No one has ever asked me about the origins of my jewelry and I would think that was a very odd question.
 
AprilBaby said:
A diamond is a diamond. Vrai is coming with GIA reports now.
Click to expand...

If these are the certs you’re referring to, they only come from a GIA certed gemologist NOT GIA. I’m not saying they’re a bad company, but I feel like they’re trying to give more credibility to their in house grading by making it look like a GIA cert.
5591C214-E8F2-4FB0-AA84-100F7D34883E.jpeg
 
Don't make the choice on what others might think - they can keep their sticky beaks out !
Buy what you will be most happy with on your finger all day
By all means shear all the details with us here, but its about you and what you want - no one else matters and don't let someone else's opinion sway you from something you will get enjoyment over - after all its your money not theirs !
 
anangel said:
If these are the certs you’re referring to, they only come from a GIA certed gemologist NOT GIA. I’m not saying they’re a bad company, but I feel like they’re trying to give more credibility to their in house grading by making it look like a GIA cert.
5591C214-E8F2-4FB0-AA84-100F7D34883E.jpeg
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification. I had an email telling me they had GIA certo and took their word for it.
 
I find that certificate quite misleading. I think many people could mistake it for a certificate issued by the GIA and will not realise it is instead a statement from the in house gemologist.

I've heard about tints in diamonds which are at odds with the colour grade on the certificate - surely an I/J colour stone should not have a brown tint. I'm assuming the GIA would not record it as such.
 
Nicm said:
Hi everyone

I had my earth diamond ring delivered the other day and have been clogging up the Rocky Talky page deciding whether to keep it. I had previously considered a lab grown diamond and talked myself out of it. Could you please help me with some questions?

1. Do you tell people it is lab grown? I worry people would think of it as a CZ and not understand.
2. Is IGI the best certificate for lab grown?

Thanks in advance for any responses!

(Edited to remove question on where to purchase after seeing the vendor list sticky.)
Click to expand...

Are you worried that people will make assumptions based on the price difference—since that is one of the fundamental differences? If so, what assumptions would bother you?
 
missy said:
I am new to this area and just learning about it. Aren't lab grown diamonds exactly the same in composition as mined diamonds?
Click to expand...
Welcome to the Dark Side... ;) :D
 
ItsMainelyYou said:
Who cares what they think?
It's a real diamond by composition using cutting edge technologies in an ever evolving market that will have beneficial results for many people. From another perspective it will somewhat erode the easiest traditional status symbol qualifiers; that can be a threatening proposition to the people that put a lot of intrinsic/monetary value on material markers for distinction. It will make those more attainable.
I personally think there is ample room for both and having the options to match your wants and parameters are a great thing.
Most people don't care truly in any event, they buy both mined and grown and take the same joy with the variety. Sparkly is sparkly, after all.
If they do take issue with your decision to do so, you have to wonder why.
Don't sweat the small stuff...it's not their ring. It's yours :))
Click to expand...
This post is everything I would want to say but said much better :D
 
It’s carbon to carbon exactly the same. Whether you like it coming from the earth or in a lab. It does not look like CZ. It looks like your mined diamond because it’s a ... diamond.

Will lab diamond makes mine diamond obsolete? That’s up for another debate.
 
If you don’t care about it coming from the ground and being billions of years old, then I say go for lab diamond! But if you do care about that, then go for natural because that and the price are the only differences. I absolutely love my lab diamond, and all of the money that was saved was a bonus!

I was able to get a pretty large diamond (in my area, anyways), with great specs and the girls I work with always swoon at my ring. They have never asked if it’s lab or natural, but I went ahead and voluntarily told them it’s lab, as some of them are heading near engagement and are looking into rings. I recommended going lab for all of the reasons mentioned above. They had never heard of lab diamonds before and thought mine was a natural diamond, and they are now strongly considering going lab.

As for the certification/grading mine is graded by GCAL. Both IGI and GCAL grade lab diamonds, and IGI has improved a lot and is considered reputable now from what I’ve read. Also, GIA is now grading lab diamonds!
 
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I think my only concern about lab stones would be their value, should I ever need to sell them. Having said that, if you're in a situation where you need to sell diamonds (lab or mined), you're not in a place to worry about how much something's devaluated. At the end of the day, someone who is seeking a lab stone will happily buy it at a reasonable price. My feeling is that in another decade, there will be more people who will buy lab stones so a separate market place for them.

If your earth mined stone is beautiful and you love it, then keep it. If however you can't help but think you can get a bigger and prettier lab stone for the price you paid for the mined one, go for it! There's definitely no need to disclose its origins - it's a diamond :D
 
@missy -- At trace levels (0.0000001 % - 0.1%), the composition of synthetic jewelry-grade diamonds is different from that of mined jewelry-grade diamonds. The differences affect color, clarity, perceived polish quality, fluorescence, and phosphorescence.

Diamonds made via Chemical Vapor Deposition are routinely subjected to High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) treatments to artificially improve color, without further disclosure. Mined diamonds that are subjected to HPHT are subject to disclosure, and are sold for a discount compared to untreated mined diamonds of otherwise similar quality.

Observations on HPHT-Grown Synthetic Diamonds: A Review | Gems & Gemology

Summarizes statistical data and distinctive features of several thousand gem-quality HPHT synthetic diamonds examined by GIA from 2007 through 2016.
www.gia.edu www.gia.edu

HPHT and CVD Diamond Growth Processes | How Lab-Grown Diamonds are Made | GIA

While more people are becoming familiar with lab-grown diamonds, many still don’t know how they are actually made. Learn about the two diamond growth processes, HPHT and CVD.
www.gia.edu
www.gia.edu

Chart: Inclusions in Natural, Synthetic, and Treated Diamond | Gems & Gemology

Provides a visual guide to the internal features of natural, synthetic, and treated diamonds.
www.gia.edu www.gia.edu
 
jasper said:
@missy Diamonds made via Chemical Vapor Deposition are routinely subjected to High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) treatments to artificially improve color, without further disclosure. Mined diamonds that are subjected to HPHT are subject to disclosure, and are sold for a discount compared to untreated mined diamonds of otherwise similar quality.

Observations on HPHT-Grown Synthetic Diamonds: A Review | Gems & Gemology

Summarizes statistical data and distinctive features of several thousand gem-quality HPHT synthetic diamonds examined by GIA from 2007 through 2016.
www.gia.edu www.gia.edu

HPHT and CVD Diamond Growth Processes | How Lab-Grown Diamonds are Made | GIA

While more people are becoming familiar with lab-grown diamonds, many still don’t know how they are actually made. Learn about the two diamond growth processes, HPHT and CVD.
www.gia.edu
www.gia.edu

Chart: Inclusions in Natural, Synthetic, and Treated Diamond | Gems & Gemology

Provides a visual guide to the internal features of natural, synthetic, and treated diamonds.
www.gia.edu www.gia.edu
Click to expand...
Hi Jasper, Not sure I totally believed them, but last year at the Vegas JCK show I met the De Beers Lightbox people and asked about post HPHT treatment, and as i remember they said they have imporved processes that do not require HPHT.

And an aside - I happened to be in Portland Oregon 2 years ago when the first sod was turned on the Lightbox factory. This photo was taken a day later trying to illegally enter the new diamond mine site.Garry climbing fence De Beers lightbox factory site.jpg
 
The way I look at it myself is that, lab grown diamonds are still diamonds and not simulants.

They are more affordable and within my reach, whereas the earth-mined ones are not for the size that I would like in an OEC and a Heart.

I don't care what others may think, and regularly mix costume jewellery pieces with real ones.

If I were concerned about what others may think, then I would probably get the sizes that I can afford in earth-mined equivalent based on no more than 12 times my monthly salary.

I may go down the Moissy route first though, as they are even more affordable, to test if I really really want more significant diamond pieces.

DK :))
 
jasper said:
@missy -- At trace levels (0.0000001 % - 0.1%), the composition of synthetic jewelry-grade diamonds is different from that of mined jewelry-grade diamonds. The differences affect color, clarity, perceived polish quality, fluorescence, and phosphorescence.

Diamonds made via Chemical Vapor Deposition are routinely subjected to High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) treatments to artificially improve color, without further disclosure. Mined diamonds that are subjected to HPHT are subject to disclosure, and are sold for a discount compared to untreated mined diamonds of otherwise similar quality.

Observations on HPHT-Grown Synthetic Diamonds: A Review | Gems & Gemology

Summarizes statistical data and distinctive features of several thousand gem-quality HPHT synthetic diamonds examined by GIA from 2007 through 2016.
www.gia.edu www.gia.edu

HPHT and CVD Diamond Growth Processes | How Lab-Grown Diamonds are Made | GIA

While more people are becoming familiar with lab-grown diamonds, many still don’t know how they are actually made. Learn about the two diamond growth processes, HPHT and CVD.
www.gia.edu
www.gia.edu

Chart: Inclusions in Natural, Synthetic, and Treated Diamond | Gems & Gemology

Provides a visual guide to the internal features of natural, synthetic, and treated diamonds.
www.gia.edu www.gia.edu
Click to expand...

Very interesting @jasper thanks for the info. Which process (if either) is superior in making MMDs? HPHT or CVD? And I wonder what percentage of CVD diamonds are subjected to HPHT treatment?

dk168 said:
The way I look at it myself is that, lab grown diamonds are still diamonds and not simulants.

They are more affordable and within my reach, whereas the earth-mined ones are not for the size that I would like in an OEC and a Heart.

I don't care what others may think, and regularly mix costume jewellery pieces with real ones.
Click to expand...

I agree. I do not put any stock in what others may or may not think about what I enjoy wearing. I don't yet own a MMD but I am open to it.

I just want to learn more about it. Why do I love diamonds in the first place? Because they are beautiful and bring me joy. So I don't see why I wouldn't enjoy an MMD if it is exactly the same. But my question is....is it exactly the same? Based on what @jasper wrote above perhaps it is not exactly the same. Of course that does not mean it isn't beautiful but it gives me pause.

As of now, being the old cut soul that I am, there are not many options to get OECs and OMCs as lab diamonds. For the time being the prices on those remain relatively high. Since there is only one or two businesses cutting old cut lab diamonds as far as I know.
 
@missy I agree with you that prices are still on the high side for OECs as seen on Distinctive Gem's website.

I have not looked at any other site though.

DK :))
 
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