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I am going synthetic and my SO doesn't care!

GiantMeteor2016

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 26, 2016
Messages
7
Weeks after searching we finally discussed a synthetic diamond and she said she didn't care as long as it was pure carbon.

Every jeweler has tried to run me over -

Diamonds are super rare.

All the rumors about diamond hordes? Total hearsay.

Synthetics are garbage/fake.

Synthetics have no value and will flood the market soon. Wait..this is for an engagement ring right? Hell, if we break-up I'd be happier if it was worthless for her, or on the flip side, ill take my worthless diamond back and make something for myself!

We can't afford to have our stones graded by GIA because its too expensive.

All SI stones are eye-clean.

You can't buy a diamond online.

We can't compete with online. Hilariously, the local shop that advertises lab diamonds told me this in response to me sending him a NATURAL 1.24 K diamond for comparison!

We are only making a few hundred $$$ on this $6,000 stone we are selling. Also, we only accept $100s as payment.

Those rap sheets posted by the pro-diamond guy from two weeks ago? Rubbish. Tell you nothing.

Online James Allen, et all are all crap diamonds. All those JA stones you sent us to look at? Crap.

They can only hold this ONE specific diamond because its on loan and could be sold any minute - ya, that 1.2 K VS2? HOT, HOT, HOT!

So finally - It has come down to this - the logical conclusion for me - Synthetic Diamonds.

I've already converted one friend over to my side.
 

ChristineRose

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 5, 2012
Messages
926
I personally would rather celebrate science than strip mining, but the industry has gone out of its way to ruin the synthetic market.

Make sure you are not being sold a Cubic Zironcia. 95% of what's on eBay is CZ. So the first step is finding a reputable dealer to help you, or educating yourself enough to wade through the selection.

After that, I would limit myself only to stones with a GCAL certificate. GCAL uses different techniques than the other reputable labs, so it's hard to compare a GIA to a GCAL. Other than that, most of the rules and tools discussed on these boards and in the knowledge base apply to synthetics.

For color, you will probably want to go higher than the usual recommendation of G-I or J-K if you want warmth, because synthetics skew grey.

Inclusions in synthetics are different than in natural, so if you're hoping to save money by going for eye-clean but included, you'll have to be very careful. Especially watch out for large clouds, especially clouds that are the grade-making inclusions.
 

Bron357

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 22, 2014
Messages
6,532
Only diamonds are pure carbon. I guess you mean buying a lab grown diamond as opposed to an earth mined diamond. The other substitutes are different combinations of elements ie CZ or Moissanite. Diamonds are what they are, no they aren't "rare" unless you're talking certain colours and if sizes, and they are expensive. However, most women love diamonds in jewellery. Gone are the days when you went down to the local jeweller and he showed you a pretty little diamond ring or two (half a carat or less) and you put down your deposit for layby on the chosen one and paid it off over time and everyone was very happy. Now it's videos, GIA reports, its angles, cuts, colour, light return, fluoresce, clarity grade and no one goes to the local jeweller anymore (mainly because he no longer exists instead you have Mall, chain, or franchise jeweller stores where the staff know next to nothing except selling you the most expensive). It's now a cut throat world and people will lie and cheat. Sales people now cajole you, use reverse psychology on you, make assertions, make assumptions, imply all is lost unless you "reserve this one right now" so I can understand your frustration bordering on despair.
The experienced PSers here can help you chose the best diamond for your money, taking into account what matters to you in the order it matters, be it carat, cut, colour or clarity. They do this because they love diamonds, they know diamonds and they hate to see people new to this big wide maze of diamonds being ripped off, being sold "a turkey " or becoming overwhelmed and disheartened. Diamonds are beautiful and special and it's worth the effort to find the best one for you, and it can be done. Just ask for advice and help.
 

denverappraiser

Ideal_Rock
Trade
Joined
Jul 21, 2004
Messages
9,150
Diamonds are super rare.

It depends on what you mean by rarity. There are plenty of materials that are more scarce than diamonds, including synthetic diamonds. What diamonds do differently is demand. There’s a big demand because there are a LOT of potential brides out there and there's a generations long record of people connecting them to marriage. As long as diamonds are attached to marriage, demand will be there. Start with the world population and do some math to estimate how many brides there are each year. It's staggering.

The entire worlds annual production of gem diamonds would fit in a single truckload, and most of those are tiny and ugly. That’s a lot of diamonds, but on the scale of such things, they really are pretty rare.



All the rumors about diamond hordes? Total hearsay.


Yes, it is. See above about rarity. DeBeers has been out of the hoarding business for decades because it very nearly sank them. They did some very clever things in building up the diamond business but that wasn't one of them. There are no warehouses or swimming pools full of diamonds.



Synthetics are garbage/fake.

Nonsense.


Synthetics have no value and will flood the market soon. Wait..this is for an engagement ring right? Hell, if we break-up I'd be happier if it was worthless for her, or on the flip side, ill take my worthless diamond back and make something for myself!


This is totally unsupported. All of the synthetic gem diamonds ever produced is under a ton. The secondary market is, at the moment, effectively nonexistent. Yes, this will change, but not all that quickly. They really are pretty hard to make. You would be hard pressed to buy a ‘used’ synthetic even if you tried, so making sweeping statements about what a disaster the marketplace is a giant stretch. If you dig into this, by the way, watch out for fakes. One of the big problems in the synthetic market is people selling synthetic things that aren’t diamonds and they are either lying outright or marketing to people who don’t read the fine print. CZ, Moissanite, Asha, et. al. are NOT the same thing.


We can't afford to have our stones graded by GIA because its too expensive.

GIA publishes their prices for all to see on their website. www.gia.edu.....


All SI stones are eye-clean.

Eye-clean isn’t one of the GIA grading standards precisely because it has so much to do with things like how good your eyes are, what the lighting is like, and whether you know what to look for. This is simply not part of the clarity standards, as much as people wish it was.


You can't buy a diamond online.

Tell it to the dealers like Blue Nile and James Allen who are successfully selling millions of dollars a DAY in diamonds. At least 90% of the consumers actively participating in this forum have successfully bought at least one diamond online. I would call that plenty of evidence that you can, indeed, buy diamonds online.

We can't compete with online.

Shop somewhere else. The vast majority of the ‘online jewelers’ are no more or less than a store that’s in someone else’s neighborhood and is expanding to sell to far away customers. Some of the most successful online jewelers are Tiffany, Costco, and Walmart for example. Frankly, any store that doesn’t have an online presence is not long for this world.


We are only making a few hundred $$$ on this $6,000 stone we are selling. Also, we only accept $100s as payment.

So?
Never buy from a merchant that only accepts cash. Period. This is true even if you intend to pay in cash.


Those rap sheets posted by the pro-diamond guy from two weeks ago? Rubbish. Tell you nothing.

Not nothing, but not much that’s useful either. The intended purpose of the Rapaport sheets is not what you think it is and it is routinely used in misleading ways.


Online James Allen, et all are all crap diamonds. All those JA stones you sent us to look at? Crap.

Obviously not. Some is and some isn’t, just like at any other store.


They can only hold this ONE specific diamond because its on loan and could be sold any minute - ya, that 1.2 K VS2? HOT, HOT, HOT!

It’s probably true that they have the stone on consignment and will need to return it fairly quickly if you don’t buy. It’s also true that there are costs associated with bringing in stones for a presentation and no jeweler with sense will do an unlimited amount of it for ‘free’.


A few bonus comments:

Synthetics are cheaper.

No, they're not, or maybe they are. It depends on what you mean. You can buy a diamond for $10 and you can buy one for $10,000,000. The trick is in deciding what you call comparable. This is a hotly debated topic and the secret is in understanding the assumptions.

"Earth mined diamonds"

I hate this term. If you want to see something rare, try and find a diamond mined somewhere else.
 

periwinklegirl

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Feb 8, 2010
Messages
1,007
Go synthetic! Great decision. Great quality, great price, clean conscience!

Just be careful to distinguish lab created (or cultured) diamonds from actual synthetics.

Good luck!
 

Dynasty90

Rough_Rock
Joined
Feb 5, 2017
Messages
7
This is my first post, so go easy on me!

What online retailers do you recommend when it comes to buying quality CZ and/or Moissanite engagement rings?

Also, what are the reputable online retailers that sell quality lab created or cultured engagement rings?

Thanks!
 

Ella

Brilliant_Rock
Staff member
Premium
Joined
Jan 18, 2010
Messages
1,621
Folks, just to clarify, this forum is for man-made diamonds only. That does not include fakes, CZ, moissanite, etc.
 

ChristineRose

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 5, 2012
Messages
926
Hello Dynasty!

We recommend D.NEA, who posts here often. :)

Beyond that there aren't a whole lot of choices.

Brilliant Earth, formerly Gemesis, kind of dominates the market. Most lab stones are Gemesis, no matter who sells them. Quite a few retailers will have a virtual inventory of Gemesis stones on their site.

Miadonna is a full service jeweler which carries lab stones.

Good Old Gold sells a few lab diamonds. They also do super ideal lab diamonds in their patented cuts. Those are about as good as you can get in the diamond world. They don't seem to have any listed--if you talk to them they can probably get you one, even if they have to cut it for you.

Your best bet may be to go with a local jeweler who will get one for you. Almost any jeweler can get one for you--the question is whether they will, and whether they will give you enough good info so you don't get ripped off. If it's neither IGI nor GCAL, it's likely not a diamond,

I strongly recommend you stick to stones with a GCAL certificate. Most will be IGI. IGI isn't horrible, but if you are trying to get a very good stone sight unseen, GCAL is a better choice.

There are other place that can help you with sims, but not here. Just so you know, lab diamonds are only a bit less expensive than mined.
 

periwinklegirl

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Feb 8, 2010
Messages
1,007
Hi Dynasty,
I can't say enough good things about DNEA Diamonds. I have bought multiple stones from them over the years and have been entirely satisfied!

Please keep us posted!
 

Diamond_Hawk

Brilliant_Rock
Trade
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
1,229
[QUOTE="denverappraiser, post: 4105098, member: 9850"

"Earth mined diamonds"

I hate this term. If you want to see something rare, try and find a diamond mined somewhere else.[/QUOTE]

:lol:
 

alupha

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 1, 2015
Messages
18
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