I dunno, I haven't followed pricing because it'll get lower in the next few years, just like computers. I jumped on the lightbox bandwagon when everyone was getting the pink 1ctw studs, lol, bad influences here. Their 10k martini setting sucked so I spent a bunch remounting them into beaded 14k yg bezels.

Looking now and it seems ~4ct lab is still about $6500 on Diamond Foundry, so a 7ct for 4.2k USD would be fantastic. Even better if they're 3k each. I'll take 5 for a giant bangle!
Re: synthetic gems, synthetic sapphire color may be "too good to be real", but it still lacks the depth and richness. Is it from the microscopic silk? Whatever causes the richness, it needs it. I've looked at the high quality hydrothermal ones and while the color is fantastic, they're crystal clear and don't have the velvety look. But that's only sapphires, I haven't looked at other synthetic gems. Synthetic rubies still have a long ways to go, they all look super fake right now. Or maybe they've gotten much better over the last year and I need a refresher course.
This sounds so morbid, but the older I get the more I want to sell everything and get lab copies. This way i don't have all that money tied up and can still have pretty sparklies to play with, and upon my demise it wont all end up on ebay. Not like I wear anything out anyway, they just sit on my table and keep me company when I work so who cares if they're natural.