Lab grown pricing

[waffle]

Hi I had an interesting conversation with a jewelry designer yesterday, and she told me that a good quality lab cut stone costs around 2/3 of the price of earth mined. Is this true? That is not that big of a difference. Thank you

 

[Kim N]

Lab grown pricing is very inconsistent across vendors. Lightbox is the most well-priced among them, and it's possible to find a great Lightbox diamond if you put in some effort. A 2ct Lightbox diamond (near colorless, VS clarity, very good cut) is $1600. A 2ct H-I VS very good cut natural diamond is around $20K. A non-Lightbox 2ct might run you around $2300-$3500, so you're still saving quite a bit of money.

 

[Kya]

Lab grown pricing is very inconsistent across vendors. Lightbox is the most well-priced among them, and it's possible to find a great Lightbox diamond if you put in some effort. A 2ct Lightbox diamond (near colorless, VS clarity, very good cut) is $1600. A 2ct H-I VS very good cut natural diamond is around $20K. A non-Lightbox 2ct might run you around $2300-$3500, so you're still saving quite a bit of money.

Agreed! Lab pricing is inconsistent and quality is not necessarily consistent at all. It would be necessary to take the growth process into account in addition to the pricing.

If you do not take the lightbox route, often the price difference is just by a third. So a lot would also depend on individual comfort zone and opinion on lab diamonds altogether. Some are convinced that labs are that good that it would be a waste to spend a cent more. Others are not convinced and would not want a lab altogether.

It will be interesting to see which direction things take over the course of years, as processes are improved and as people see how lab diamonds hold up over longer periods of time, a test only time can tell.

I am hoping to attend the upcoming webinar,
'In The Loupe with John Pollard - Lab Diamonds: Past, Present, & Future' — sounds like it will be informative !

 

[Kim N]

Here are examples in the 1.5ct range.

1.51 F VS2 ideal cut natural diamonds

1.51 Carat round diamond

1.51 Carat round diamond

www.jamesallen.com

https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD19730016

1.51 E VS2 ideal cut lab diamond

1.51 Carat E VS2 Round Brilliant Lab Grown Diamond GCAL Certified 313160651 Affinity Cut - D50847283

www.adiamor.com

 

[EClove]

Agree with posters above. I think you can find beautiful lab diamonds equal in “quality” to their natural diamond counterparts for 1/4-1/6 the price.

 

[Alybetter]

Even with specialty cut and/or boutique vendors, prices are still less than 2/3. I have a 1.07 VS F color AVC that was less than 1/4 the price of its equally spec’ed mined counterpart.

 

[SomethingNew]

I think overall lab stones are less than 2/3 for almost all, except i see certain highly sought after shapes that only certain vendors carry being more expensive. Antique cushion, OEC, Moval cost much more than MRB. If you just want an VG cut MRB, prices are dropping. I am in the market for a pair of MMD, and have been checking prices often. I see they are very closely compared to the prices of lightbox:

1.5ct for $1,269: https://www.b2cjewels.com/dd/20519278/Round-Diamond-F-Color-SI1-Clarity

2.02 ct for $2,091: https://www.b2cjewels.com/dd/19856530/Round-Diamond-E-Color-SI1-Clarity

 

[SomethingNew]

another example: 3 ct J for $4,500, not much off the chart compared to LB

3.01ct J VS2 Round Lab Grown Diamond

This is a stunning 3.01ct J VS2 Round Brilliant Lab Grown Diamond. The cut is perfection. Totally ideal and the stone is bright.

www.diamondsbylauren.com

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

As others mentiond - Lightbox is the only company playing a straight cricket bat currently.
The markups from vendors and retailers is extraordinarily high from what busineses can buy for.
Here is a list of discounts typical of what I am seeing across the board from companies sending me their lists.

Minus 89-94% for nice 2ct IGI certified LGD's.
The discounts are against Rapaport natural diamond prices. Typically for in demand natural diamonds a business might get a 20% discount.
Do the math for me please someone?

Gem360 - JV-104-2

ID: JV-104-2, Size: 2.06, Shape: Round, Color: E, Clarity: VVS2

view.gem360.in

Bliss Enterprise Video

http://view.gem360.in/gem360/0305221304-531/gem360-0305221304-531.html

 

[Karl_K]

There are places mostly b&m that are offering mmd at 30% off from none mmd prices.
Store not far from me has been selling a lot of them at that price.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

There are places mostly b&m that are offering mmd at 30% off from none mmd prices.
Store not far from me has been selling a lot of them at that price.

Lets do a sum.
Say a 2ct D VS1 on rap is 26,000 pc less 20% = 20,800 or $41,600 for a high quality natural diamond wholesale.
A LGD wholesale at 94% discount (there are plenty selling poor quality at -97.5%)
26,000 x 6% = 1,560pc or $3,120
30% of $41,600 is $12,400
So your corner store may well be making four time mark up Karl.
That is pretty much the norm.
Lightbox are selling lower quality 2ct stones at $1,600 and we are seeing people buying them from stores with sales on for $1,200.
There are going to be a lot of very sad people.
The price of LGD's will detach totally from natural diamonds. The myths and marketing are a lie.

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

Lab grown pricing is very inconsistent across vendors. Lightbox is the most well-priced among them, and it's possible to find a great Lightbox diamond if you put in some effort. A 2ct Lightbox diamond (near colorless, VS clarity, very good cut) is $1600. A 2ct H-I VS very good cut natural diamond is around $20K. A non-Lightbox 2ct might run you around $2300-$3500, so you're still saving quite a bit of money.

How do you put effort into getting a nice Lightbox diamond? I thought you get what they send you. I ordered a princess for a coworker from them and it was very disappointing, messy facet patterns and low color.

 

[DejaWiz]

How do you put effort into getting a nice Lightbox diamond? I thought you get what they send you. I ordered a princess for a coworker from them and it was very disappointing, messy facet patterns and low color.

From posts from other members, it's a cycle:

1. Purchase
2. Inspect
3. Return/exchange/re-order
4. Rinse, repeat until a good one is finally received

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

Thanks, DW, that makes sense.
My coworker said she'd keep it. ("Really?")

 

[SomethingNew]

LB really offers unbeatable price (plus the 10% coupon once in a while)....plus seems like a lot of people seem to have positive experience, so I feel it's worth the risk.

But if you want something you know for sure, I'd say look into Clean Origin, Adiamor, etc. Their pricing are very competitive too!

 

[DejaWiz]

Here's how I see it:

LB = mall chain quality, cheap, coin toss

Trustworthy seller = you pick exactly what you want, costs a bit more

 

[DejaWiz]

Here's how I see it:

LB = mall chain quality, cheap, coin toss

Trustworthy seller = you pick exactly what you want, costs a bit more

I should have elaborated on my post, to remain objective and fair:
For those that want to go the LB route to save money and have a high probability of needing to face the order/inspect/exchange cycle, then absolutely more power to you and it's a heck of a way to get a heck of a deal on a heck of a diamond. But you gotta put in the work.
...this does not necessarily apply to the LBF lineup, which from what I understand are cut to much stricter proportions and come with much better color and clarity grades.

 

[SomethingNew]

Lets do a sum.
Say a 2ct D VS1 on rap is 26,000 pc less 20% = 20,800 or $41,600 for a high quality natural diamond wholesale.
A LGD wholesale at 94% discount (there are plenty selling poor quality at -97.5%)
26,000 x 6% = 1,560pc or $3,120
30% of $41,600 is $12,400
So your corner store may well be making four time mark up Karl.
That is pretty much the norm.
Lightbox are selling lower quality 2ct stones at $1,600 and we are seeing people buying them from stores with sales on for $1,200.
There are going to be a lot of very sad people.
The price of LGD's will detach totally from natural diamonds. The myths and marketing are a lie.

That's interesting, how do you see price of LGD will detach from natural diamonds, aren't we still pegging % off Rap sheet?

In my mind, I only see how much more I can get buying a MMD compared to natural. So in other words, I am always compare to prices of MMD vs EM.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

That's interesting, how do you see price of LGD will detach from natural diamonds, aren't we still pegging % off Rap sheet?

In my mind, I only see how much more I can get buying a MMD compared to natural. So in other words, I am always compare to prices of MMD vs EM.

Larger lab grown diamonds (LGD’s) cost less per carat to grow and polish than smaller LGD’s. A natural diamond of twice the weight costs four times more. 2Xct = 4X$'s. Consider the depth of a diamond and the thickness a CVD slab needs to be grown to:

• Half carat diamond is 3mm deep
• One carat diamond is 4mm deep
• Two carat diamond is 5mm deep
• Four carat diamond is 6mm deep

A 6mm thick CVD diamond takes less than twice as long to grow as a 3mm slab because of setup time.

4ct G VS2 natural round diamonds cost 75 times more than 0.50ct G VS2 stones. Polishing 75 half carat diamonds costs about 30 times more than polishing one four carat diamond. GIA charges $399 to grade a 4ct diamond and $5700 to grade 75 half carat diamonds! The three LGD costs are split roughly evenly between growing, polishing and grading.

And already the word around the trade is smaller than half carat LGD’s are in short supply. Melee (smaller than about 0.15ct) rough are made in bulk using HPHT, and that is a different business.

Trusted brands will guarantee minimum quality standards, as De Beers has largely done with Lightbox LGD’s. That will cut out lab grading or a third of costs. Over time giving a LGD as a special gift will cost less than Moissanite did while they were under patent. But LGD’s will establish a strong self purchase market and when some people decide to go for the real thing their size expectations will be through the roof!
Natural prospecting budgets will be cut back, les mines and more demand for larger diamonds, and the prices through the roof!

 

[Rockdiamond]

In fairness… Garry is not a fan of lab grown diamonds. Or, at the very least, he’s not bullish on them.
I do agree that quoting 1/3 less than natural is way overpriced. The market is changing rapidly- and surely some sellers aren’t at the forefront in terms of keeping up with prices. I’m not as quick to broadly state that it’s greed.

Although I’m more optimistic than Garry, I’m not exactly bullish on LGs.
The market will shake out. The cheapest will get cheaper. The bottom feeders will find buyers.
But curated lab grown stones set into high quality mountings, and backed up by attentive customer service will always bring a premium imo

 

[Rockdiamond]

The myths and marketing are a lie.

Couldn't we make the same case about Earth Mined diamonds?

So your corner store may well be making four time mark up Karl.
That is pretty much the norm.

Um...no, it's not.
In terms of margins...until the internet, local jewelers commonly used to make 50% gross profit on diamond sales ( that means a diamond that cost them $1000 was being sold for $2000)
Surely some sellers of Lab Grown Diamonds took advantage of the lack of consumer education and price gouged- but it's by no means the norm.
Just like with Earth Mined diamonds, the margins charged by the vast majority of LG sellers are a fraction of the 50% GP of years past.
4X markup???? Where's that happening on LG diamonds over about $500????

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Couldn't we make the same case about Earth Mined diamonds?

synthetic synthetic factory made synthetic manufactured product
David I thought we agreed you would not use that negative language.
They are natural diamonds

 

[Rockdiamond]

My apologies Garry. Force of habit. I always use the term - it’s sounds like a benefit to me. Seriously, the term in question is on our home page. We’re still quite heavily invested in Natural Diamonds. I’ve no reason to knock them