Once Lab, Never Back?

[sprinklesparkles]

I just received my first lab grown earrings, and I have to say I’m impressed. Still, the fact that most are hpht treated and pricescope quality natural diamonds are not, it is really not an apples to apples comparison.

Also, if we are talking about earrings, CZ will do the job just as well. If they are diamond cut, it is very hard if not impossible to tell the difference. Hardness of 8.5 is plenty for earrings and actually pretty good for a ring as well.

So, I’m still on the edge if lab diamonds are “mind clean“ enough for me.

CZs don't last very long before getting foggy and dull, though. I stopped buying them altogether even for the cheapest of costume jewelry because it just feels like a waste.

 

[nojs]

CZs don't last very long before getting foggy and dull, though. I stopped buying them altogether even for the cheapest of costume jewelry because it just feels like a waste.

Did you clean them properly? I have not had any visual changes in mine, even in the ones I have had for years. But they have to be cut like a diamond to look nice.

CZ has a hardness if 8.5, so they are reasonably durable. If you wear them on ears or as a pendant, there should be no issues with scratching.

I have heard it stated before, that CZ do turn cloudy, but I have never witnessed this first hand.

 

[seaurchin]

Did you clean them properly? I have not had any visual changes in mine, even in the ones I have had for years. But they have to be cut like a diamond to look nice.

CZ has a hardness if 8.5, so they are reasonably durable. If you wear them on ears or as a pendant, there should be no issues with scratching.

I have heard it stated before, that CZ do turn cloudy, but I have never witnessed this first hand.

I agree. I wore a cz wedding set for years and didn't notice any cloudiness. It could be that it just depends on how it's made.

 

[sprinklesparkles]

Did you clean them properly? I have not had any visual changes in mine, even in the ones I have had for years. But they have to be cut like a diamond to look nice.

CZ has a hardness if 8.5, so they are reasonably durable. If you wear them on ears or as a pendant, there should be no issues with scratching.

I have heard it stated before, that CZ do turn cloudy, but I have never witnessed this first hand.

I did! No dice. Foggy and dull.

It could absolutely depend on how they're made though.

 

[nojs]

I did! No dice. Foggy and dull.

It could absolutely depend on how they're made though.

I did a search and found this post on a faceting community about CZ turning cloudy:

“CZ did used to do this over time, and some cheaper stuff still will. But other better chemicals and such are now added into the mix to make the CZ more stable and for its longevity. CZ is Zirconium oxide. The additives are typically plus yttrium or calcium, with, if my memory holds true, yttrium being the better of the two flavors of CZ but the Ca variant having slightly higher dispersion.


All CZ needs these additives in it to even from the crystals and grow in the lab. I believe where the issues occurred in the older stuff was the additives they were using back then, but I could be wrong.”

 

[nojs]

Also interesting:
“The true hardness of CZ is surrounded by uncertainty and, one suspects the unwillingness of the gem trade to give publicity to improvements on the properies of CZ gems. Nanoscale scratch testing carried out in Russia as long ago as the '80s (published in the West in the early '90s - now twenty years ago - produced results showng that CZ (of unstated composition) can be appreciably harder than Corundum.”

link: https://www.mindat.org/mesg-191820.html

 

[free-user]

This is my opinion. I upgraded my wife's center diamond on her ring after 8 years of marriage. In this time frame we almost triple our yearly gross income. A 1.5 made would cost me 4k from gcal. An almost perfect jesrts and arrows gia cost me 10.5k. I looked at the numbers...felt the mmd pricing was not justified. Mmd need to come down half in price still imo. For example, If you compare like a .5 carat tic cut mined diamond and a .5 carat tic its a price difference of very small proportions. I must confess the wedding ring for me was also a mind thing as it just seemed better that I did not "cheap out". If mmd were ags or gia graded I would have gone the way of mmd (without consumer submission).

Every other jewelry I will purchase here on out though will be mmd besides her ring.

 

[nojs]

This is my opinion. I upgraded my wife's center diamond on her ring after 8 years of marriage. In this time frame we almost triple our yearly gross income. A 1.5 made would cost me 4k from gcal. An almost perfect jesrts and arrows gia cost me 10.5k. I looked at the numbers...felt the mmd pricing was not justified. Mmd need to come down half in price still imo. For example, If you compare like a .5 carat tic cut mined diamond and a .5 carat tic its a price difference of very small proportions. I must confess the wedding ring for me was also a mind thing as it just seemed better that I did not "cheap out". If mmd were ags or gia graded I would have gone the way of mmd (without consumer submission).

Every other jewelry I will purchase here on out though will be mmd besides her ring.

Did you see this post: https://www.pricescope.com/communit...b-diamonds-first-results.261111/#post-4847493

 

[free-user]

Did you see this post: https://www.pricescope.com/communit...b-diamonds-first-results.261111/#post-4847493

Yes, but this is before knowing that. Hes an industry first and its a brilliant move on his end...But I had already made my purchase recently. Thats too bad bc if ada diamonds were few weeks early I would have spent over 11k with them upgrading all the diamonds I had with them. I hope ada diamond see this...its a compliment to thier approach.