Why arent MMD or Lab Gems the same?

[Niel]

Maybe I am missing something, but everything I have read tells me they are exactly the same chemically as natural diamonds or natural gems. I had a discussion over in rocky talky and someone told me they are not at all the same..... How can that be if they are exactly the same chemically? What am i missing here?
i understand they are different because one is made in nature and one is made in ideal lab conditions, but other than that, why is a MMD or a Lab sapphire different than a natural one? Please help me because if I am under the wrong understanding that I would like to be correct.

 

[ChristineRose]

I suppose it depends on what you mean by "the same."

MM white diamonds are about the same price as MM color diamonds which is also the same price as natural white diamonds. Natural color diamonds are much more expensive. Because the colored diamonds are easier to grow, synthetic diamonds are frequently colored.

Diamond simulants are fraudulently mislabeled as man-made diamonds. These are anything but the same as diamonds. It also confuses people who insist that diamonds can be grown for $1 a carat.

There are some subtle chemical differences which have to do with the growing process. Special tests are required to find these. You can't do them; your jeweler can't do them; an appraiser can't do them. De Beers has been giving equipment to gem labs because they're terrified of someone selling lab diamonds as natural.

But the most important difference is that most people don't want a lab diamond. There's no obvious reason to me other than cultural ones. Really, the main reason people want any diamonds at all, ever, is culture. A lab diamond is not considered to be "real" even though it is the same in every important, measurable way. When's the last time you heard someone say "My girlfriends are all so impressed at how deep the mine is!"

Lab diamonds are hard to find--many jewelers are afraid to carry them because they're afraid that the entire economy of jewelery will change. People expect that labs should cost much less than mined diamonds, so much less that growers can make more money growing and selling industrial grade diamond sand.

Some people claim lab diamonds are harder to resell. This is probably true because it's harder to sell unpopular-A than popular-B even if A is cost ten times to make as B. But people are consistently shocked at how little money they are going to get for their "real" diamond at the easy-sell venues like pawn shops and CASH FOR GOLD. I'm not there's a comparison to make there.

 

[Niel]

thank you for your response. I understand the cultural difference as well as the desire from people to want one over the other. But I was considering making a ring with a lab growth sapphire and i was told "they are NOT AT ALL the same"...

And i thought, how is that true? Everything i read says chemically they are the same, only the environments they are created in are different. But it IS a sapphire at the end of the say. So I had asked for some further clarification as to why I am wrong in my assumption. I did not get any and was directed instead to look at the MMD side for clarification. After reading articles regarding it I still do not see why I am incorrect.

 

[ChristineRose]

Talking about lab sapphires is against Pricescope's rules, but I will say that they vary in quality some (just like everything else) and they are very cheap to grow, unlike MMD.

The same thing applies though--the real difference is that people don't value them the same way. People want natural sapphires, and will pay more for them, and because you can't simply make more, the price goes up.

I'm inclined to agree with you, but I did think of some other points. Most MMD are .25-1 carat because the growth process puts a limit on the final size. They can grow them smaller, but they aren't that much cheaper than a large stone so they don't bother. As I said before, most MMD are yellow or blue, which most diamond buyers don't want, even though yellow and blue natural stones are much rarer and more expensive. Many (most?) people only buy one diamond their whole life, and they have pretty strict requirements.

 

[Niel]

I apologize I assumed lab growth sapphires were up for the same discussion as lab growth diamonds.

I will leave out sapphires then if that is not appropriate.

Thank you for your response! I fully understand the social and economical differences if MMD, I was just old they were NOT AT ALL THE SAME, like the assumption i was making was ridiculous. And if i was a fool I wanted to know.

 

[ChristineRose]

Just found your other topic.

If you were to write 12 pages on the difference between MMD and mined diamonds, you could talk about environmental destruction, conflict diamonds and the Kimberly process, about the economy of jewelry stores, about customs and De Beers making customs. Or you could talk about high pressure chambers and industrial applications, about jobs for engineers in Florida versus jobs for miners in Botswana, about pawn shops and internet brokers and Tiffany's.

But you couldn't talk about refractive index, dispersion, chemical composition, crystal structure, heat conductivity, Mohs hardness, or even price. Other than the fact that MMD are only profitable and possible in a much more limited range of sizes and colors, there's really no difference. The obscure differences in chemical composition that show up with the expensive machinery are roughly comparable to the differences between a diamond from South America and a diamond from Africa anyhow.

I disagree with the other poster. I would say an MMD is the same as a natural diamond. If there's a difference, it is cultural, not chemical. As to which is better--depends on your culture. Most people who buy MMD think they are better than natural diamonds, and will happily tell you so.

 

[vintageinjune]

Aw, this is a question I have often wondered myself. To my way of thinking, environments were created in which crystal structures grew, one environment was in the earth, and the other in a lab. The gemstones that come out of the ground can have characteristics such as trace elements or flaws that give them a distinct look or make them traceable to a certain geographic location. Lab grown gemstones can be grown with flaws, but are generally speaking much more ideal in crystal structure.

Many will assert that they are not the same at all because one took millions of years to grow, and the other days, weeks, or months. Well, mother nature sure is inefficient! Quite honestly though, in another few hundred million years from now there will be plenty more gems, but we won't be around to see them. So, to me, the "rarity" card is overused. Yes, lab grown gemstones can be produced in a much shorter time frame, but natural gemstones continue to be created as we speak, just very, very slowly. In some cases, it could take us decades or even hundreds of years to grow a fraction of what has been mined (such as diamonds). Chemically, they are indeed identical in chemical structure, although there are differences that can be detected at the microscopic level that tell them apart. I truly believe that some day man will have the knowledge and ability to grow gemstones indistinguishable from their mined counterparts, as we are very young in our current technology.

One more note/thought back on the "rarity" topic : there are some gemstones that are exclusively lab grown, yet while they are a million times more rare than various mined gems based on quantity , they are still considered culturally "inferior" due to the fact that they are lab grown, even though we could grow them for another few hundred years and still have far fewer of those lab grown gems than mined ones.

So, you're right, MMD and lab gems ARE chemically the same, and they are just as real as their mined counterparts, they simply have different origins.