Why exactly do lab diamonds need an inscription?

[tomato]

This may be is stupid question based out of ignorance, but I was looking at the Whiteflash website and noticed the “Laboratory” engraving is pretty prominent on the side of the diamond. I understand inscribing the GIA cert no. for a diamond so it can be matched to a cert, but why exactly do diamonds need to be inscribed as “laboratory”?

Lest anyone think I’m trying to pull a fast one, whatever ring I buy will be mine til I die, and I’m guessing any certificate also states it would be a lab diamond.

It just comes across kind of tacky to me, I don’t have to get “faux” sewn into a faux fur coat for example. I get the impression it’s more to protect the diamond mining industry than anything else. Similar to when processed cheese came about, the dairy industry tried to get it called “embalmed cheese” to make it unappealing to consumers. In my line of work (chemistry) chemicals are labeled with grades like reagent, pure, etc. These labels serve a functional purpose because what’s in the bottle matters depending on the type of experiment being done, and of course better grades cost more.

I am definitely open to being wrong, but as far as I know, there is no real difference between a good diamond from the earth vs one made with an instrument.

 

[MMtwo]

No one can read that unless under magnification, so no one knows but you and your jeweler. I can appreciate your point of view here, but without that LG before the number it would be easier for bad actors to claim a rock is earth grown.

It is a real diamond, not faux.

The real difference is cost.

 

[DejaWiz]

The FTC requires disclosure of an LGD to be LGD, so the grading labs inscribe them as such to help both sellers and buyers with proper identification.

 

[tomato]

No one can read that unless under magnification, so no one knows but you and your jeweler. I can appreciate your point of view here, but without that LG before the number it would be easier for bad actors to claim a rock is earth grown.

It is a real diamond, not faux.

The real difference is cost.

I suppose my reason for asking is… wouldn’t only some legit businesses do this? Meaning bad actors will still make lab diamonds and not engrave them, and sell them as earth mined. I can easily see this happening, where “good” people follow the rules and sell for a lower price, and those “bad” people reap the benefit?

 

[tomato]

The FTC requires disclosure of an LGD to be LGD, so the grading labs inscribe them as such to help both sellers and buyers with proper identification.

Right, but my question is - what is the purpose of such a rule in the first place if it is functionally the same item, and what sort of corporate interests played a role in making that a policy in the first place?

It isn’t a case of say, some black market dealer slapping a brand name on a fake item, or selling fake iphones with nothing inside. I don’t see how it benefits consumers to differentiate them. It only benefits those who mine diamonds and want to keep their price high for the same item.

 

[DejaWiz]

Right, but my question is - what is the purpose of such a rule in the first place if it is functionally the same item, and what sort of corporate interests played a role in making that a policy in the first place?

It isn’t a case of say, some black market dealer slapping a brand name on a fake item, or selling fake iphones with nothing inside. I don’t see how it benefits consumers to differentiate them. It only benefits those who mine diamonds and want to keep their price high for the same item.

Lab grown diamonds are manufactured in a manner of weeks to months...rather inexpensively in the grand scheme of things.

There have been attempts (some successfully) of LGDs being passed off as natural, hundreds of millions to billions of years old, earth grown diamonds.

Jewelry quality mined diamond rough are only around 30% of all diamond rough pulled from hard to find places from the earth. And just a small percentage of that 30% are colorless to near colorless with higher clarity grades, which are highly prized and garner a bit higher of demand. Those that end up as extremely well cut and polished finished diamonds are even more so sought after by the most discerning of buyers, since most natural rough is cut to retain max carat weight in finished form.

LGD can be grown on demand with the forethought of cutting the rough to favorable proportions and angles...again, much cheaper in the grand scheme of things.

 

[tyty333]

Difference...Rarity