Lab Grown Diamonds

A Diamond has always been considered a woman's best friend. Through the years, diamonds have created problems, conflicts, and certain environmental concerns. Some individuals believe that problems that diamonds cause are becoming obsolete because of the emergence of synthetic or lab-created diamonds. People are initially fooled by the term lab by which it's called because they think it is a mock up. In previous years, synthetic or lab grown diamonds had a negative connotation.

Now, they are highly accepted by the public not just for its consistent quality and composition that is almost perfectly identical with a natural diamond, but because they were able to solve problems that natural diamonds have stirred up.

You see, behind the gleaming beauty and elegance of a naturally acquired diamond is the dark story of how it was taken and the negative effects that it imposes on the environment. You have to put in mind that when you are buying a natural diamond, you are condoning child labor and other inhumane practices. Most of the time, people from Africa would kill just so they could find a diamond and sell it in the market. In addition to that; naturally acquired diamonds are also smuggled in different places of the world because they are in-demand. This mode of acquisition not only makes it dangerous for the people who are involved, but it is also humanely unacceptable. This, together with other factors has brought the prices of natural diamonds up.

Along with that, when purchasing naturally-occurring diamonds, you are also allowing the environment to be destroyed. Just think about it for a second; one carat of a gem diamond will extract almost 275 tons of ore. This is a staggering number that puts the environment on a massively stressful situation. The open cast strip-mining method is used to extract the diamond from the earth. This extraction method destroys the ecosystem of the place and further destroys the outlying environment. This seriously destructive and dangerous method not only adds to the problems of the country in which it was taken from but it also serves as a deterrent to progress. In the end, these people are just shooting themselves on the foot.

Synthetic diamonds completely solve all of these major problems]. And, more importantly, lab-diamonds are also almost identical with real diamonds. The movie "Blood Diamond" imposes a strong message on the need for change regarding diamond mining. Lab diamonds, for one, spare the environment from being destroyed because these are created by machines. Because of that, the price is significantly lowered. On top of that, warlords and illegal syndicates would also lose their means of business. This would result in the dismissal of having private armies, child labor, and other forms of violence that are associated with diamond mining.

Avid jewelry lovers are frequently confused as to why they should prefer lab diamonds instead of naturally occurring diamonds. In recent years, lab created diamonds were questionable. But now, their credibility and their quality are assured of being topnotch. Lab-created diamonds replace naturally occurring diamonds for all the right reasons.

These lab diamonds, for one, are environmental friendly because there's no need to destroy ecosystems just to extract them. Also, lab diamonds are not associated with any type of illegal activity whatsoever.

After all, diamonds, which frequently possess a high value, are subject to a lot of illegal activities and crimes. On top of all that, lab-diamonds are also greatly cheaper than their natural counterparts. This in itself, is more than enough to encourage a lot of people. Here are some unique qualities and features of lab diamonds.

Material Composition

Lab diamonds are composed of polycrystalline on a microscopic level. This means that almost all lab diamonds that are sold around the world only differ on qualities that are related with the way they are cut, the process of manufacturing, and the method of polishing.

Having said that, lab diamonds are in perfect unity with natural diamonds because they are formulated at a minuscule level. This makes them all the more similar with each other. Likewise, with the different manufacturing procedures, lab diamonds are also easily changed.

Differences in Quality

The qualities of lab-diamonds have always been disputed over the years. This is mainly the result of the many factors that contribute to the quality and look of the diamond. In essence, though, most if not all lab diamonds are based on three main levels of quality: low, medium, and high.

You must bear in mind that these levels of qualities correspond with that of natural diamonds. Simply put this in mind; diamonds that have a seemingly murky and cloudy look are low. Diamonds that have sterling silver or a very thin layer of gold over silver are considered medium, while diamonds that are exceptional in color, cut, polish are high in quality.

Prices

Lab diamonds that are low are normally sold in bulk since their value is not that big of a deal. These low grade stones typically retail for around $15 a piece. Meanwhile, lab diamonds which are medium, normally retail for around $100 per carat. This is due to the fact that medium diamonds can be distinguished as synthetic by trained eyes and are thus, perceived to possess a lower value.

Diamonds that are priced at over $100 per carat are considered high. But, don't use this as a gauge for the diamond's quality because quality isn't always uniform with the price.