What are Lab Grown Diamonds?
Lab-grown diamonds are becoming increasingly popular worldwide. Between 2021 and 2022, the number of engagement rings sold with a lab-grown diamond increased by more than 50%, and analysts expect these figures to continue to rise.
Lab-grown diamonds attract a lot of attention for two reasons:
- They are generally less expensive than natural diamonds.
- They are marketed as more environmentally friendly than natural diamonds.
Lab-grown diamonds are also beautiful. They sparkle and shine just like natural diamonds. In fact, lab-grown diamonds are virtually identical to natural diamonds. The only difference between them is the way they are produced.
What is a lab grown diamond?
Natural diamonds and lab-grown diamonds each go through a complex creation process that has an impact on the environment and the countries6 in which they are produced. Both types of diamonds have unique advantages and disadvantages to offer their buyers.
How are lab diamonds made?
1. The high-pressure/high-temperature process (HPHT) - The HPHT process for producing diamonds has been used since the 1950s. In this process, technicians fill a capsule with pure carbon and a metal flux.
They also add a tiny piece of diamond called a “seed” to the capsule. This diamond seed forms the surface on which the new diamond will grow.
Once the capsule is filled and sealed, it is placed in a strong press and heated. The carbon in the capsule gradually melts and then crystallises around the seed.
Depending on the size and quality of the diamond produced, it can take several hours or weeks for the new diamond to finish growing.
HPHT diamonds can be used for jewellery, but most of them are used for industrial purposes.
2. The chemical vapour deposition (CVD) process – The CVD process was used for the production of diamonds in the 1980s.
In the CVD process, a diamond seed is placed in a special chamber which is then pumped full of a carbon-rich gas. The chamber is then heated and an electrical discharge or microwave energy is used to separate the carbon atoms from the gas. When the carbon atoms leave the gas, they collect on the diamond seed.
Some of the carbon on the seed crystallises, but not all the carbon. The carbon that does not crystallise usually takes the form of black graphite. To prevent the graphite from damaging the new diamond, the technicians interrupt the CVD process every few days and polish the new diamond to remove the graphite.
Dozens of diamonds can be grown at once in each CVD chamber. These diamonds can be produced in different qualities, but most CVD diamonds are gem quality and are used for jewellery.
Most lab-grown diamonds are slightly yellow or brown in colour and must undergo special heat treatments to fade the unwanted colours.
Most of these diamonds are heat-treated until they are colourless, but a small percentage are also given fancy colours. The technicians change the heat treatments, and the lab-grown diamonds gradually take on beautiful shades of colour and become fancy red, pink, green, blue or purple diamonds.
The Pro’s of lab grown diamonds:
- Less expensive. Lab-grown diamonds can cost between 50 and 75 % less than natural diamonds.
- Chemically identical to natural diamonds. They are considered real diamonds.
- Greater certainty about the origin. This gives you a better chance of knowing the origin of your diamond.
The con’s of lab grown diamonds:
- Lose value over time. Lab-grown diamonds lose value quickly because new production techniques make it possible to reproduce them indefinitely.
- They can turn brown. Lab-grown diamonds of inferior quality can take on yellow or brown hues over time and need to be decolored.
- They consume a lot of energy. The production of lab-grown diamonds requires a lot of energy, and most are produced in low-wage countries that use non-renewable energy sources.
Are lab-grown diamonds really more environmentally friendly than natural diamonds?
Lab-grown diamonds are currently marketed as more environmentally friendly than natural diamonds. Marketing campaigns in favor of lab-grown diamonds generally emphasize how harmful diamond mining is to the environment and how natural diamonds can fund military conflicts in war-torn countries.
This form of marketing does not give a balanced picture of the reality of both natural and lab-grown diamonds.
What is the environmental impact of lab-grown diamond?
Lab-grown diamonds are often referred to as “eco-friendly diamonds”, but this is not necessarily the truth. Both the HPHT and CVD processes for producing diamonds require large amounts of energy, and much of this energy comes from non-renewable sources.
The use of non-renewable energy sources means that the market for lab-grown diamonds could contribute not only to the depletion of natural resources, but also to the greenhouse effect and global warming.
Until diamond-producing laboratories provide clear, verifiable evidence that they use only or predominantly renewable energy sources to produce their diamonds, lab-grown diamonds cannot be considered a more environmentally friendly option.