Would you buy a lab-grown diamond for a quarter of the price of a genuine diamond? It is comparable in appearance, chemically, and is manufactured more sustainably than a mined diamond. It is, however, less common.
The ecological and economic attraction of lab-grown diamonds (LGDs) has drawn brilliant investments from top jewellery manufacturers all around the world over the years. LVMH (Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton)
The parent firm of luxury brands like as Bulgari, Tiffany & Co, and Hublot, has invested US$ 90 million in Lusix, an Israeli LGD maker that utilises exclusively solar energy in its diamond labs.
Interestingly, De Beers Group, the world's largest mined diamond company, was one of the first major companies to introduce a complete jewellery line using LGDs named Lightbox in 2018 with a $100 million investment.
Furthermore, De Beers has established its own diamond synthesis facility in Portland, capable of producing 200,000 stones each year.
One carat of LGD costs $800 at Lightbox – almost 60-80% less than a natural-mined diamond of the same weight! LGDs are less expensive and more environmentally friendly than real diamonds. According to a survey published by the Diamond Producers Association and S&P Global
The greenhouse gas footprint of one carat of polished natural diamond is 160kg. According to Pandora, a major worldwide jewellery company that recently revealed it no longer utilises mined diamonds, an LGD has a carbon footprint of just 8.17 kg CO2e per carat when grown and polished.
Mined diamonds grow naturally beneath the earth's surface over many years, but LGDs may be manufactured in a lab in a matter of weeks using one of two processes: High Pressure-High Temperature (HPHT) or Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD).