There are numerous differences between lab grown diamonds and naturally mined diamonds in terms of price, market share, future value, sustainability elements/ environmental factors and ethical considerations although both products are almost identical in terms of their chemical properties.
The scorecard starts with the most obvious factor which is price. The rise in popularity of lab grown diamonds is primarily attributed to the lower price for practically the same product. In general lab grown diamond cost anywhere between 30 to 75% lesser than naturally mined diamonds despite the fact that the choice to buy lab grown diamonds and natural diamonds is a relatively simple one, as both are in fact not just identical chemically, but they are also identical in atomic structure.
From a quality perspective, lab grown diamonds could be deemed as possessing higher quality and yet they cost less. The reason as to why they are cheaper is attributed to the manufacturing process which allows lab grown diamonds to be created within four weeks at the most with no mining costs involved. In contrast, natural diamonds are formed over billions of years deep in the earth and the cost of mining them is exorbitant which are among the main reasons behind the high prices of naturally mined diamonds.
The scorecard on market share also reveals a gradual rise since 2018 that has been steady as market share increased from only 3.5% in 2018 to almost 19% in 2023 which also indicates that the new generation of consumers are more open to synthetics also partly due to the eco-friendly aspect of synthetics apart from price which as mentioned earlier is the primary driver.
The younger middle income consumer generation are able to flash bigger rocks on their engagement rings that they would not be able to do if it were natural diamonds and big rocks have become a trend among millennials who wear lab-grown diamonds rather proudly citing that they are being sensitive to the environment. However, from the ‘investor’s perspective’ the value of lab grown diamonds or rather the future value of lab-grown stones is quite uncertain which has resulted in lab-grown diamonds being deemed as unviable investments.
Within the sphere of investment natural diamonds have the upper hand due to their store value as the value of natural diamond generally increase over time similar to gold.
Lab grown diamonds are also indistinguishable from natural diamonds to the naked eye as they have the exact same physical, chemical, and optical properties and as such it is easy for someone wearing a lab-grown diamond to pass it off as natural diamonds.
This plays a key role among consumers who love to flash their rocks which also means that someone wearing a natural diamond on their jewellery will be unable to compete with another person who has lab-grown stones on their jewellery.
It has come to pass that lab grown diamonds are being seen by consumers as the perfect ‘substitute product’ for natural diamonds based on the simple fact that the only difference between both products is their origin and price – nothing else.
