Exploring the world of created diamonds
Here at Showcase Jewellers Te Awamutu, we haven’t had any created diamond on our shelves yet, but exciting new technology in the diamond industry and we are hoping to be able to have some to show you soon… watch this space!
A created diamond is a man-made diamond with the same set of physical, optical & chemical properties as mined diamonds. In fact, we often explain it simply by saying, “one is created with technology above the Earth and one is created by nature below the Earth”. Naturally formed diamonds and lab-grown diamonds are both diamonds, simply from different origins. Not even a jeweller or gemmologist can always tell the difference nowadays, although created diamonds are labelled microscopically.
Scientists have been trying to create and perfect gem quality diamonds for decades. In a recent technological breakthrough, they’ve been able to replicate the exact conditions that occur within the
Earth’s mantle layer that creates mined diamonds. This now enables the creation of a small number of new diamonds in hi-tech advanced laboratory equipment. It takes tremendous skill to produce them, the conditions must be exactly right. Very few people can produce the gem quality diamonds and the machinery to do so is extremely expensive.
Due to the fact these diamonds do not require the massive costs in mining infrastructure, lab-grown diamonds are on average around 30% less expensive than mined diamonds of comparable quality. This is for two reasons: the supply chain for lab-grown diamonds is much more efficient, and the profits of middle handlers (like De Beers) and the other diamond mining companies can be substantial. Therefore, you can purchase a much larger and better-quality diamond for a set budget if you choose lab-grown diamonds over mined diamonds.
It is virtually impossible to determine the exact origin of every single mined diamond in a piece of diamond jewellery, as over 6 billion carats of diamonds have been extracted out of the Earth over the last few centuries, and the vast majority were mined in the century before the Kimberley Process (a system to ensure ethical sourcing and trading of diamonds) was established in 2003.
Furthermore, since the implementation of the Kimberley Process, there’s still credible reporting of diamond smuggling out of conflict zones, large discrepancies in international diamond transactions. Whilst we have nothing to do with any supply chain unless it’s following the strictest of processes regarding the Kimberly Process, it’s important to know that lab-grown have zero conflict of any kind to ever be concerned about.
Diamond mining will become less sustainable every year, whereas growing diamonds will become more sustainable. Our diamond growers are already using renewable energy to grow diamonds and multiple diamond growing facilities are under construction in areas where renewable power is readily available.
In our next advertorial, we will introduce Showcase ALTR diamonds and what to consider when choosing a diamond.
