Diamonds are the most sought-after precious stone, used in the production of pieces of jewelry and the lots. They are most likely demanded as engagement rings, customized jewelry, wedding sets, and diamond tennis bracelets. Diamonds are produced in two ways: by natural mining or the laboratory growing process.
The idea of manufacturing diamonds in a lab sounds strange to many. They may tend to feel that lab grown diamonds are either fake or lower in quality when compared to naturally mined sets. The phobia of getting a fake product when the original one is readily available makes you want to be sure that both are of the same quality.
Lab Made Diamonds Are as Good as Real Ones
Lab-created diamonds don’t have any distinct features from earth-mined diamonds. Lab-grown diamonds share the same makeup as earth-mined diamonds in every way, only that they are created in a lab. Lab-grown diamonds give a different quality value when compared with regular diamonds.
They’re used to produce beautiful diamond pendants, and solitaire rings and are used for proposals, engagements, and wedding jewelry sets. Lab-made diamonds are also used to produce diamond stud earrings.
What is a Lab Grown Diamond?
A lab created diamond is manufactured in a monitored laboratory environment. It involves the popular methods of Chemical Vapor Deposition or High-Pressure High Temperature. These processes make it easy for scientists to create diamonds that visually share semblance with earth-mined diamonds.
The grown diamond process replicates what occurs naturally; making it difficult for the human eye to point out the difference between lab created diamonds and earth-mined. Lab-grown Diamonds and Earth Mined Diamonds share these things in common:
1. Same Shape, Size, and Color
Diamond is known to come in a particular shape and a unique size structure, though they can come in different alluring colors. Both lab-made and natural diamonds have the same diamond cut and diamond shape.
2. Same Clarity Grades
Both types of diamonds are graded using the standard 4C’s which are: clarity, cut, carat, and color. Lab created diamonds and earth-mined diamonds are held to the same standards after undergoing grading tests.
3. Same Hardness Level and Durability
Diamonds are known for their long-lasting features. No matter what happens to both types of diamonds the hardness level and durability stay the same.
To make all things equal, the Federal Trade Commission proved Lab Diamonds as real after taking a test. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) Laboratory-Grown Diamond Report includes the standard color, clarity & cut grading scales. This test proves that both the lab-made diamonds and natural ones are of the same grades.
Difference Between Lab-grown Diamonds and Real Ones.
The only difference between Earth Mined Diamonds and Lab Made Diamonds is this:
1. Nitrogen
Earth Mined Diamonds have tiny amounts of nitrogen while Lab Grown Diamonds have no nitrogen. Gemologists use this as the only way to identify if a diamond is lab grown or natural. Then, the Lab-grown Diamond goes through a cutting and polishing process.
2. Growth
Natural diamonds are produced under the strain of the earth’s crust through millions of years, after which they are mined, cut, and polished. A Lab created Diamond is sited through the same situation but the difference is that it’s in a lab setting.
Methods applied for the production of a Lab Grown Diamond reduce the growth time drastically, from millions of years to a couple of months.
3. Cut
An ideal cut, unblemished diamond is quite expensive and hard to find whether it is a Lab Grown Diamond or a Natural Diamond. The cut & color is vital in determining whether a diamond is excellent, very good, good, or poor.
Growing Process for Lab created Diamonds
Lab-grown diamonds follow the same chemical process as any other. Listed below is the growing process for lab created diamonds:
1. High-Pressure High-Temperature Process (HPHT)
In the HPHT process, diamonds are created by putting a fine diamond seed under high pressure and high temperature. The diamond seed is placed in a closet at temperatures of around 1500 degrees Celsius and pressures of around 60,000 atmospheres.
The condition of growing it is the same for Earth-mined diamonds, this is why they come out looking no different. Within some weeks or months, the HPHT diamond becomes larger and bigger as more pure carbon is added. After which it can be used to produce anything like solitaire jewels.
2. Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)
In the CVD process, diamonds are created in a monitored environment using plasma technology. This simple physical principle consists of positive ions, negative electrons, neutral molecules, UV light, and excited molecules. All of which can possess a massive amount of internal energy.
Pint-size diamond seeds are placed in a tunnel and exposed to an unbroken flow of carbon-containing gas. Here, this gas decomposes and lays down thin layers of carbon onto the diamond. Slowly it builds up over time into a larger diamond as the carbon layers increase.
The Advantage of Lab-grown Diamonds over Real Ones
Looking to find out if there are any special benefits to lab grown diamonds? Listed below are some advantages:
1. You Get More for Less
Lab-created Diamonds are known to be more than Natural diamonds when it comes to price but not in value. This implies that you can buy a significant quantity of diamonds and genuinely say it is a diamond.
If your emphasis is not all on the resale value of the diamond, a Lab Grown Diamond is a good alternative. It will save you some extra cash in comparison to purchasing a Natural Diamond. To put it simply, you’ll get more for less.
2. Ethically Better Off
Lab Grown Diamonds are generally accepted to be additionally ethical, this is because dangerous mining processes are not involved. Did you know that to find just one carat of diamond, approximately 200 to 250 tons of Earth must be sifted through?
Heavy machinery is used for these tasks, which causes a large amount of fossil fuel to be released into the environment. Moreover, diamond mines cause huge dangerous holes to be left in the middle of communities.
All the processes involved in growing diamonds in the laboratory do not risk anything. Since these laboratories are specifically built to hold anything harmful from getting to affect the outside world.
Conclusion
Lab-created diamonds are no different from earth-mined diamonds. So, to avoid going over your budget but still getting the satisfaction you need; you should go for lab grown diamonds. Wedding bands, wedding sets, and personal jewelry sets shouldn’t make you break the bank.