Lab Grown Diamonds or Mined Diamonds?

With the rise to prominence of lab grown diamonds in recent years, there is quite a battle going on between traditional jewellers and the new jewellers offering these artificially created diamonds. Much of the debate comes down to the value of the diamonds, theoretically there is no difference between lab grown and mined diamonds, if anything lab created diamonds will be of a much higher quality and be larger in size than mined diamonds and be at a lower price point because they can be created whenever they please. With mined diamonds you rely on the mining process and can’t accurately predict how many will be found or the size and quality of them.

What determines the value of a diamond?

As is the case with most precious metals and stones, the value is down to the fact that they are in much shorter supply, price always comes down to supply and demand and with diamonds there has always been much more demand than supply therefore keeping the prices high. That said, there is also a reason why things such as gold and diamonds are expensive to begin with, they have real intrinsic value as gold is a fantastic conductor so can be used in electrical components and diamonds are one of the hardest substances on earth and are frequently used in drills and saws to cut through tough materials. So, in theory lab grown diamonds should be just as effective as mined diamonds in terms of their practical use but they are much more widely available meaning that the price of them can be 70%-80% lower than a mined diamond.

What about the resale value?

This is probably the most contentious area; it all comes down to what the value of a ring is determined by. So, if you are going off the physical properties of a diamond and the ring in general then you could argue that a lab grown ring should be worth the same as a mined ring. This doesn’t take in to account the value that is placed upon a diamond that has been mined and in shorter supply as well as the history of a ring. So if you were to compare a Pandora lab grown ring with antique engagement rings or emerald rings then you’ll see that the value isn’t necessarily all down to just the stone or the diamond itself, it is also down to the history, heritage and the design of the ring.