The guilt-free gem: Lab-grown diamonds

The guilt-free gem: Lab-grown diamonds

For those humanitarians and environmentalists out there, engagement ring shopping can be a struggle. Due to the carbon footprint – among other things – caused by diamond mining, younger people are attempting to take a step away from the traditional engagement ring. This has led to a fast growing trend – lab-grown diamond rings.

According to BBC Future, almost 70% of millennials have considered this guilt-free engagement ring alternative. An added bonus to lab-grown diamonds for your engagement ring is that they are much more affordable, meaning you won’t break the bank.

So what exactly is a lab-grown diamond?

Essentially, they are man-made diamonds. What’s interesting, however, is that while they are created in laboratories, they are chemically and physically identical to natural diamonds, and are just as hard.

There are two main methods used to grow these diamonds: The CVD (chemical vapor deposition) method and The HPHT (high pressure high temperature) method. Lightbox, a company who lab-grows diamonds describes these methods:

CVD – “Lab grown diamond seeds are loaded into a CVD reactor. Then, a mix of gasses containing carbon is added at a very low pressure. Microwaves are added to heat the gases and generate a plasma. When the temperatures climb over several thousand degrees, the gas molecules break apart and carbon atoms bond to the seeds, growing them one layer at a time,” says Lightbox.

HPHT – “This method mimics the conditions under which diamonds naturally form. Large mechanical presses are used to apply extreme pressure and high temperature to carbon in the presence of a diamond seed. The seeds act as a template for a lattice of carbon to grow layer by layer over the course of a few days,” they said.

Because of their man-made nature, they only take a few weeks to make whereas a real diamond takes billions of years to grow.

So if you’re looking to live a more eco-friendly, sustainable and conscious life then lab-grown diamonds are the way to go!

Here are some lab-grown diamond engagement rings to inspire you:

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C O N T R O V E R S I A L meets highly sustainable. Completed 10 weeks ago and dispatched to San Francisco, we’ve waited patiently for a proposal. Today we found out She Said Yes! This ring harbours a controversial little secret however. Can you guess? That incredible 1.2ct diamond was lab-created. Everyone seems to have an opinion on these. Most high-end jewellers refuse to work with them. Some people believe the romance of diamonds is due to its origin, or the absolute, incredible, breathtaking reality of how diamonds are formed over millions of years. Don’t get us wrong: we love this too. But we also strongly believe in sustainability. Every single diamond we set is ethically sourced. Yet, if you truly want a completely traceable diamond with the full knowledge of its conception: a lab grown one is an excellent option. Facts and points to consider: Lab grown diamonds ARE real diamonds. They are not simulants. The environment they are created in mimics that of the earth, yet drastically speeds up the process. Like natural diamonds, we can never tell the colour or clarity until the diamond is formed. So they are still rare and a challenge to acquire the ideal ‘4 C’s’. Lab-created diamonds are not at this stage a great deal more affordable than natural diamonds. This isn’t necessarily a more affordable option – Simply the most traceable. We offer this alternative and support these diamonds for this reason 🍃🌱🌍 and we are one of the few jewellers in Australia open to working with these 💎. Nestled beside this diamond are Australian ethically sourced sapphires.

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