Reasons to Choose Lab-Grown for Your Wedding and Engagement Rings

If you’re planning a proposal of marriage, then you might want to do everything in your power to make the moment special – and to increase the likelihood of the offer being accepted. This might mean, among other things, looking for the most impressive available engagement ring.

In the modern age, would-be brides and bridegrooms have access to an impressive array of engagement rings. These contain precious stones of many different shapes, sizes, and hues. Most of these have been dug out of the earth, and then cut to size. But it’s now also possible to create precious stones synthetically, by cultivating them in a laboratory.

Lab-grown diamonds are different from the natural alternative. Let’s consider a few of the key advantages and downsides, and see whether they might fit with your needs.

Why Choose Lab Grown Diamonds?

One of the key reasons that lab-grown diamonds might be considered preferable is their price. This is a function of their relative abundance. While an attractive diamond has to be found in the ground, a lab-grown one can be generated from any block of carbon. This makes them easier to come by, which in turn makes them cheaper.

Of course, part of the reason that diamonds are chosen for this occasion is because they are expensive. Your willingness to spend big on a grand gesture might be taken as an indication of your commitment to the relationship.

On the other hand, lab-grown diamonds also have a lower ethical cost. They don’t rely on mines in distant countries where workers do not enjoy the same rights they do elsewhere. There is no such thing as a ‘blood diamond’ grown in a lab. If you and your significant other feel strongly about these issues, then a lab-grown diamond might be an obvious choice. That said, there are also ethically sourced diamond rings available that come from natural sources.

Myths About Lab-Grown Diamonds

To begin with, you might hear that lab-grown diamonds are not ‘real’ diamonds. This is, chemically speaking, false: lab-grown diamonds are created using exactly the same processes (albeit at an accelerated pace), and are indistinguishable from natural ones. Lab-grown diamonds are even graded in the same way as natural ones. 

For the same reason, other myths about these diamonds are false, too. They don’t discolour, and they don’t look ‘fake’, and they don’t feel or weigh differently. Both natural and lab-grown diamonds are certified by both the International Gemological Institute and the Gemological Institute of America.

Some might argue that lab-grown diamonds are not ‘real’, in the same sense that a woman who does not behave in such-and-such a way is not a ‘real’ woman, or that a wine that doesn’t come from some province or other is not a ‘real’ wine. This kind of ‘realness’ is rooted, not in fact, but in values and preferences. Thus, it can be ignored.

Lab-Grown Diamonds in the Spotlight

Most people, according to polling, admit that they’d be unable to tell the difference between natural and lab-grown diamonds. 69% of Brits, specifically, admit this. This is largely thanks to the exposure this new industry is getting. It is helping to cater to growing ethical and environmental concerns among buyers, and it’s being driven along by celebrity endorsements. If you’re considering buying a diamond of this kind, in other words, then you could be in good company!