My Emotional Dilemma with Lab Grown Diamonds

As a fifth generation jeweler, I faced an internal battle. I was torn between the traditional sensibilities of being a jeweler and facing the technologically advanced future of the jewelry industry.

My entire life, I had been taught to value the rarity and uniqueness of naturally mined diamonds. Now, to accept lab-grown diamonds as a viable, better future for jewelry did not come easy, especially in the realm of emotions. How can something engineered in a laboratory match the beauty and authenticity of a naturally mined stone that has been the tradition for centuries?

The more I learned about lab-grown diamonds, I came to understand that while one is nature’s art (when mined ethically), the other is man-made art. A lab-grown diamond is indeed a real diamond. It is chemically, optically, and physically identical to a natural-mined diamond. As a bonus, lab-grown diamonds are guilt-free, with no human or environmental exploitation. Not that every piece created prior was tarnished with exploitation, but many went through the system unchecked.

I still treasure and wear my jewelry collection – passed on from generations, purchased for special occasions or received as gifts. But when purchasing now, I weigh my options much more thoughtfully because I have the luxury of having an equally beautiful and real alternative. Lab-grown diamonds did not take nature’s course of millions of years to gain their flaws and uniqueness. They started from a tiny, natural-mined diamond seed and grew over a short span. One may think that adding one piece of lab-grown diamond jewelry to your collection may not make a difference – I did, too. But it’s one more step in the right direction.