| I refuse to wear labs. |
Labs are tacky. |
| Blood is cruel |
| Right now giant (lab) diamonds are the trend but the cost for lab is dropping fast. I don’t believe for a second that when a 3 carat diamond costs $50 this current trend will still keep going. People will switch to something that signals wealth again. Maybe a return to colored gemstones. |
| Yeah I think colored yellow or pink diamonds are going to be next. At least until the labs start manufacturing them. |
Labs are already producing colored diamonds and colored gemstones cheaply. |
| Nothing says old money like a plain gold band. |
Like PP said, there’s lab created colored gemstones everywhere already. I’m noticing thicker bands but gold isn’t THAT much of a wealth signifier - eg maybe it’s $5K more for a fat gold band but a 5 carat real diamond would be $200K+. Just isn’t the same. |
You can easily tell a lab emerald from a natural. It’s not like there is no way to signal wealth with natural non-diamond gemstones. |
lol yes, the problem is people who want to pay less for cheaper and more ethical (yet molecularly identical) diamonds is that they haven’t had enough debeers koolaid. |
Such garbage. Anyone can spend 10 minutes reading about the four Cs. Not a one of you could tell the difference between a lab and mines diamond with your naked eye. |
Yeah, natural emeralds have a lot of inclusions and it's relatively easy to tell real from fake. However, emerald is fragile and not a great stone for daily wear anyway. With other gemstones (sapphire, ruby) it can be harder to tell natural from synthetic. Either way, I think we will move away from the engagement ring being the default wealth signifier it has been in the past few decades. People will of course still buy them, but it will be more about choosing something personal and special to the couple and less about showing off that you spent tens of thousands of dollars on it. People being people, wealthy and upper middle class women will find some other outlet to display wealth during engagement/marriage. Maybe exotic honeymoons will be the way to show off? Pre wedding facelifts? I smell a marketing opportunity here... |
Don’t the $500K-1M weddings and $150K honeymoons check that “I’m rich rich” box? We’ve been to like 5 $1M+ weddings this year alone, all paid for by the bride’s family 100% (all white too, this isn’t an Indian or Arab thing). Then the couple spends a week at Singita exclusive use properties or something ridiculous. |
This is wrong. Lab grown emeralds have inclusions. I think you’re thinking of the “costume” emeralds from the 2000s and such that do look perfect because they’re fake. https://www.brilliantearth.com/gemstones/emerald/ |
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I think the appeal in diamonds now is that they are pretty and sparkly. People are putting more thought into designs, bands, cuts. And since 2ct is big and sparkly but comfortable for daily wear that’s a popular choice.
I don’t think engagement rings are seen as wealth indicators anymore and the appeal is no longer in that they are a representation of a lot of money being spent |