Can you tell the difference between a lab grown diamond and a mined diamond?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lab and mined diamonds are exactly the same - pure carbon crystals. There is no machine, no loupe, no device that can tell them apart, because they are the same thing.

There is equipment that can tell them apart. I bought my first lab diamond a few years ago and had to find a jeweler who had the equipment to verify. It's possible to tell and I'm not talking about just seeing a number etched in the stone. Many labs were sold without any numbers at all on them.

Only by analyzing patterns of fluorescence. A diamond is a diamond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I bought a certified estate antique for the reason of avoiding new mined diamonds.
As for lab versus mined, it totally depends on how it feels to you. I got one of each to test it out recently when I lost my ring. I felt like - this is subjective - the lab felt like costume jewelry. It wouldn’t have felt that way if it was my original ring or my husband gave it to me, I don’t think. But it literally felt like something from Anthropologie that I bought for a party. So I found an estate marked piece and I love it. To each their own.

Your description is ridiculous. It isn't costume jewelry by any stretch. There isn't anything really special about old stones, often they're really crappy quality.

One of my hobbies is antique jewelry and you need to be careful. People often replace the stones and even in the 1800s it was common to use substitutes. For example most old jewelry with sapphires actually don't have sapphires. Despite someone telling me it was certified, I'd take it to a real appraiser.

What a stupid post. I am sure this PP got it appraised or bought it from a reputable place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Can you imagine? Kathy's ring wasn't mined with slave labor! The scandal!"

Please. Most mined diamonds aren’t mined by slave labor anymore. Labs have all kinds of chemical and environmental issues and they’re made in china and India. Let’s not get too pompous.

I actually can tell a bit. I didn’t want a totally perfect stone it looks fake. I like a flaw and I like an old stone.

lol “mined” diamonds are ten times the cost. And sorry the labor issues with diamonds have not been resolved and the environmental impact of mining will always dwarf a synthetic process. And labs will drag down the “value” of ALL diamonds. Enjoy your “flaws.”

I actually read an article in the WSJ that said the exact opposite. Because so many people are buying lab grown diamonds now, it's a bigger deal and more of a status symbol to have a real diamond.

Except that nobody will know. Anyone can pass off a lab diamond as a real diamond.

Exactly. It’s not a status symbol because people cannot tell, assuming it’s a quality setting. Also more and more people who can afford real are either going with no stone or lab diamonds because there are clear ethical concerns at every level with diamonds—environmental, labor, human rights and conflicts, supporting corrupt regimes, etc.

DP but when DH and I got engaged, we chose a ring that was my birthstone, not a diamond. We spent more on the setting than on the stone and it's GORGEOUS. I get so many compliments on it despite the fact that it is obviously not a diamond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where are the best places to buy lab diamonds?

I spent a lot of time looking and Ritani was the best deal for me. Pricescope has the best information and has an excellent diamond finder. You can buy your stones there and have them set locally. I like Quest for that kind of work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Can you imagine? Kathy's ring wasn't mined with slave labor! The scandal!"

Please. Most mined diamonds aren’t mined by slave labor anymore. Labs have all kinds of chemical and environmental issues and they’re made in china and India. Let’s not get too pompous.

I actually can tell a bit. I didn’t want a totally perfect stone it looks fake. I like a flaw and I like an old stone.

lol “mined” diamonds are ten times the cost. And sorry the labor issues with diamonds have not been resolved and the environmental impact of mining will always dwarf a synthetic process. And labs will drag down the “value” of ALL diamonds. Enjoy your “flaws.”

I actually read an article in the WSJ that said the exact opposite. Because so many people are buying lab grown diamonds now, it's a bigger deal and more of a status symbol to have a real diamond.

Utter hogwash. This is what the people who spent a fortune on mined diamonds tell themselves. There's no way to tell so why would I believe someone who said their diamond was mined? It's not happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look lab growns are putting a lot of pressure on the prices for natural diamonds. Right now naturals are worth more on the resell but for how long?

It really seems the natural diamonds are being pushed up by the industry. There are huge surplus of natural diamonds and the demand is falling.

Mined diamonds have always been like other jewelry and cars. You get much, much less for them in resale than you expect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look lab growns are putting a lot of pressure on the prices for natural diamonds. Right now naturals are worth more on the resell but for how long?

It really seems the natural diamonds are being pushed up by the industry. There are huge surplus of natural diamonds and the demand is falling.

There has always been a huge surplus of mined diamonds. That was the lie the diamond manufacturers told everyone. It was all marketing. They limited diamond availability to keep the prices high. Go read about the way the diamond market worked. They were never that rare. The market has been manipulated intentionally to keep prices high and when lab diamonds came about, the same big companies tried to do the same thing with them. They tried to limit the availability and were charging almost as much as the price for a mined diamond. It was ridiculous. They didn't have a monopoly on the development of the diamonds though and eventually manufacturers of labs popped up in India, Russia, China etc and there was no cornering of the market and central control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I bought a certified estate antique for the reason of avoiding new mined diamonds.
As for lab versus mined, it totally depends on how it feels to you. I got one of each to test it out recently when I lost my ring. I felt like - this is subjective - the lab felt like costume jewelry. It wouldn’t have felt that way if it was my original ring or my husband gave it to me, I don’t think. But it literally felt like something from Anthropologie that I bought for a party. So I found an estate marked piece and I love it. To each their own.

Your description is ridiculous. It isn't costume jewelry by any stretch. There isn't anything really special about old stones, often they're really crappy quality.

One of my hobbies is antique jewelry and you need to be careful. People often replace the stones and even in the 1800s it was common to use substitutes. For example most old jewelry with sapphires actually don't have sapphires. Despite someone telling me it was certified, I'd take it to a real appraiser.

What a stupid post. I am sure this PP got it appraised or bought it from a reputable place.

I've been doing this for decades and work with a well known appraiser. Most people do not bother and will assume some certificate makes it right. It doesn't guarantee anything particularly in the resale market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do have to say I love how the diamond industry is trying to sell really low quality diamonds with ridiculous branding. The dumbest off all being "salt and pepper" diamonds.

I hope the whole thing collapses, it's an industry soaked in blood.

"chocolate diamonds" just the weird brown ones no one wanted

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are the best places to buy lab diamonds?

I spent a lot of time looking and Ritani was the best deal for me. Pricescope has the best information and has an excellent diamond finder. You can buy your stones there and have them set locally. I like Quest for that kind of work.

Brilliance also has great prices. And I think ritani still price matches if you find the same stone listed elsewhere for less.

Completely agree, buying the loose stone and getting it set locally is your best bet.

[Anonymous]

Diamonds are no different than fancy lumps of coal. Carbon crystals. There is no shortage of coal on earth and also no shortage of diamonds. Agree with posters who say that massive chunky gold jewelry will become status symbols. Bc gold is rare and you can't make it in a lab

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I bought a certified estate antique for the reason of avoiding new mined diamonds.
As for lab versus mined, it totally depends on how it feels to you. I got one of each to test it out recently when I lost my ring. I felt like - this is subjective - the lab felt like costume jewelry. It wouldn’t have felt that way if it was my original ring or my husband gave it to me, I don’t think. But it literally felt like something from Anthropologie that I bought for a party. So I found an estate marked piece and I love it. To each their own.

Your description is ridiculous. It isn't costume jewelry by any stretch. There isn't anything really special about old stones, often they're really crappy quality.

One of my hobbies is antique jewelry and you need to be careful. People often replace the stones and even in the 1800s it was common to use substitutes. For example most old jewelry with sapphires actually don't have sapphires. Despite someone telling me it was certified, I'd take it to a real appraiser.

What a stupid post. I am sure this PP got it appraised or bought it from a reputable place.

I bought it from an auction house, it cost north of $50k, so yes, I did take it to an appraiser. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Can you imagine? Kathy's ring wasn't mined with slave labor! The scandal!"

Please. Most mined diamonds aren’t mined by slave labor anymore. Labs have all kinds of chemical and environmental issues and they’re made in china and India. Let’s not get too pompous.

I actually can tell a bit. I didn’t want a totally perfect stone it looks fake. I like a flaw and I like an old stone.

lol “mined” diamonds are ten times the cost. And sorry the labor issues with diamonds have not been resolved and the environmental impact of mining will always dwarf a synthetic process. And labs will drag down the “value” of ALL diamonds. Enjoy your “flaws.”

I actually read an article in the WSJ that said the exact opposite. Because so many people are buying lab grown diamonds now, it's a bigger deal and more of a status symbol to have a real diamond.

Except that nobody will know. Anyone can pass off a lab diamond as a real diamond.

Exactly. It’s not a status symbol because people cannot tell, assuming it’s a quality setting. Also more and more people who can afford real are either going with no stone or lab diamonds because there are clear ethical concerns at every level with diamonds—environmental, labor, human rights and conflicts, supporting corrupt regimes, etc.

DP but when DH and I got engaged, we chose a ring that was my birthstone, not a diamond. We spent more on the setting than on the stone and it's GORGEOUS. I get so many compliments on it despite the fact that it is obviously not a diamond.

Sounds beautiful. I think it’s cool that diamonds may no longer be considered the go to stone for an engagement rings as they are no longer perceived as uniquely valuable. Also, people can focus more attention on interesting custom settings.

[Anonymous]

I like mined diamonds but I care more how the diamond actually looks. I'm partial to older (pre-1900s) diamonds and I'd rather have the cut, size and clarity/colour I wanted. (eg salt/pepper and chocolate diamonds are a joke).

But truly I would never buy a lab-diamond because they are too expensive for what they are. I'd go for CZ if I wanted man-made. ff

If you really are that gung-ho with human rights, you wouldn't wear anything diamond or even junk jewelry-like as someone upstream was not paid enough to work the mine/the lab/the factory/the jewelry counter to deliver the diamond to you, just saying. So stop virtue-signaling about what an awesome person you are because you don't have xyz.

[Anonymous]

It will be interested to see what happens re trends and status symbols now that lab diamonds are so cheap.

Here's a couple predictions:

1) the price of gold is still $$$. I predict chunkier gold will become a flex/preference
2) people will place a higher value on the designs and metal work of the jewelry. For years 'dainty' settings dominated the market, but i think there will be a shift away to show that you have the $$ and taste to create something interesting
3) as far as the stones go, I think we will see gravitation towards other gemstones, like rubies and emeralds
4) on the diamond note, I wonder if diamonds will go the way of emeralds and people will start to prefer inclusions and slight imperfections as signs that the diamond is "natural". When lab grown emeralds became widely available in the 20th century, natural emeralds with visible inclusions became the preferred emeralds because all of the lab grown stones were flawless and almost all natural emeralds are not.