When buying diamonds for engagement or wedding rings, historically, the last consideration has often been budget. Within the last decade, lab-grown diamonds have become popular and only cost a fraction of natural diamonds. There are more choices with lab-grown diamonds, which make customisation much easier. Given the current market conditions, it is worth buying lab grown diamond engagement rings simply due to the fact that the value of natural diamonds have fallen and to date still unstable.
Especially within the sphere of diamond engagement rings, once the design of the ring is agreed upon with the diamond seller, there is still the choice of choosing between lab-grown diamonds and natural diamonds. The properties of a lab-grown stone from its chemical and physical perspective are identical to those of a natural stone (however, there are rumours that lab-grown diamonds are, in fact, better in quality compared to natural stones that more often than not come with flaws), which makes making the decision even harder.
It is common knowledge that when it comes to a diamond engagement ring, everything is about the diamond, more so than the ring. The cut, the size, the colour and how the stone is set on the ring play a crucial role towards optimising the brilliance of the stone. In essence, it is all about ‘light play’ and within this context, the person who plays the most important role is not the buyer, but the jeweller. There is no doubt that some jewellers are more skilled than others and are capable of even making the cheapest and smallest stones look impressive.
The soul of any diamond engagement ring is undoubtedly the stone, and the best thing about lab-grown diamonds that come at a much lower price is that light travels through these stones the exact same way that light travels through natural stones, and the best part is, nobody will be able to tell the difference without using special high-tech equipment to identify the origin of the stone.
Are Diamonds Good Investments?
For a long time, diamonds were indeed a store of value and were deemed as investments that held value as the purchasing power of paper money depreciated. Diamonds, much like precious metals, were seen as good investment diversification, and many people did indeed invest in diamonds until a decade ago, when the arrival of commercial lab-grown diamonds sent ripples through the entire sphere, causing the value of natural diamonds to fall drastically.
This is due to the simple fact that diamonds can be created in labs that are of equal if not better quality than natural diamonds. The same would happen to precious metals such as gold if one day they are able to produce gold in labs. Once scarcity is removed from the equation, any commodity will lose value, and diamonds are no exception. In summary, given the fact that humans are now able to create diamonds in labs using coal, investing in natural diamonds is not a very wise move, and this is especially true for commercial natural diamonds.
However, diamonds associated with historical figures or are linked to legends will remain precious due to nostalgic value more than anything else, and lab-grown diamonds are being mass-produced and unlimited, which means that they will never be deemed as investments by seasoned investors.