Lab Diamonds…Yea or Nay?

I may have mentioned in the past that I had reservations about carrying laboratory created diamonds in my shop, and only in the last year have I offered them as an alternative consideration to natural diamonds. Many folks who balk at the prices of large natural diamonds and refuse to even consider the cheap alternative, cubic zirconia, are curious clients. 

The majority who see lab diamonds have, like myself, also become slightly enamored with them. 

Yeah, yeah, I know.Why would I do a complete 360-degree turn and decide to sell something that when it comes right down to brass tacks, has no intrinsic or re-sale value whatsoever? Three reasons come to mind… Demand, Dazzle, Dollars! 

At first, it was the younger generations buying them as engagement rings. I had family and friends of family up North requesting them in earring studs and even engagement rings way before we had requests here on Marco Island,and oh boy,now they have become popular with my baby boomer generation. 

Before I explain, facts first. (Yes, in the jewelry Biz facts matter, like the very important fact that seems to elude many… Gold is expensive! The facts being an important factor in this recent political cycle…is not so important!) Fact…The sales in 2022 of Lab Created Diamonds in the U.S. were 11.3 billion; the projected market sales of lab diamonds by the end of 2024 will top U.S. $18.1 billion and is expected to rise to $28.1 billion by 2034!The same projection in2024 for Natural Diamonds is still expected to top $72 billion. One-half of diamond engagement rings sold in April of 2024 were Lab-grown diamonds! 

That being said it’s pretty obvious that Lab created diamonds are here to stay and the demand is spectacular. WHY, you may ask? Besides demand there is a case of labs being 85% less expensive than natural diamonds and with most consumers being extremely price sensitive, it just makes sense folks want them. 

I firmly believe the main factor is the cost; it’s always about the money in this biz.No one deep down ever wants to pay the asking price for a spectacular natural diamond. With a lab grown, you get a diamond twice or even three times the size for a fraction of the cost, in a nutshell. It looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck…but it’s not a duck!It’s a Lab created duck. 

A lab created diamond looks exactly like a natural diamond in every way; it is still the four “C‘s”: carat, color, clarity, cut and now add another “C”…cost. Today,most jewelers have been forced to purchase expensive diamond detectors to distinguish between the two diamonds - you cannot tell the difference by eyeballing it or even under magnification!I bought a detectorthree years ago to protect myself from being duped by shady diamond dealers or unscrupulous public shysters trying to pass off labs for naturals. Many major city and rural jewelers alike are being “robbed” by switch artists who will palm the real diamond, leave a lab, and walk out with the natural diamond before the jeweler realizes he’s been had. 

I now offer Natural and Lab diamonds to my clients because here on Marco Island and Naples, “Bigger is always Better,” and if you can’t swing the $20K price tag on a fine natural 2.00 carat, you can at least consider the $2,000 purchase price for a 2.00 carat lab diamond that only your jeweler would know for sure it’s not natural. Not only do you save thousands of dollars while you wear it, you still have everyone who sees it and goes WOW!  

It’s an“if they don’t ask, don’t tell” situation, and it sure beats Cheap Cubic Zirconia!(Besides, having someone ask another person if their diamonds are real is just… plain rude!)Maybe my Gucci knock-off Cubic Queen will return someday and trade her costume cubics in for Labs.  

For those of you ladies who have craved diamond stud earrings…the holiday season is approaching! Come in and see our two- and three-carat total lab diamonds and martini-style stud earrings in gleaming white or yellow gold. You will positively love how they look on you. We have subtle hint cards you can tape to your refrigerator or leave in your significant other’s humidor to get the desired results. 

“I never worry about diets, the only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in diamonds!” ~ Mae West