The arrival of lab-grown diamonds has undeniably shaken up the mined-diamond industry – the substantial cost savings that the former is able to offer is an advantage that has taken off a little of the lustre of natural diamonds. According to Forbes, millennials are reportedly driving increasing sales for lab-grown diamonds, which are also perceived to be a more environmentally friendly and ethical choice, compared to the natural versions.
Lab-grown diamonds are cultivated from seeds in a laboratory, while natural diamonds were formed over three billion years ago, deep within the Earth’s crust.
lab-grown diamonds are created in highly controlled lab environments using advanced technological processes that clone the conditions under which diamonds naturally develop. The two widely used methods to grow diamonds in labs are CVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition) and HPHT (High-Pressure High Temperature).
“Typically, lab-grown diamonds start with a tiny lab diamond, called a seed. These seeds are placed in a chamber known as a plasma reactor (CVD) or a large mechanical press (HPHT). Then, a combination of heat, pressure and a carbon source is used to grow the crystals, layer by layer. A few weeks later, a rough diamond is grown and is then cut and polished like any other diamond, for a piece of beautiful fine jewellery,” she said.
As such, one can easily see how convenient this makes the whole business of procuring real diamonds, without the need to mine them from the earth. Speed is clearly another advantage that lab-grown diamonds provide (it takes barely a couple of weeks to grow a diamond in a lab), on top of the elimination of the complex issues that natural diamond supply chains tend to have.
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