Diamonds have forever signified high style, feeling, and commitment for loved ones. Making a decision to go either way, lab-grown or mined diamonds for an engagement ring or special jewelry piece, has been one of the turning-point decisions for people nowadays. Both of them have their own set of characteristics; knowing those shall definitely help in forming your decision based on taste and values.
Physical Differences
The lab-grown diamond looks like a mined one in casual glance. This happens, however due to the fact that the two are basically the same thing.
Both, once again are pure carbon arranged in the form of a crystal structure with a carbon atom as its basic unit. It is this structure which gives diamonds in general their hardness, brilliance and so on.
Now, one of the major differences is the source.
Mined diamonds were formed deep down below the crust of the Earth; they take millions of years. They have to be taken to the surface of the Earth through volcanic eruptions and in turn are collected by mining them. Lab-created diamonds are created within a laboratory setting through the modern methods in the synthesis of diamonds. The process in making a lab-created diamond lasts only for several weeks and certainly not millions of years.
Chemically and physically, they are too close to mined diamonds. The hardness, refractive index, sparkle—everything is the same. It's only with advanced testing tools that, to the trained jeweler's eye, you can easily tell them apart.
Chemical Differences
Chemically, a lab-created diamond and a mined diamond are both tightly packed crystalline structures of carbon atoms bonded together. In fact, this lattice structure is the very factor that makes diamond one of the hardest minerals on earth.
However, there are some subtle differences.
Mined diamonds also contain trace elements of other elements, including nitrogen, which slightly yellows them. Lab-grown diamonds, on the other hand, are able to avoid these impurities; it is their environment that one has control over to make sure they do not have these impurities in the first place, thus a colorless stone.
Another other difference that can be noted is the fact that sometimes, the lab-grown diamonds have patterns or inclusions which mined diamonds do not. These patterns arise from the way that the diamonds are being grown in a lab. While these differences are almost microscopic and cannot be noticed by the naked eye, they can nevertheless be discovered by some specified tools.
Visual Differences
At a visual level, there is essentially no difference between a laboratory and a natural diamond. Both of these stones can be cut, shaped, and polished—much in the same manner—to beautiful gems that shall sparkle like any other brilliant cut.
It might be argued that some sort of "character" is imbued into a mined diamond by nature itself. Each mined diamond was structured under different conditions in the Earth, showing slight differences that would probably make each unique in its own way. While lab-grown diamonds are beautiful in their structure, they are grown in a controlled environment that assures more homogeneity.
The scale used for both color and clarity are the same for a lab-grown diamond as for a mined diamond. For that matter, the highest quality of lab-grown diamonds developed today command the same colorless and flawless ratings as the highest mined diamonds.
PROS AND CONS
There's a little to learn when considering lab-grown vs. mined diamonds. A quick rundown is below:
Lab-Grown Diamonds
Pros:
Cost: Lab-created diamonds are virtually always more affordable than mined diamonds that are of the same size and quality. This makes absolute sense, as creation in labs is way less time-consuming.
Ethical: Many have the view that lab-created diamonds are more ethical because they are not associated with the environment and human rights issues sometimes said to be associated with diamond mining.
Availability: From a laboratory, lab-created diamonds can be CREATED synthesized since they are man-made, growing more of them than nature supplies. Therefore, one should be able to receive exactly what they want in a diamond.
Cons:
Emotional Value Some feel that mined diamonds have more value in this domain, emotionally/thinking of resale, rather than a lab-grown diamond, due to the fact that this is a diamond formed by nature, and it has been here on the earth millions and millions of years.
Uniqueness Some feel that mined diamonds have character which a lab-grown diamond would not.
Mined Diamonds
Mined: Mined diamonds are natural, which to many makes them attractive and mysterious. Most people feel special about them because they were formed in the Earth millions of years ago.
Pros:
Mined diamonds are considered one of the most traditional options, especially with engagement rings and other important jewelry.
Cons:
Cost: Mined diamonds are usually very expensive compared to the lab-grown ones, especially for top-quality stones. This is because mining is very expensive, and there are many indirect and direct costs that go into it.
Environmental Impact: Generally, diamond mining does much harm to the ecology through such impacts as habitat loss and water contamination.
Ethical Issues: Whether some of the mined-from-the-ground diamonds have implications in regions that are typically considered to have much human rights abuse through diamond mining ventures WHICH HAS BEEN MITIGATED IN RECENT YEARS BY THE GLOBAL DIAMOND INDUSTRY.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the decision between a mined diamond and a lab-grown one is a highly personal one based on values and what one is seeking in a diamond. Either way, diamonds are both special and beautiful love and commitment symbols. Understand the differences, and you shall make a decision that will satisfy you for years on end.