Lab grown diamonds

I have a friend in South Africa who tells me De Beers has a huge stash of diamonds off the coast of Namibia. They bury them in the sand offshore and guard them. Something to do with tax laws. They can't flood the market with them for obvious reasons.

 

I remember hearing in the early 90's that they supposedly sunk ships full of diamonds to reduce supply and keep up the value? Definitely sounds plausible that one of these two stories is true. Back when I bought my wife's ring in 92, lab growns weren't around, but I know she wouldn't have wanted one, because I joked around then about getting her a cubic zirconia. I guess it's kind of like me not wanting a fake 930 Turbo when I bought mine, or not wearing a watch, versus wearing a fake Rolex.

 

the diamond sellers themselves came up with that! no joke. debeers did it in the 30s - before that diamonds were not even the preferred stone. greatest marketing campaign ever?

 

Right along with, "Diamonds are a girl's best friend"

 

Is there a way to tell it's lab grown other than with a certificate (or lack thereof) ?

 

It contains bat DNA and doesn’t get stopped by an N95 mask.

 

A Neodymium magnet is the most practical way. Man made normally have trace amounts of Iron or Nickel in them.

 

i just went with a lab grown. she didnt want a natural diamond after seeing the Blood Diamond anyways. so win-win for me.
a wedding band may not have much savings with lab vs natural

 

Just watched a documentary about this on prime. So apparently, no one can tell the difference. And 1/2 the stones at Tiffany’s are from labs.
Wild.

 

The marketing department at DeBeers.

 

Buy a stone off marketplace or kijiji that comes with a GIA certificate and meet at a jeweller that can tell right away if it's real or fake. It'll come out cheaper than even lab grown.

 

Wife absolutely forbade me spending the cash on 2.5 carat natural so we go her a lab grown upgrade on our 25th anniversary.
I can tell you she and a lot of her girlfriends have show ring and a wear ring. Losing 10k plus on a roller coaster, horse or working out is not worth the risk.

 

Debeers. They also own every diamond mine in the world pretty much.

 

Debeers also owns Lightbox (lab grown diamond facility)

 

Took my girlfriend shopping this weekend and we stopped in the jewlery store ... the guy said " this is the real diamond case, and this is the lab grown case. They're about 1/2 what real diamonds cost." My girl friend was all over the 1/2 off and you can't tell the difference in the two. Graded the same way, certified the same way, sparkle the same way ... it's a no brainer!
BUT ... I let her make that decision and now I know I can go that route!

 

Just replaced my wife's setting and rock.

3 carats lab= 10k
3 carats (Blood Diamond lol) =55k

I will mess this up, but it was G VVS1 or 2 excellent cuts. Basically, highest quality you can get all the way around. When we compared the two, you couldn't tell the difference.

The lab looked flawless and amazing. Color / clarity was amazing.

Wife was all about it once they said the only way to tell the difference is under a microscope. Typical diamond testing will yield same results between the two.

Now she has the rock she's always wanted, and I saved 44k!

IMO the lab rocks are the way to go. Only downside is you can't really consider it an investment. We traded her 2 3/4 carat for credit and it basically paid for the new lab rock and partial new setting.

 

You're doomed

 

I would have saved $55K.

 

Thankgod being in the pawn business my wife sees what a racket diamonds and jewelry stores are and only ever goes after small silver pieces we get in which we literally buy for pocket change because silver is $24 an ounce.