If you’ve decided to shop for a lab grown diamond, then congratulations on making a wise choice. As you know, lab grown diamonds are materially identical to naturally grown diamonds in every way, but come with a more consistent colour and clarity, and can often be had for a fraction of the cost. Still, there are certain things you should in keep in order to be sure you choose the lab grown diamonds that’s right for you.
Choosing the Right Company
When you’re choosing a company to buy your lab grown diamond from, it’s worth investigating what laboratory they source their diamonds from. While the processes by which lab diamonds are made is held to a very high standard, some labs may be more highly reviewed and respected than others. Because this is still a significant investment, you’ll want to be sure you’re getting the best. Also consider whether a jeweller is able to show you the product in person or not. Some people feel like they need to see a diamond in person before they buy, while others are comfortable buying online. An online only retailer can certainly save you some money because of lower markup costs, but this is still a question worth asking yourself.
The Four C’s
Just like with buying a natural diamond, shopping for lab grown diamonds means finding stones that have been highly graded in accordance with the four C’s. The four C’s in question are a stone’s carat, cut, clarity, and colour. Carat refers simply to the weight of the diamond. Cut refers to the angle of the diamond’s facets that have been ground by a jeweller; a higher grade diamond will have the facets angled in such a way as to reflect as much light as possible outward, where it can be perceived as shine and luster. Clarity refers to potential flaws in the stone, and colour to the stone’s colour – whether it is perfectly clear, or tinted in some way. Fortunately, this process is made easy, because lab grown diamonds are frequently graded by the same groups, such as the IGI or GCal, that are famous for grading natural stones.
The Ethical Question
One of the main draws of lab grown diamonds in today’s world is their ethical status. Natural diamonds are often acquired from miners who have been shown to engage in massively unethical practices of worker exploitation and violence. Understandably, many people have decided that it’s simply not worth being associated with those atrocities. However, when shopping for lab grown diamonds, there are still certain ethical questions you might ask. For instance, some labs and jewellers might seek not just to be ethically neutral, but to offset some of the damage done by the traditional diamond industry. If this is a thing that matters to you, consider looking for suppliers of lab grown diamonds that have committed to making donations to human rights groups, or who practice carbon offsetting.
