Lab-grown diamonds vs mined gems – can YOU spot the difference? – by Rebekah Absalom (Daily Mail – January 26, 2024)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Lab-grown diamonds have gained popularity in recent years thanks to their ethical production methods, affordable pricing and celebrity endorsements. Despite being labelled as ‘fake’ by traditional diamond enthusiasts, man-made and natural diamonds share identical physical and chemical characteristics – even experts struggle to distinguish between the two.

Sales for these sustainable gems achieved a record high last year, drawing significant interest from socially-conscious consumers seeking high quality and responsible sourcing that doesn’t harm the environment.

A number of celebrities, including Meghan Markle, Jennifer Lopez, Gigi Hadid and Taylor Swift, have also embraced the shift towards a more ethical choice. While the Duchess of Sussex has been seen wearing lab-grown diamond jewellery by Kimaï, which received a £250,000 investment from Steven Bartlett on Dragons’ Den, Taylor Swift is a devoted supporter of diamond earrings from VRAI – a label partly financed by Leonardo DiCaprio.

Meanwhile, in 2023, Pandora experienced an 83 per cent surge in sales, after introducing lab-grown diamonds and discontinuing natural diamond sales due to reported human rights abuses in mines and factories. Two techniques are used to create lab-grown diamonds. HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature), invented in the 1950s, mimics the high pressure and temperature found in the earth when natural diamonds are formed.

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