The modern diamond industry has been called “

.” Others see it as one of marketing’s biggest successes. Famously explored by journalist Edward Jay Epstein in his 

, Epstein traced the origin of our global diamond market (

) to the discovery of huge South African diamond mines which flooded the market, thereby lowering the price of the precious stones, in the late 19th century.

Long-story short, this market saturation led to the creation of De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. (now De Beers), to control supply in 1888. But the part we’re interested in didn’t begin until 1938 when Harry Oppenheimer, the De Beers founder’s son, recruited the New York–based ad agency N.W. Ayer to help persuade the American public that a diamond was the only stone synonymous with romance and that the size of said stone did very much matter.

Thus began the greatest myth in retail history. The truth being that if you think investing in a large rock for your partner’s finger/ wrist/ necklace demonstrates the depth of your affection, well, you’re eating right out of Oppenheimer’s hands.

Cut to 2021 and the debate isn’t so much about whether diamonds are a marketing ploy (who cares, really? Just because a New York ad exec decided they’re romantic, doesn’t mean it isn’t so right?). No, now the debate is very much a question of do you go lab-grown, or au natural?

With ethics around diamond mining long being overlooked (genocide, war, exploitation, deforestation, murder, intimidation, pollution and habitat destruction should be more synonymous with diamond mining than cupid’s arrow) many companies have announced the move to synthetic, lab-grown alternatives.

While a ‘natural’ diamond may take millions if not billions of years of immense natural pressure to be formed, lab-grown diamonds can replicate this process quickly and efficiently, without the need to disrupt entire eco-systems in their mining.Typically, lab-grown diamonds are produced by heating bits of carbon around a diamond ‘seed’ to incredibly high temperatures. When the carbon cools it forms a new diamond. (There are two methods, 

Pandora (incidentally the world’s largest jewellery retailer) was the first to announce it would switch entirely to lab-grown diamonds in 2021. Meanwhile, in 2020, De Beers invested in a facility to produce 400,000 lab-grown diamonds a year. (And, if you’re interested in this sort of thing, in 2019 Meghan Markle sported a pair of lab-grown diamond earrings from Antwerp-based company Kimaï.)

These moves were hailed as ecological and ethical wins, and certainly curried favour with millennial and generation Z consumers who increasingly place more importance on a company’s global impact. So with the world’s largest retailers committed to lab-grown, everything is sorted, right? Turns out the truth – as it so often is – is not quite that simple.

Frank Darling is a diamond retailer based in the US. Its website hosts a handy online editorial titled ‘

’ . The gist of the piece is less ‘Buy au natural because we have lots of back stock of the real thing we need to shift’ and more, ‘here are some common questions and complaints about lab-grown, and the actual evidence.’

Concerns addressed in the piece are that lab grown diamonds are ‘worthless’, that lab-grown diamonds are bad for the environment, and that lab-grown diamonds are too uniform, robbing you of the chance of finding that special, unique stone.

Let’s examine the main two points. The article notes that lab-grown diamonds are up to 50 percent cheaper than the real thing, which means they have less intrinsic value. But then again, is any diamond really an investment? Perhaps Oppenheimer’s marketing plan worked a bit too well and diamonds no longer feel all that special?

“Lab created diamonds are definitely going to save you dollars,” the article’s author, Stephanie Dore notes. “Does that mean they’re a terrible investment? Are lab grown diamonds worth anything? Are we talking love story or stock purchase? But seriously, while the diamond market is relatively stable, unless you’re buying investment-grade fancy colour diamonds, no diamond is an investment.”

That said, consumers are placing more and more value in lab-grown.

“Today, it costs $300 to $500 per carat to produce a CVD lab-grown diamond, compared with $4,000 per carat in 2008, according to a report commissioned by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC),” writes Harriet Constable in a 2020 article for 

. “Lab-grown diamonds are a rapidly growing trend in the industry. Young diamond-buyers are drawn to them by price, transparency and for environmental reasons, with this segment of the market increasing by between 15% and 20% annually, according to the AWDC report.”

So, it’s clear that lab-grown diamonds are still considered a serious investment, and that they have a bright future ahead of them.

The second point, that lab-grown is bad for the environment is a confusing one, especially when mining ‘real’ diamonds involves ripping up large areas of land, destroying the local ecosystem, building access roads (often through remote forests) and then dealing with the potential of poisonous run-off into local rivers.

“It costs $300 to $500 per carat to produce a CVD lab-grown diamond…”

Dore notes that lab-grown diamonds use 250 million joules of electricity per carat. Mined diamonds use 538.5 million. “But some lab diamonds, like Diamond Foundry’s, are grown with 100% renewable energy,” Dore explains. What’s more, Dore explains that lab-grown diamonds consume just 18 gallons per carat compared to 126 gallons of a natural rock, with drastically lower carbon emissions.

Sure, this second point might make modern consumers happy. But what about the people whose livelihoods actually depend on mining? Like working class loggers bearing the brunt of deforestation protests, the call to protect the planet at the expense of all else often comes from a position of privilege, and often from a Western country far removed from the geographical and economical realities of harvesting these resources.

“If you start to grow diamonds in a lab, you’re not only taking away a job, but you’re also closing down communities and closing down countries,” says Urica Primus, 30, told 

. Primus is from a mining family in Guyana, one of the poorest countries in South America, where 18 percent of the population relies on the exportation of gold, diamonds, oil, has and minerals for employment. “How will [miners] survive, how will they sustain themselves, their livelihoods, their families?” Primus told the article’s author, Tess McClure.

Primus is president of the Guyana Women Miners Organisation but as she tells McClure, mining is difficult and dangerous work. “Many mines are extremely remote, in areas Primus calls “raw bush – just jungle and trees”,” McClure writes. “Miners live with the hazards of attack and armed robbery, women with additional risks of sexual assault. In the rainy season some mines are at risk of collapse, killing miners inside them. But mining is also a crucial source of income, development, funds for education. Companies that care about ethics should invest in improving standards, not disappear, [Primus] says.”

Clearly, the question is more complex than just allowing Western consumers to feel good about choosing lab-grown along with alternative milks and energy saving lightbulbs. Also speaking to 

, Cristina Villegas, mining director of development nonprofit Pact, says “They’re framing it in terms of ‘this is an ethical decision’ when in my opinion it’s the complete opposite…It’s just completely walking away from the social aspects of sustainability.”

Instead of walking away, Villegas helps small mining communities to get the fairest deal, whatever that looks like for them. “When you walk away, prices drop, you’re abandoning whole communities,” she says.

Clearly, then, where diamonds are concerned, lab-grown or otherwise, we’re entering into murky territory. Lab-grown seems like a better option for the planet, but it’s patronising to assume that us, as consumers, know what is best for the people whose livelihoods depend on retrieving these diamonds from the ground.

article, Constable offers a possible compromise. “The humanitarian questions around lab and mined diamonds remain knotty, but there is one way that lab diamonds come out on top in terms of environmental impact,” she writes. “Diamonds for jewellery make up only 30% of the market, with the rest sold for use in drilling, cutting and grinding. It’s in this area that lab diamonds can actually be used for environmental benefit.”

Constable quotes Jason Payne, chief executive of Ada Diamonds, a leading lab-grown company. Payne argues that lab-grown diamonds shouldn’t just be used to replace mined diamonds, but can also benefit the environment in many other ways.

“A diamond is the ultimate known semiconductor… far superior to silicon or other materials,” Payne says, with Constable explaining that “Using lab diamonds in transistors reduces the energy lost as heat…The US Department of Energy reports that diamond-based components reduce these losses by up to 90%…A thin coating of diamond has also been shown to reduce friction in moving mechanical parts, from windmills to cars. Nissan reported a reduction in friction between engine parts of approximately 40% when using diamond film.”

Demand for mined diamonds is in decline, and the mining industry has also been promising to clean up its act for decades. It’s also clear that the application of lab grown diamonds in the environmental sphere is exciting. And on the jewellery front, lab-grown poses a serious threat to traditional mined diamonds.

It’s admirable that Pandora and other companies are moving towards lab-made. How that affects the diamond industry as a whole remains to be seen. But what is perhaps of the highest importance is that in the rush to garner positive PR, the diamond companies don’t forget about the communities who worked so hard to retrieve these shiny stones from the ground on their behalf in the first place.

Sam Leith asks which is better; Neil Diamond or real diamonds?

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