Why Lab-Grown Diamonds Are Romantic
Lab grown diamond engagement rings are the choice of a growing number of couples, accounting for about a third of all engagement rings today. You might think that people are choosing a lab grown diamond engagement ring for practical reasons. After all, they are less expensive for lab grown diamonds. Why not save money on the engagement ring that you can use for your wedding or your first real home together? Or that they are choosing a lab grown diamond ring for ethical reasons. When you choose lab grown for your engagement ring, you don’t need to worry about unsavory mining operations. But the reason for choosing a lab created diamond engagement ring can be romantic too. What are you saying when you pledge forever with a lab grown diamond ring? Here are the top five romantic reasons for proposing with a lab grown diamond engagement ring.
Stunning Quality
When you close your eyes and picture up the ideal engagement ring to symbolize your love, what do you see? The diamond is gorgeous and eye-catchingly large, clear and icy, sparkling with brilliance and fire. Of course, the symbol of your love should represent the very best quality. Choosing a lab grown diamond engagement ring can make that dream a reality. The iciest color, the purest clarity, the most ideal cut, and two carats or more in size: all these things are the ultimate statement of the promise you are making to each other. Your lab grown diamond engagement ring can be a big and beautiful as your future together.
Diamonds are crystals of pure carbon. But most diamonds contain traces of other elements. The most common in natural diamonds is nitrogen. Most mined diamonds are Type Ia, containing atoms of nitrogen in their crystal structures. That nitrogen causes the yellow tint so common in mined diamonds. A very small percentage, less than 2% of natural diamonds, are exceptionally pure. These Type IIa diamonds are the best of the best, almost entirely pure carbon. In history, they have been called Golconda diamonds, diamonds of the first water. They are often very fine color and clarity too, with stunning transparency. For example, the Cullinan diamonds in the British crown jewels is a Type IIa D color diamond. Today it’s possible to own a Type IIa diamond without being royalty because most lab grown diamonds are type II a diamonds.
Innovative Technology
When you think about human achievement, science is the spark that lights the way to a future filled with innovation and prosperity. You can turn to science to create the ultimate expression of you love. Reproducing the extreme conditions to create the world’s hardest substance not in the anvil of Earth’s deeps but in an innovative machine is a massive achievement that took a century of innovation. The technological achievement behind lab created gemstones is impressive. In the last decade, continuous refinement has resulted in gems that are as beautiful as those that formed in molten magma were transported to the surface in ancient superdeep volcanoes. Human ingenuity and skilled craftmanship have combined to create these modern marvels. As you begin your lives together, marking this moment with a lab grown diamond engagement ring looks ahead to the future of innovation, not back to the past of tradition and convention. Your future looks brilliant.
Sustainable Sparkle
If the person you love loves the Earth, you want to make sure that your engagement ring is as sustainably as possible. You can minimize the climate impact of your engagement ring by choosing a lab grown diamond that has been produced by a climate neutral laboratory. Not all lab grown diamonds are alike when it comes to their environmental impact. While not requiring the massive displacement of earth of diamond mining, growing diamonds takes a lot of energy and some producers source that energy using fossil fuels. Even the most efficient lab uses electricity for growing diamonds, gas and diesel for transporting workers and products, and AC in the workplace. But there are lab grown diamond producers that obtain their energy using renewable resources like solar power and hydropower and who offset the rest of their environmental impact through funding projects to mitigate the changing climate. Look for certification by SCS Global Services, the standards organization that created Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standard, USDA Organic, Non-GMO, and many more.
The groundbreaking SCS-007 Jewelry Sustainability Standard recognizes diamonds that meet the highest level of ethical and environmental responsibility, fully backed by third-party certification. To become accredited, producers pass a comprehensive SCS environmental, social and governance audit with an A+ rating for origin traceability, ethical stewardship, verified climate neutrality, sustainable production practices, and sustainability investments. Although the standard is available to producers of mined and lab grown diamonds alike, only lab grown diamond producers have met the rigorous standards. At Brilliant Carbon, all the lab grown diamonds in our engagement rings are from a SCS-certified producer with a net zero carbon footprint. They express your love for each other and for the planet.
Transparent Traceability
There’s no accountability without traceability. The complicated supply chain for mined diamonds can sometimes make this challenging. Because diamonds are so small and valuable, they can serve as an untraceable currency to move money around the globe. But the supply chain for lab grown diamonds is much simpler. For example, at Brilliant Carbon, the producer who grows our diamonds also cuts and polishes them. They go right from the climate-neutral producer to the workshop to be set in your ring. They have a clear and short chain of custody so you can be sure of their identity and status. That’s a big advantage over recycled natural diamonds that aren’t able to be traced back to their source. You can be sure that your lab grown diamond is fresh and clean, with a clear route back to the lab that produced it.
Modern Heirlooms
As a modern invention, lab grown diamonds don’t have the long history of serving as a store of value that mined diamonds do. Although jewelry resale marketplaces like The Real Real and Worthy do include lab grown diamonds, they may be worth less in the future as the technology improves. Of course, there’s no guarantee that mined diamonds will be worth the same in the future either if demand shifts to lab grown gems. But we don’t think you should be buying an engagement ring as an investment, hoping to sell it in the future. If an investment is what you want, buying a lab grown diamond engagement ring and investing the difference in the market will probably bring you better returns. Your engagement ring will always be most precious because of what it means, not what it costs. Buying responsibly created and sustainably certified lab-grown diamonds isn’t about protecting and preserving an investment. It’s about protecting and preserving the planet for future generations.
