re: Lab grown diamonds

So I invested in a lab diamond company a few years ago and did a deep dive.

Lab diamonds are not CZ. They are made the same way natural diamonds are, with pressure. They are in that realm, real diamonds.

The issue is that when you try to pawn/resell them, the stones are considered worthless. My cynicism says that's why women don't like them.

I suggested to my son in law that he buy my daughter's ring from Costco, which he did. He paid about 1/2 for a real diamond of what a fancy jewelry store wanted for a similar ring.

This is a 3 carat real diamond wedding set (rated G, near colorless)for $8000 that would be $15-$20k+ elsewhere. Chat GPT says this ring should cost $20k-$30k when you put in the parameters. Lab diamond would be $3500-$5000

LINK

Ok, y’all have changed my mind on getting a lab created diamond. Next question, where do you get the best value lab diamonds in Louisiana?

My wife just went down a rabbit hole of lab grown vs mined and said she has no more desire for mined diamonds. It's the same thing except lab grown is drastically less expensive. Means I get to get her some fat rocks on the cheap.

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I talked to a Lee Michael's buyer this week about this. The problem with lab grown is that they do not hold any value due to mass production and availability. Real diamonds aren't rare but limited in release. The buyer also said you will not be able to upgrade at a later date, if that's something you will be interested in. Her advise was buy the nicest real diamond you can afford for engagement ring. Earrings and other jewelry pieces are fine for lab grown.

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Someone in the diamond business recommended spending more?

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My wife has the lab grown diamonds in her ring. It’s stunning and she loves it. Here’s the best part. She wears it all of the time so it takes some abuse. She will lose a side diamond on occasion. We just drop it off at the jewelry store and have the lost diamond replaced….for way less. Food for thought.

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To be fair, a lot of jewelers will do this for the decorative diamonds on a ring if you bought it from them, even if it is a natural ring. The decorative diamonds are worth basically nothing.

Dude if she is that ate up about an engagement ring then the marriage ain’t it.

Has he asked her what she wants? I chose a large bright sapphire with side diamonds because it’s what I wanted. It wasn’t a whole lot cheaper because of the quality of the sapphire and it was a larger stone (it’s not massive, just bigger than what a diamond would be in the same price range). I get a lot of compliments when I wear it.

So, ask her. She may not want a diamond at all. But trying to pull a fast one and getting her a lab diamond without telling her may not be the way to go. She may not be able to tell, but a jeweler will if she ever takes it in for cleaning or repair.

Here's a short video on how lab grown diamonds are made.

The major difference between lab and natural is that you can always trade in a natural diamond for at least what you paid for it.

Also - nothing wrong with a lab grown engagement ring. The part of this that’s wrong is trying to hide it.

I paid extra to have mine mined by some malnourished child from Southern Africa.

All jokes aside it doesn’t really make a difference. My only advice would be to not buy some massive lab diamond just because it’s now in your budget. Anything over 2.5cts starts to look tacky