Man Made Diamonds

Sadly, man made diamonds have developed a stigma that puts them in a negative light. Many people believe man made diamonds (also referred to as lab-created, simulated, fake, or artificial diamonds) are a low-quality representation of the real thing. Artificial diamonds, however, can actually be brilliant recreations that allow couples to purchase a sparkling engagement ring without the high price tag.

Judging the Quality of a Man Made Diamond

As with natural diamonds, man made diamonds are judged based on the 4 C’s (cut, clarity, color and carat weight.) Because artificial diamonds are created in a lab environment, they are not subject to the same conditions natural diamonds are. This means that a man made diamond can be created to be free of flaws or inclusions and often can score better quality ratings than a natural diamond can.

When choosing a man made diamond, you should make sure you are purchasing an actual man made diamond and not a completely different stone. For example, cubic zirconia may be passed off as a man made diamond, but it does not have the same properties as true man-made stones so it is actually a separate stone altogether.

Why Buy Man-Made Diamonds?

For couples who are interested in purchasing an engagement ring but simply can’t afford to shell out a lot of money for one, man made diamonds offer an affordable alternative while maintaining the beauty and symbolism of an engagement ring. Not only are man made diamonds significantly cheaper than natural stones, man made diamonds are able to be used in even the most elaborate designs because of their flawlessness and exceptional quality. Even colored diamonds are lab-created, which allow couples to use a rare colored diamond in the engagement ring without paying the price for its natural equivalent.

Purchasing Man Made Diamonds

There are a variety of jewelers that offer man made diamonds for sale, but you should always check the reputation of the seller completely before making any purchase. Before doing business with a company, ask them how their man made diamonds are created. Reputable businesses will disclose creation information with their customers because they want to preserve their reputation as a legitimate business.

Despite the somewhat negative stigma associated with man made diamonds, they offer an affordable and beautiful alternative to natural stones. In truth, it doesn’t matter how much you spend on a ring or whether you man made diamonds or natural stones. The symbolism behind an engagement ring will still be there, and using man made diamonds can help make that symbol of love an affordable reality for couples.

Synthetic diamonds are not, contrary to popular belief, “fake” diamonds. These gemstones are created in laboratories rather than by a few millennia of pressure, but are for all intents and purposes “real” diamonds, chemically almost identical to their ”natural” counterparts. True, there are certain inclusions and colors only found in nature (and vice versa), and true, there are currently no completely colorless man-made stones available on the consumer market, but science is coming very, very close. Synthetic diamonds are already extremely popular for use in abrasives and cutting-tools, as their hardness can rival or even surpass mined diamonds. Even now, a few companies carry lines of artificial diamond jewelry, and many are waiting for the artificial diamond engagement ring market to take off.

What this all means to you, as a consumer, is that in the near future the market for diamond engagement rings could literally be turned upside down. If research facilities are able to fine-tune the process of creating synthetic diamonds, these stones could potentially become very affordable alternatives to mined diamonds.

A steady and predictable flow of high-quality manufactured diamonds on the diamond market would mean that the demand for natural mined diamonds could be greatly reduced and a drop in demand means a drop in price, even on the natural stones. Additionally, the influx of artificial diamonds could help to drastically stem the flow of  “blood diamonds” or “conflict stones”. Without large diamond companies buying out masses of foreign stones, diamonds obtained via forced labor or unethical practice could be all but eliminated from the jewelry market. For the average consumer and for humanitarian groups this is all very good news. After all, what could be better than the idea of getting your fiance that “conflict-free”, 10 carat rock she’s always wanted and at a fraction of the cost?

Naturally (no pun intended), some jewelers and diamond companies blanch a little at the idea of the diamond market being infiltrated with a heap of man-made gemstones. Others, however, remain confident in the appeal of naturally mined diamonds. After all, there’s just something about knowing that the ring on your finger came from some exotic, far-flung location that just can’t be matched by the idea of your engagement ring’s stone being grown in a proverbial test-tube. For some, no matter how good science can get, you just can’t top the real thing.