This is the Laher Engagement Ring Journal.

Today, we’re talking Lab Grown Diamonds and the fake nose and moustache that the majority of the industry has them wearing.

WHY I HATE THE TERM ‘CULTURED DIAMONDS’....

“Oh it's only a lab…”

A friend responded when I was drooling over their new engagement ring. 

Central to the ongoing debate between natural and lab-grown options is the challenging task of dismantling the negative perception that positions lab-grown as the inferior choice.

Rebranding lab grown diamonds with an ambiguous decoy, which is designed to confuse or at the very least not ‘raise any suspicion’ - is a further obfuscation and doesn’t influence the real issue, which is making customers feel proud of their lab grown diamond

When rationalising your decision, there are many examples that can play a role. I like to think of its relevance to buying a house. Specifically NOT an investment, but your home. Something that you are going to raise your family in.

Above all else, most people will be optimising for a good balance between;

Price & Visual Aesthetic. 

You’ll want something that allows quality of life, along with its visual appeal. 

Stretching yourself on budget, will reduce quality, location and aesthetics. 

Going too low on budget, may increase size and aesthetics, but reduce your avaiable location spectrum. 

So you can deduce that a balance between the two is optimum. 

We see the choice of a lab grown diamond to be along the same lines. 

Use our five key components when making the decision between natural and lab grown:

• Design aesthetics

• Symbolism

• Brilliance & sparkle

• Durability

• Provenance; (sustainability and responsible sourcing)

• Price 

Design aesthetics; there will be no difference in the two options here, as this will primarily be the role of designer

Symbolism; this is love and marriage. The traditionalism of natural grown diamond could definitely play a role.  

Brilliance & sparkle; zero difference.

Durability; zero difference. 

Provenance (sustainability and responsible sourcing); although we do very consciously recognise that it’s not a runaway victory for Lab Grown diamonds as they do require a substantial energy commitment to produce. However, in our view there is a slight ethical advantage when opting for lab growns. 

Cost; there is a clear financial benefit for choosing a lab grown. 

The Resale Value Falacy

We have talked about this at length; the myth of resale value.

The call for ‘resale value’ as an important metric, is fallacious in our opinion. Both statistically speaking and conceptually. 

Your resale value is going to primarily take the biggest hit through brand-margin. Mark ups of your diamond ring will be the most difficult thing to recoup. By which we mean; even if you receive market value for the diamond, this will only represent a fraction of the retail value of your ring. 

The statistics show that not only in the jewellery industry, but luxury retail as a whole - brands that purport to have products that ‘hold their value’ as an important factor in their brands products, have an extremely low resale rate. Making the argument redundant. 

Secondly, and far more importantly, ask yourself if optimising for resale value is more important than the five key factors that we mentioned above. The idea that conceptusing the end of your engagement ring (and likely marriage) - seems a little counterintuitive to us. 

The vast majority of diamonds that reach a pivot point at some stage in their life cycle, are repurposed (redesigned into a new ring) NOT resold. Therefore, aesthetics, durability and intrinsic value to YOU, is far more important.

We deliberately use “Lab Grown” in all our product descriptions. 

We want there to be no confusion, no hiding from something that we feel is not only price efficient but an amazing option for your centre stone. Something you should be proud of. 

Proud that you made an ethical conscious decision. 

Or proud that you made a financially appropriate decision. 

Not a decision influenced by dated and irrational industry standards. 

I feel that I always need to preface or this case, give an afterwood, in regards to our stance on the two. So again, we are not saying a natural diamond is not also an amazing choice. We of course, often use natural diamonds. We just wish that the playing field was slightly more even and I feel it is our job to give a better perspective on the current debate stage. 

The decision needs to come down to what you are optimising for. Not the flimsy industry rationales. 

The main reason we use unique coloured natural diamonds, uses the decision same guide rails. How can we get the best result for our customers and this often leads to unique coloured diamonds that have been incorrectly valued as a ‘lesser’ option, which has provided great opportunities for our couples to realise a massive gain in both visual aesthetics and cost savings. 

Anyway, that’ll do for now. I’m always here to guide you through this weird, convoluted process of engagement ring shopping :)