Why at Stones Diamonds, We Don’t Stock Lab Grown Diamonds.

At Stones Diamonds we choose not to stock our windows with Lab Grown Diamonds. The truth is that Lab Grown Diamonds are a poor investment...

Many Australian jewellers have begun stocking and selling Lab Grown Diamonds. Lab Grown Diamonds are created across the world by manufacturers who utilise high pressure and high heat ovens and chemicals which create a diamond that optically looks like a natural diamonds, contain the same chemicals and physical attributes.

Since the beginning of 2020, the popularity of Lab Grown diamonds have increased. This has changed the way Australians shop for diamonds, in particular engagement rings. Lab Grown Diamonds offer a lower cost option, and for some an ‘ethical option’ to a Natural Diamond. But for those buying Lab Grown Diamonds, particularly younger men looking for their first engagement ring, they may not understand the truth behind their investment.

At Stones Diamonds, we choose not to stock Lab Grown Diamonds. But we are happy to source them on request for customer. Generally, to fit budget requests.

Whenever the discussion of Lab Grown Diamonds begins with our customers, we discuss the following issues, which many are unaware of:

Lab Grown Diamonds Are a Poor Investment

When purchasing a natural diamond, you are purchasing an asset that will retain its value over time. This is proven when customer go to resell an engagement ring. We resell rings for our customers in our ‘Estate’ range, usually around 70% to 80% of the original retail value. This is not the case with Lab Grown Diamonds.

Unlike Natural Diamonds which are proven to hold their value over time, Lab Grown Diamonds are products which have been manufactured and therefore have a cost value. Since they are not rare and are being mass-produced, there is no secondary market value for them. This is a common problem seen by those who try to resell their Lab Grown engagement rings online or back to a jeweller.

The Retail Price of Lab Grown have and will continue to decrease.

Historically with all new technology, such as the process of generating lab diamonds, the price of production will decrease as more efficient ways and better technologies become available. Current Lab Grown Diamonds retail prices are expense, when considering their cost prices. Over the next couple of years, as these technologies become more streamlined and therefore less expensive to produce. Therefore, in the coming years Lab-grown diamonds will become very inexpensive, compared to current prices. Which means the value of ones purchased today buy consumers will also decrease.

In Fact, we are already seeing this become reality, as Lab Grown Diamonds have already dropped in price since their introduction into the market. The production costs of Lab Grown Diamonds have declined by 90% over the past decade, while wholesale prices have dropped three times that over the past 2 years. The current retail price of Lab Grown Diamonds is about 50% to 70% cheaper than a Natural Diamond. It is predicted that Lab Grown Diamonds will stabilise at about 10% of a Natural Diamonds price in the next 5 years. (Source: lbdiamantaires.com)

Environment Concerns, High Power Usage

Additionally, the manufacturing facilities where Lab Grown Diamonds are manufactured are large facilities which require mass amounts of power to operate. Lab Grown Diamonds require large oven like machinery that draw large amounts of power to generate extreme heats. It’s estimated that the carbon emissions of making Lab Grown Diamonds are 3 times more than what is required to mine natural diamonds.

Click Here for where we got these statistics.

In conclusion, there are both pros and cons for Lab Grown Diamonds, like all things, but as we always encourage to customers this is a decision that only they can make.

We are happy to accommodate for those wishing to purchase lab grown diamonds. But we will always ensure that it is known that the value of their investment is certainly going to decrease.