Diamond 101

Lab Diamonds VS Natural Diamonds

The only difference is in their origin. Lab created diamonds (also known as artisan or cultured diamonds) are grown in controlled environments and laboratories, while natural diamonds form naturally in the Earth over many, many, many years. Chemically, physically, and optically, lab grown diamonds are identical to natural diamonds, with the same hardness, brilliance, refraction, sparkle and fire.

The main difference is going to be price. Lab grown diamonds are 30-60% less expensive than natural diamonds. Resale value is a major loss. Lab grown diamonds do not retain their value as much as we would like to see either, but losing 40% of a $5000 purchase, is much easier to accept than losing 40% of a $20,000 purchase.

Another key difference is going to be labour ethics and sustainability. Mining diamonds is very hard on the earth, they are generally mined from communities where they are paid for much less than we would expect for such a high priced product. Lab grown diamonds start from beginning to end with professionals earning a fair wage for their market.

Why would anyone by a natural diamond is this is the case? Because it is still a beautiful thing to own something that was harvested from nature, something no one else will have the exact same of. 

Moissanite VS Diamond

Moissanite is a naturally occurring mineral called silicon carbide, and originates from meteor rocks from space. Naturally, moissanite is extremely rare. Because of this, the moissanite used in jewelry is created in a lab now, as it would be nearly impossible to find it naturally.

The most obvious difference between moissanite and diamonds is their brilliance, with moissanite boasting more brilliance/sparkle than a diamond. Moissanite is cut differently than diamonds to enhance the sparkle due to its refractive value being double that of diamonds. Moissanite also has just over twice the dispersion rating than that of diamonds. This means that the there is more color in the reflection of the sparkle. One downside to moissanite, is that they can have a slight tint of color in them sometimes, and they do not possess the same depth in their cut as diamonds do. 

Diamonds are the hardest naturally occurring mineral and can withstand nearly any wear and tear. On the Mohs hardness scale, diamonds score the top rating of 10. Moissanite is the second hardest to diamonds on the Mohs hardness scale, and scores  9.25-9.5. Moissanite can be used to cut glass, and various other hard objects, so it is no surprise that they too last a lifetime.