Our Journey To Selling Lab Grown Diamonds
Our family has been in the diamond business now for over 90 years. I’ve seen ALL the trends and ALL the products! So, when high quality, lab grown diamonds were introduced to the market a few years ago, I did a lot of research to get the scoop before I decided to sell them at our Dublin, Ohio custom jewelry store.
Just like all of the products I make and sell, I properly vetted the lab grown diamond suppliers. I wanted the prettiest stones, from master diamond cutters (because that’s the key – cutting) at the best price for our customers. Here’s what I found.
First, Some Background Information On Lab Grown Diamonds
Lab grown diamonds have been around for a long time, but they were mainly used in tools. In fact, I remember looking at the gritty, black diamond drill bits at Sears when I was just a kid, fascinated that these were the same things that my dad sold in his jewelry store! Back then, the manufacturers of lab grown diamonds hadn’t perfected the process, so the diamonds that they grew were hard, but not pretty! These babies were only used for drilling.
It wasn’t until about 2016 that I started reading about gem grade (i.e. pretty) lab grown diamonds, and in 2018, a report from The Federal Trade Commission came out that said lab grown diamonds were exactly the same, physically, optically and chemically as diamonds mined from the earth. That was a big deal.
Sustainable and Eco-Friendly
After the FTC’s ruling, I was even more interested in lab grown diamonds because of their claims of sustainability. My wife and I have six kids and have a vested interest in our earth’s future.
As a side note: custom jewelers have always been eco-friendly. We don’t throw our unsold products away. We simply take out the gemstones and melt down the gold and start over. We recycle everything! Heck, we even send in our vacuum cleaner bags to gold refiners and recycle them.
So when I saw that lab grown diamonds had less environmental impact than mined diamonds, it peaked my interest. I found out that making diamonds in a lab used less energy and less water than mining diamonds from the earth. That, plus the fact that there are no potential human rights violations associated with lab grown diamonds made in the United States, made these beautiful gemstones even more appealing.
Lab Grown Diamonds Cost Less Than Mined Diamonds
Remember that I said I have six kids? Affordability is super important to me!
Because they use less energy, equipment and man-power than mining, lab grown diamonds tend to cost 30-50% less. But I didn’t want to offer a product in our jewelry store that was cheap and ugly! So I really researched the industry until I found a source that met all of my criteria. Just like everything we offer in our store, we wanted to have the best lab grown diamond at the best prices for our customers.
A gorgeous, oval shape, lab grown diamond in a hand-engraved gold solitaire mounting.
Our Criteria For Lab Grown Diamonds
- Certified by an independent laboratory. We wanted an unbiased expert to put their grading on these stones.
- Expert cutting of the gemstones. These diamonds are grown into rough diamond crystal, so having expert diamond cutters makes a HUGE difference, just like in diamonds mined from the earth.
- Made in the United States. Living wages paid, health care, supporting our nation’s economy – all very important.
Past Diamond Substitutes
In the past, there have been plenty of substitutes for diamonds, but none of these simulated stones have both the beauty or the durability that lab grown diamonds have. Because lab grown diamonds ARE DIAMONDS!
For example, cubic zirconium and is clear, but scratches very easily. It can’t handle the daily wear and tear that a diamond can handle. And moissanite was very popular in the 90s, but bigger sizes are kind of yellowish, and when they get hit, they tend to shear off (like shale rock). Both of these stones are fine for fashion jewelry. Heck, my wife wears them on vacation – that way she doesn’t have to worry about losing anything valuable!
Moissanite tends to break off in chunks when it gets hit, making it not a great stone for everyday wear.
The Future of Diamonds
A lot of people in the mined diamond industries are bad-talking lab grown diamonds. And you can understand why – according to a 2018 Morgan Stanley report diamonds are a $14 billion industry! They really don’t want to add to their competition, and they see their sales slipping as consumers discover the appeal of lab grown diamonds.
We’ve decided that offering lab grown diamonds to our customers is not an alternative to diamonds, but rather an equal and excellent option! And it’s definitely not going away. It’s expected that lab diamonds will continue to climb in popularity. And we are here for it!
The Scott’s Custom Jewelers Experience
Now, some of the bigger jewelry company’s are selling lab grown diamonds as “fun” or “fashionable jewelry”. They want to keep selling the higher priced, mined diamonds because they already own them and they need to sell them! Not us.
We don’t stock ANY diamonds at Scott’s. We bring in the diamonds that our customers want individually. We’re like the internet, but in person 🙂
That’s why buying a diamond from us is NOT stressful – we don’t care which stone you pick out. The fun begins with the custom design. And that’s where we really shine! We work with you to make the perfect piece of jewelry, using our cool technology and 3D printers.
Interested in learning more about lab grown diamonds and how they are the most sustainable (and stunning) option for your jewelry? Download the whitepaper!
Get The Whitepaper
Scott’s offers the prettiest lab grown diamonds from the best cutters at the best price, made in the United States!
Designing jewelry at Scott’s is not only affordable, eco-friendly and stress free – it’s downright fun! Give us a call at 614 336-4111 and let’s start making something beautiful for you!