When shopping for jewellery that contains diamonds, it’s important to make sure the diamonds are conflict-free. The 2006 film Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio brought the term ‘blood diamonds’ to light for many people who had not heard of them before. These war diamonds are diamonds that are mined in war zones and their profits are used to finance the conflict, profiting war lords in the process.

I’m sure most people do not want to finance further violence in war torn countries and so it’s important to know the origin of the diamonds you purchase. One way to ensure a diamond is conflict-free is to choose a lab grown diamond, also known as cultured diamonds. Not only are lab grown diamonds and ethical choice, but they could be better for the environment too.

In this blog post I will explore some of the benefits of lab grown diamonds.

Advantages of lab grown diamonds

Image credits – Lark and Berry

Lab grown diamonds are an ethical choice

It’s important to know the origins of any diamonds you buy and whilst you might be able to ensure your diamond has not come from a region of conflict, you could be supporting an area where child labour is rife. Many countries have poor working conditions for the miners which need to change.

If you are not checking the origin of your diamond jewellery then it could be from an area in conflict and you will be supporting the continuation of blood diamonds. This supports violence, war, human suffering and funds the war lords own personal interests.

You are guaranteed to know the origin of a lab grown diamond and can rest assured that it is 100% conflict-free, did not entail child labour or for workers to expose themselves to the dangers of asbestos or other chemicals in the mines.

Lab grown diamonds are just as stunning as mined diamonds

One common misconception of lab grown diamonds is that they look different, but this couldn’t be further than the truth. Cultured diamond jeweller www.larkandberry.com sell beautiful bridal rings made from lab grown diamonds which are just as stunning as mined diamonds. See for yourself:

Aren’t they stunning?

They look exactly the same.

Whilst the term ‘lab grown’ might give the impression of something that is false, lab grown diamonds are actually real. They are real diamonds that are made by simulating the environment it takes for a diamond to form in the Earth. These are real diamonds, chemically and physically exactly the same, just made using a sped up process in a lab.

The only difference is they are not naturally formed in the Earth, but purposefully created.

Lab grown diamonds are an environmentally friendly choice

Growing diamonds in a lab is potentially much better for the environment. Diamond mines are some of the largest holes that are ever dug which mean a lot of land is displaced, trees felled and wildlife lose their home. Digging these mines takes a lot of energy and uses a lot of fossil fuels.

In comparison, lab grown diamonds can be grown in buildings that are powered by renewable energy sources, thus helping to protect the environment even further. It does, of course, take a lot of energy to create lab grown diamonds, so make sure you choose those who use 100% renewable energy sources.

Whilst many online articles claim there needs to be more studies to fully understand any eco-friendly benefits to lab grown diamonds, it seems to make a lot more sense that it’s better to not dig huge holes in Earth using fossil fuelled machinery:

“Roughly 200 to 250 tons of earth must be mined and sifted through to find 1 carat of diamond.” *

It’s also possible that lab grown diamonds produce less than a fifth of the carbon dioxide emissions that mined diamonds produce:

“One Stanford University graduate was able to carry out research comparing the energy intensity of mined diamonds at BHP Billiton’s Ekati mine in Canada against the lab-created diamonds produced by Gemesis in the US. According to the research, Gemesis’ lab-grown diamonds produced less than one-fifth of the carbon dioxide emissions that result from diamond mining at Ekati. Extrapolating this out, the paper claimed that replacing the Ekati mine’s annual diamond production with lab-grown diamonds would save the equivalent of around 483m miles’ worth of auto emissions.” *

Lab grown diamonds are an ethical consumer choice to tackle the immorality of blood diamonds, poor working conditions and child labour. They also have many eco-friendly benefits, especially when sourced from labs using renewable energy sources. Be sure to research lab grown diamonds next time you are in the market for beautiful diamond jewellery.