Diamonds created in a laboratory, but it would be more accurate to say in a factory, conquer many buyers. They are completely identical, from a chemical point of view, to natural diamonds and, above all, they cost less. Much less. Compared to two or three years ago, the cost (and value) of diamonds manufactured by man with sophisticated machines has decreased by about a third. Will this trend continue? How far will the value of synthetic diamonds drop? Should you buy them now or is it better to wait? These are questions that often arise among those who are about to buy a diamond jewel, especially rings and earrings.
The scenario has changed for two reasons. The first is the entry on the market of De Beers, the colossus that extracts natural diamonds from the earth and which also markets jewelry made with these stones. In 2018, surprisingly, De Beers announced that it would start selling lab-created diamond jewelry. To many it seemed a paradoxical decision, a way to compete at home. But the success of the Lightbox brand, destined for jewelry with artificial diamonds, seems to prove De Beers right. But Lightbox has also stunned the market with much lower prices than the competition: $ 200 for a 0.25-carat diamond jewel, $ 400 for a half-carat, $ 600 for 0.75-carat and 800 for a diamond ring. 1 carat. Prices immediately fell by almost 30%.
The second factor that has contributed to lower prices is the evolution of technology, which today allows for the creation of diamonds at an ever lower cost. While until a few years ago it was very difficult to obtain artificial diamonds of over 3 carats, now the production process seems much easier and for small stones the price is now very low.
To these reasons is added the success decreed by consumers. Thus, the market price of lab-created diamonds has dropped considerably on average, with some ups and downs in 2019. According to some analysts, one of the reasons for the success is related to the covid pandemic. Meetings via Zoom, for example, could be behind the great demand for laboratory diamond earrings: no one will go to verify the origin of those stones worn on a computer screen. Sales, in fact, continue to increase and prices, according to Virtual Diamond Boutique, only dropped by 3% this year.
Obviously, the descent cannot continue indefinitely, but the climate of competition between producers seems to bring the diamonds created in the laboratory ever closer to the so-called fine jewelry, to get closer to the world of fashion. Simple diamonds, to buy and to change when you want to renew your jewels box. Not diamonds that are forever, in short, but only for a moment.
