Mention cultured (lab-grown) diamonds and the average consumer is likely to think of cheap(er) alternatives, ‘fake’ diamonds cut to imitate the real thing: Moissanite, cubic zirconia, white sapphire.

The truth is that cultured diamonds are scientifically identical to the mined kind in every aspect but their provenance and age — sharing the same physical, chemical and optical properties.

High street chains and an increasing number of online-only shops continue to sell mined rocks, but a growing number of savvy shoppers are discovering that their hard-earned money may be better spent on an alternative.

Mimicking nature with science

A great deal of research and success in the cultured diamond field took place during and after WWII. General Electric paved the way for the cultured diamond industry in 1954, using high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) technology that mimicked the natural formation method — a process that usually takes place at depths of 140km to 190km in the Earth’s mantle, occurring over periods from one billion to 3.3 billion years. During volcanic eruptions, magma pushes the resulting formations to the surface, where workers can mine them.

Over half a century later, improved versions of the process employed by General Electric are now used to produce 98% of the world’s industrial grade diamonds. Techniques for gem-quality stones have advanced, too, with a technique known as microwave plasma carbon vapor deposition leading the way.

“Our pink and white grown diamonds are grown using [MPVCD]”, explains Jake Sisskind of US company Pure Grown Diamonds.

“The process is begun by carefully selecting a high-quality grown diamond seed. The seed is then placed in the growing chamber, carbon is introduced in the form of methane gas; there is a chemical reaction that causes the carbon to ‘rain down’ on the seed, which then begins to grow atom-by-atom and layer-by-layer. After approximately ten to twelve weeks, a rough diamond crystal is formed that is ready for cutting, polishing and setting into jewellery.”

While the HPHT process for growing yellow diamonds has been used for just over a decade, the newest technologies for growing white diamonds have only been perfected in the last few years, Sisskind explains, adding: “Even in the past 24 months we have seen significant technological advances that have taken production from one carat white diamonds to over three carat white diamonds.”

Diamonds for everyone

As anyone who’s been tasked with the quest of finding and purchasing a diamond engagement ring will know, the quality and cost of these mined gems can vary greatly.

Shoppers are advised to familiarise themselves with the ‘Four C’s’ before splashing their cash: carat (the weight of the gem), cut (the symmetry, polish and sparkle a stone emits), colour (diamonds range from colourless to tinted, depending on impurities), and clarity, which measures imperfections that form in the vast majority of natural diamonds. This set of criteria will determine a diamond’s worth and cost.

Type IIa diamonds, which are colourless and almost or entirely devoid of impurities, are considered the cream of the crop, and have an eye-watering price tag to match. Unfortunately, these precious, rare stones make up just 1–2% of all mined diamonds — meaning they’re not commonly available, and are usually the preserve of the very rich.

“All of our Pure Grown white and pink diamonds are and have always been Type IIa diamonds,” says Sisskind. And with cultured diamonds being “generally 30-40% less [expensive]” than comparable mined diamonds, the industry has created a kind of parity. “This means that purchasers at every income and budget level now have the ability to purchase the purest type of diamond – previously only available to an elite few.”

A question of ethics

The market for cultured diamonds is steadily growing and looks sets to continue expanding — a timely, cumulative boom since mining appears to be an increasingly unsustainable practice. Diamond mining has a long and appalling history with both human rights and environmental abuses — from child labour, lethal working conditions and exploitation of workers through the practice of aggressive mining techniques that damage historical sites and contaminate soil and water supplies for local communities.

An increasing number of purchasers want to know that their expression of love is truly conflict-free, eco-conscious, socially responsible and sustainable

However, mining isn’t always unethical, says Tiffany’s CEO Michael Kowalski. If done safely, under strict health and safety guidelines, mining can have a positive effect on developing communities, providing jobs and income and local economies. In some of the world’s poorest countries, he told the Guardian, “mining is the only viable engine for social and economic growth”. Because of this, Kowalski argues, abandoning conventional mined products isn’t necessarily a perfect solution: “I would think long and hard before making an assertion that [switching to man-made diamonds] is necessarily ethically superior.”

Reputable diamond traders pride themselves on carrying the Kimberley Process certificate as assurance and proof that the stones they sell have been sourced from conflict-free mines and countries. But Brilliant Earth, the leading ethical diamond retailer based in the US, says this isn’t enough.

“Jewellers that offer ‘conflict free’ diamonds are limiting themselves to the Kimberley Process’s definition, which narrowly defines conflict diamonds as diamonds that finance rebel movements against recognized governments,” the company says on its website. “What this definition leaves out is [the] large numbers of diamonds that are tainted by violence, human rights abuses, poverty and environmental degradation.”

Brilliant Earth says it “goes above and beyond the current industry standards to guarantee that our diamonds originate from pure, ethical sources”.

Even when mining is ‘ethical’ in regards to workers rights and safety, the carbon footprint that drilling and excavating the earth’s crust produces is astronomical. The small amount of data produced comparing mined to made diamonds, according to research from Stanford earth sciences researcher Andy Martin, indicates that the latter is up to five times more eco-friendly. And since consumers are increasingly eco-conscious in their purchasing, lab-grown diamonds are an attractive prospect.

“An increasing number of purchasers, especially the millennial generation, want to know that their expression of love is truly conflict-free, eco-conscious, socially responsible and sustainable,” says Sisskind. Cultured diamonds tick all those boxes, and can be certificated — assessed by respected industry bodies such as the International Gemological Institute — in the same manner as the mined variety.

Keeping it real

Cultured diamonds are now so aesthetically advanced that they can prove indistinguishable from natural, mined stones — even to the expert eye. In 2012, several reports surfaced revealing that synthetic stones had been marketed as natural, and had been discovered only when they were tested in specialised laboratories.

De Beers recently announced that it had developed a synthetic melee detector that can automatically check large volumes of small diamonds for authenticity

De Beers’ Diamond Trading Company Research Center reported several cases of undisclosed submissions of synthetic diamonds to grading labs in China and India, while the International Gemological Institute received 1,000 stones for testing and discovered that 600 of them were synthetic. Some, according to one industry source, had induced impurities that made them appear natural upon first inspection.

According to Bain’s annual diamond report the following year, the diamond industry is looking to tech in order to trouble-shoot this trend. “In response to these and other attempts to pollute the pool of natural diamonds, producers such as De Beers and independent laboratories such as AG&J, HRD and IGI are developing and actively marketing new testing equipment,” the report said.

“De Beers recently announced that it had developed a synthetic melee detector that can automatically check large volumes of small diamonds for authenticity. After using the device to screen thousands of parcels of diamonds, De Beers is confident that the equipment is effective in detecting small synthetics in parcels and its deployment will strengthen the industry’s ability to detect synthetics in the pipeline.”

Better tech will help to keep ‘made’ diamonds from being marketed as the mined kind. But even then, the industry is headed from some big changes: All reports indicate that demand for mined gems will eventually outstrip supply, says the Bain report, adding: “Although the market will be balanced from 2013 through 2017, demand from 2018 through 2023 is expected to exceed supply.”

When that happens, the price of mined diamonds will surge — putting them out of reach to the average consumer. Cultured gems won’t just be the affordable option for many — they’ll be the only option.