A Battle Over Diamonds: Made by Nature or in a Lab?
- 6 years ago
A Battle Over Diamonds: Made by Nature or in a Lab?
The manufacturers of synthetic diamonds, on the other hand, are promoting the environmental benefits of their process, hoping to attract millennials more concerned about being green
and saving money than embracing the tag line “a diamond is forever.”
But it may turn out that the buyers of these synthetic diamonds, particularly
those trying to get more diamond for less money, may lose out in the end.
“Maybe 2, 3, 4 percent of diamonds have the opportunity to appreciate over time,” said Alan Bronstein,
a diamond trader who is president of the Natural Color Diamond Association, a trade group.
“It’s almost a fraud on the buying public to say they’re the same thing as diamonds from an economic standpoint,”
said Tom Gelb, a co-founder of the Diamond Durability Laboratory and a consultant to the diamond industry.
She said these synthetic diamonds had value, and she encouraged buyers to insure them just as they would a natural diamond.
Tom Moses, who overseas the laboratories and research at the Gemological Institute of America, said it was not until the past five years
that synthetic diamond producers began to create stones that could compete with natural diamonds — and fool people buying them.
The manufacturers of synthetic diamonds, on the other hand, are promoting the environmental benefits of their process, hoping to attract millennials more concerned about being green
and saving money than embracing the tag line “a diamond is forever.”
But it may turn out that the buyers of these synthetic diamonds, particularly
those trying to get more diamond for less money, may lose out in the end.
“Maybe 2, 3, 4 percent of diamonds have the opportunity to appreciate over time,” said Alan Bronstein,
a diamond trader who is president of the Natural Color Diamond Association, a trade group.
“It’s almost a fraud on the buying public to say they’re the same thing as diamonds from an economic standpoint,”
said Tom Gelb, a co-founder of the Diamond Durability Laboratory and a consultant to the diamond industry.
She said these synthetic diamonds had value, and she encouraged buyers to insure them just as they would a natural diamond.
Tom Moses, who overseas the laboratories and research at the Gemological Institute of America, said it was not until the past five years
that synthetic diamond producers began to create stones that could compete with natural diamonds — and fool people buying them.