Marilyn Monroe famously performed “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” to the world, cementing the everlasting association of diamonds with beauty, opulence and love in pop culture. Amid today’s rising living costs and worsening economic conditions, natural diamonds are comparatively even more unobtainable, normally costing an arm and a leg yet are a necessity for those entering the realm of marriage. A remedy to this is a burgeoning innovation that is revolutionising the diamond industry: lab-grown diamonds. Lab-grown diamonds are game changers to the traditional diamond market because they offer identical chemical and physical properties at a fraction of the cost of natural diamonds. Synthetic or lab-grown diamonds are poised to play a pivotal role in the future of the diamond industry, introducing a more affordable, ethical and environmentally friendly option to consumers.
The development of lab-grown diamonds
Ever since the discovery of pure carbon in 1797, scientists recognised the vast potential of their discovery and, in doing so, catalysed the competition to produce the first synthetic diamond. After numerous trials and errors, a team at General Electric (GE), led by a physical chemist, named Tracy Hall, achieved this feat in 1954 through a process coined as High-Pressure High-Temperature (HPHT). By inducing extreme pressure and temperatures on a small diamond seed, along with a catalyst material and carbon source, GE artificially replicated the natural conditions that are conducive to diamond formation within the Earth’s mantle.
As a result of the rigid repeating lattice tetrahedrons of carbon atoms, diamonds earned a hardness of 10 on the Mohs hardness scale. Scientists were pleasantly surprised their discovery destroyed their metal tools, ultimately confirming what they had made was indeed a diamond. Despite GE’s breakthrough, the first iterations of lab-grown were a far cry from what was considered an acceptable stone for jewellery use. This prompted early versions of lab-grown diamonds to be used for primarily industrial purposes, where they were touted for their exceptional hardness and thermal conductivity, opening the doors to a plethora of applications. Although less commonly used, HPHT is a favoured methodology to create diamonds with specific colours, predominantly for jewellery. Nevertheless, with expedited progress in the world of technology, GE’s advancement laid the foundations for gem-quality diamonds to be produced in 1971.
Alongside HPHT, Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) became another procedure to fabricate synthetic diamonds. It is the method currently at the forefront of the diamond industry, involving a mixture of hydrogen and methane gas in a chamber with a small diamond seed and exciting the gas molecules by applying heat. The CVD technique is comparatively advantageous to HPHT in regard to affordability and has become prevalent as leaps in technological capabilities has made higher-quality diamonds possible. The size, shape and colour of a diamond is customisable under this process to a high degree of precision.
Comparing lab-grown and naturally grown diamonds
Figure 1. Comparison between natural and lab-grown diamonds
Source: https://www.loosegrowndiamond.com/lab-grown-diamonds-or-mined-diamonds/
Lab-grown and natural diamonds exhibit both similarities and differences when assessed through its environmental, social and economic dimensions. One particularly striking difference is the price disparity between the two: a single 1-carat lab-grown diamond with excellent cut, colour and clarity ranges between $3541 to $4918, while an equally-comparable natural diamond ranges between $15738 and $17706. As explored previously, this notable price difference has been attributed to cost-effective production strategies such as High-Pressure High-Temperature (HPHT) and Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) that have been utilised in creating lab-grown diamonds which eliminate the many expenses associated with traditional mining operations.
Lab-grown diamonds have additionally mitigated many broader environmental costs associated with traditional mining operations like habitat destruction and water pollution. While these are beneficial to the environment, processes like HPHT and CVD are still known to emit around 511 kg of carbon emissions per carat caused by lab-grown diamonds against the 160 kg per carat for mined diamonds. Lab-grown diamonds, therefore, have a higher direct carbon footprint compared to mined diamond. Nevertheless, it is widely accepted that the overall environmental impact of lab-grown diamonds is generally lower compared to that of traditional diamond mining given how destructive many diamond mines are to the environment, highlighting their potential for a more sustainable future.
Affordable pricing and low environmental costs have increased the appeal of lab-grown diamonds to a younger and more sustainability-focused generation. On one hand, this appeal is linked to decreased issues related to sourcing natural diamonds such as conflict funding and exploitative labour practices present in many mining operations. On the other hand, traditional diamond mining has historically supported local economies and is considerably vital in funding social services in countries like Botswana.
At the time of writing, lab-grown diamonds account for about 5-8% of global diamond sales, spanning various categories including jewellery and loose diamonds. However, predictions in an article by the Economist suggest that this figure could increase to well over 75% by 2050. It is plausible that lab-grown diamonds may surpass natural diamond sales within the next 10-20 years. This shift reflects growing consumer demand for cost-effective and ethically sourced options, suggesting that the perception of lab-grown diamonds will continue to evolve, potentially reshaping the industry in the years to come.
The ethical implications of the diamond industry
Despite their glitz and glamour, natural diamonds have had a dark history associated with forced labour, exploitation and human rights violations in mines across the world. This was particularly prevalent during the 1990s-2010s in Africa, where diamond-fuelled conflicts led warlords and rebel groups to terrorise residents and miners. During that period, an estimated 15% of rough diamonds traded were considered “blood diamonds,” or diamonds that funded conflict and human right violations.
Figure 2. Map showing the use of diamonds in African civil wars
Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/blood-diamond
To curb this, the United Nations implemented the Kimberley Process, which tracks and certifies the origin of rough diamonds. This aims to prevent the trade of blood diamonds in the mainstream market. The system is heavily flawed, however, and cracks show through the presence of modern slavery and the informality of some operations in third world countries. The Kimberley Process only focuses on tracking the mining and distribution of rough diamonds by rebel groups, failing to hold governments, private actors and other parts of the supply chain accountable for human rights abuse. New concerns are arising also from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Russia being the largest exporter of diamonds by volume, concerns have been raised regarding ALORSA, a Russian-state controlled diamond mining company, whose diamond output has partially fuelled the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.
While lab-grown diamonds circumvent the human rights abuses associated with traditional diamond mining, they do not prevent systemic problems faced in the diamond industry, particularly in the refining and cutting processes. Both of these processes are independent to the diamond growing process and have their own human rights issues. Over 90% of the world’s diamonds are sent to India to be cut, shaped and polished with abysmal safety standards. Particularly, shaving off a diamond’s polycrystalline silicon casing can be deadly as the dust residue can cause silicosis when inhaled, which is an incurable and deadly lung disease. Coupled with a prevalence of child labour particularly in Sarut, India, the global hub of gemstone cutting and polishing, diamond refining and cutting has become a big part of modern slavery.
Conclusion
As the age of lab-grown diamonds dawns, the pristine image of diamonds being a rare and elusive object has started to dim. New technology has allowed for the production of lab-grown diamonds that are, chemically and physically, the same as natural grown diamonds. These new diamonds have seen their rise in popularity as a cheaper and potentially ethically and environmentally better alternative. Despite their strive to be an ethically and environmentally better alternative, the lack of supply chain tracking is a disservice to the growing market in helping establish its claims of sustainability in a murky industry with a dark history. Their effectiveness as an alternative in both their use as jewellery and for industrial purposes has paved the way in revolutionising the diamond industry, potentially making it more accessible and sustainable.
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