Blood Diamond, the movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio with talk over possible Academy Award nominations, is based on the violent civil war in the 1990’s in Sierra Leone in which the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels attempted to overthrow the government, and an illicit diamond trade was used to fund the war effort. The movie has brought attention to the diamond trade and many times what is involved in mining diamonds that are the most sought-after gem in the world.
So it’s no surprise that there are laboratories out there, such as Apollo Diamonds and Gemesis, that are perfecting on creating real diamonds in a lab setting. Not your typical chemically produced Cubic Zirconia, but diamonds created through a process involving real diamond seeds that come together under pressure to create a diamond that matches or exceeds a mined diamond in quality and brilliance. Same natural diamond, only it takes 2 weeks to produce one in a lab setting versus billions of years in the earth. Obviously it is also much safer to create than the risks involved in mining and what it does to our environment.
Creating and mimicking what is real is nothing new. It’s in how man-made products are taking its toll on the industries that produce the real deal. Cultured Pearls are almost indistinguishable to the naked eye compared to its natural counterpart. Fake fur, really well produced pieces, can often be mistaken for the real thing. While the industry that brings you the real products is beginning to feel its effects, it tries to counteract the new demand for man made quality copies by stressing the importance and value on their non-synthetic product.
Creating cultured diamonds and other products like it may take some toll on the natural industry, however this mass-market approach is good for consumers who could only wish to afford a gorgeous flawless diamond. Considering that the majority of purchasers of diamonds are your average consumer buying them from your local jeweler, it would make sense for them to sell cultured diamonds (in combination with natural diamonds), which will sell more due to their affordability and the fact that they are indeed real diamonds.
Many wonder if cultured diamonds will take over the market the way Cultured Pearls have or if they will just be thought of as a “fake” alternative to the real thing. What do you think?