Small Talk SHAHLA KARIMI

The New York Citybased jewellery designer and founder of her namesake brand on lab grown diamonds

A common misconception about cultivated diamonds is that they are fake or similar to cubic zirconia. However, this is not the case. Cultivated diamonds are atomically the same as natural ones, with identical chemical compositions. The only difference between the two is their respective origins.

The price difference between natural and cultivated diamonds is the primary reason that people choose the latter. Lab-grown diamonds are atomically the same as their natural counterparts, but cost 50 to 75 per cent less than natural diamonds when comparing specimens between one and three carats. A natural one-carat brilliant round diamond in F to G colour with VS clarity, for example, typically retails for US$8,000 to US$10,000, while a cultivated stone with the same specs goes for US$3,000 to US$5,000. If you want to get the most out of your budget, choose a cultivated stone.

One of the best qualities of cultivated diamonds is that they are arguably a more sustainable option. Most of the labs we have chosen to work with are certified carbon neutral, and grow their stones sustainably above ground—some vendors even power their processes with renewable solar energy.

Lab-grown diamonds can be produced with a brown or pink tint instead of yellow, which makes deeper coloured stones a really beautiful option for a rose or yellow gold setting.

Lab-grown diamonds come in shapes that natural diamonds may not. It’s much easier for us to design pieces with uniquely-shaped stones and source for them successfully in lab-grown specimens.