Lab grown diamonds versus mined diamonds. Here’s the scoop. Admittedly at first, I looked down my nose at lab grown diamonds. Being a gemologist, purist, and holding my inventory to high standards, I felt they weren’t worthy to be in the case next to the mined diamonds. In fact, initially, we displayed them on the other side of the store, so as not to be confused with the “real thing”. After numerous inquiries, “Do you sell Lab Grown Diamonds”, I felt it was time to at least listen to a few salesman pitches and make a sound consideration. So here are some truths! What is a diamond? Basically, a diamond is carbon, one of the purest and strongest elements and it is arranged in a crystal structure. Both lab grown and mined diamonds are made of carbon. What is the difference between a lab grown diamond and other diamond alternatives? Well, simply said, a lab grown IS a diamond. All other diamond alternatives are NOT a diamond. They don’t sparkle the same and they don’t wear and hold up the same. The costs of mining diamonds and the relative ease of lab grown diamonds is where the separation between them lies. It is the cost difference that appeals to many customers. This opens the pandora’s box on many more discussions regarding lab grown diamonds but I am happy to say that I have relaxed my biases and have given the lab grown diamonds their chance to shine in our cases. Mined diamonds are still outselling the labs because of their natural rarity but customers appreciate and acknowledge having the choice.