Lab grown diamonds are made of the same substances as mined diamonds, but they’re grown under laboratory conditions instead of being extracted from the earth. This process has only been around since the 1990s, and it’s still in its early stages. As such, there are several challenges that lab grown diamond growers need to overcome before they can create diamonds that are as good or better than mined diamonds at competitive prices. Lab grown diamond growers have already solved many of these challenges, though, so here are three of their biggest challenges so far and how they plan to address them going forward.
Keeping Costs Down
lab grown diamond growers can cost upwards of $1,000 per carat. Grown in a lab by companies like Element Six and Apollo Diamond, CVD diamonds have a reputation for being cheaper and more environmentally friendly than their mined counterparts. However, despite efforts to keep costs down as part of a streamlined production process, they’re still significantly more expensive than diamonds that come from nature. If scientists don’t figure out how to bring costs down soon, consumers may stay loyal to mined diamonds—which could stall innovation on products like jewelry and electronic gadgets built with CVD gems.
To produce a finished CVD diamond, suppliers first mix tiny bits of carbon (typically from petroleum or plant matter) with pure hydrogen gas in large reactors. The mixture is then heated to over 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit using electricity generated via coal, oil, or natural glassworking With New Partners Who Are Unfamiliar With Lab Grown Diamonds
Lab grown diamonds use a process called chemical vapor deposition (CVD) that’s not exactly commonplace. Partners in business and life often have to find ways to work with people who don’t understand or trust their process, but even more challenging is finding new partners who may be skeptical about CVD diamonds in general. Many brands want you to prove your credibility before working with you, which is why partnerships can sometimes take a long time to get off the ground. It will help if there are already other respected businesses in your industry that already trust you and your product; it’s easier for them to recommend you than it is to convince an untested partner.
Standing Out Among Natural Diamonds
Real diamonds come in a seemingly endless array of colors, cuts, and sizes. They sparkle in an almost magical way and people love them. These unique qualities make real diamonds a tough market to crack but with CVD diamonds, you’re selling carbon (your core material) that’s 100% identical to nature’s product. Consumers will find it harder to tell your product apart from natural diamonds than they would with synthetic stones like cubic zirconia or moissanite. Of course, there is still a chance they might stumble upon CVD jewelry while shopping but when they do their next move is simple: why pay more for something that looks exactly like what I can get online at half or even one-third price?
Creating A Business Plan
Lab grown diamonds have created quite a buzz in recent years, and as we’ve previously discussed, they’re most likely here to stay. This is because creating a CVD diamond is more cost-effective than mining a natural one. But, just because diamonds can be manufactured doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges associated with growing them in a lab.
Managing Changing Technology
While many in the industry talk about CVD diamonds as a threat to growth, it’s only a threat if technology changes drastically and there’s little to be done about it. If we’re able to continue leveraging established technologies (such as CVD) and inventing new ones, there will always be consumers who prefer our product. CVD Lab Grown Diamonds vs. Synthetic Diamonds: The fact that synthetic diamonds exist doesn’t threaten us too much, because CVD-grown stones are much different from their synthetic counterparts. Our company has helped make sure that people know that lab created diamonds aren’t fake or synthetic; they’re real gemstones made in laboratories using chemical vapor deposition methods and proprietary machines that grow each stone layer by layer at a rate of just 1 micron per hour.
