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Synthetic diamonds split the industry: 'Like proposing with a piece of glass'
🇸🇪 Sweden /Culture & Society

Synthetic diamonds split the industry: 'Like proposing with a piece of glass'

From Dagens Nyheter · () Swedish

Translated from Swedish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • The market for synthetic diamonds is growing rapidly, particularly among younger consumers, due to their lower cost and identical appearance to natural diamonds.
  • While synthetic diamonds offer environmental and ethical advantages over natural ones, concerns exist about their lack of history, romance, and, crucially, their significantly depreciating resale value.
  • Experts warn that synthetic diamonds, like synthetic rubies before them, may become virtually worthless over time, impacting their viability as investments and leading pawn shops to value only the metal in jewelry containing them.

Synthetic diamonds are dazzling younger consumers with their affordability and identical appearance to natural stones, but experts warn they may be a poor investment.

They have the same chemical and optical properties as natural ones. What separates them is how they came to be.

— Sophia ÅkerlundA gemologist and jewelry manager at Pantbanken Sverige, explaining the nature of synthetic diamonds.

These lab-created gems, manufactured in days for a fraction of the price of natural diamonds, share the same chemical and optical properties. Gemologists like Sophia Åkerlund confirm they are indistinguishable to the naked eye. Proponents highlight their environmental friendliness and ethical sourcing, contrasting them with the controversies surrounding conflict diamonds and poor labor conditions in the natural diamond industry.

They are more price-conscious and open to new products.

— Victor HalvarssonCEO of Vanbruun, a jewelry company seeing increased demand for synthetic diamonds from younger customers.

Companies like Vanbruun in Sweden report a surge in younger customers embracing synthetic diamonds, driven by price consciousness and openness to new products. However, the natural diamond sector pushes back, accusing synthetic producers of greenwashing and arguing that lab-grown stones lack the history and romance associated with mined gems. Their primary concern is the plummeting resale value.

You could buy lab-grown diamonds in the grocery store for $299.

— Al CookCEO of De Beers, commenting on the declining value and accessibility of synthetic diamonds.

Synthetic diamonds that were once more expensive than natural ones have seen prices drop by up to 90%. This trend mirrors the fate of synthetic rubies, which are now virtually worthless. Experts predict prices will continue to fall as supply outstrips demand, comparing them to counterfeit luxury bags. Consequently, pawn shops and auction houses in Sweden no longer accept synthetic diamonds as collateral, valuing only the metal in the jewelry, and emphasizing that consumers must understand these stones have no practical resale value.

To manufacture a synthetic diamond costs a few hundred kronor today, and as long as supply is greater than demand, prices will continue to fall towards that level.

— Sophia ÅkerlundExplaining the economic trajectory of synthetic diamonds.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Dagens Nyheter in Swedish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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