All diamonds will be lab created in the future.

How sustainable is the diamond industry? What is the carbon footprint of diamonds?<br><br>For the mining process, it requires a tremendous amount of energy to operate their machinery. It also takes many tons of earth and rock to get a small amount of diamonds which lead to deforestation, erosion, and flooding. Mining has a significant environmental impact and causes hazards that affect biodiversity.<br><br>Most diamonds were created in the earth’s crust 3.5 billion years ago. A single 1 carat diamond requires 2500 pounds of earth to be mined and extracted.<br><br>Even worse, diamond mining involves a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. It is literally a dirty business.<br><br>Similarly, most jewelry manufacturers also have a large carbon footprint. It requires a lot of energy to mine these precious metals, refine them, and then shape them into jewelry.<br><br>As we continue to pump CO2 into the atmosphere, which is melting the polar ice caps, raising sea levels, and accelerating global warming, lab-created diamonds are becoming more popular. They have become significant more affordable in the past 10 years. Scientists are able to create diamonds in the lab, at a molecular structure that is the same as diamonds that are mined from the earth. Lab-created diamonds have been on the market for 10 years but they are becoming more popular and affordable.<br><br>Created using HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature) process or the CVD process (Chemical Vapor Deposition) lab-created diamonds are produced in advanced facilities across the world. The real difference between lab-created diamonds and natural diamonds is the origin.<br><br>Lab-created diamonds are created in a lab with technology that is able to create the same pressure and temperature conditions that the earth has. Otherwise, these diamonds are the same as natural diamonds. They are certified by GIA or IGI and are considered a “diamond” by the US FTC.<br><br>The cost savings of lab-created diamonds can be significant. A well-cut, colorless 1 carat lab-created diamond can be as much as 40% less than a mined diamond. This means that you can save money by choosing a lab-created diamond, or you can spend the same amount of money that you were planning to spend, and get a much larger diamond.<br><br>Two years ago, Tiffany and Company announced that they would begin producing lab-created diamonds. They call them lockets. Tiffany & Company claims that they are creating high quality lab-created diamonds. They use a proprietary process that starts with a diamond seed and then grows the diamond using a combination of pressure and heat. Tiffany claims that their lab-created diamonds are certified by GIA and have the same brilliance and sparkle as natural diamonds.<br><br>The opportunities for lab-created diamonds are endless. De Beers, the largest diamond mining company in the world, produces over 35 million carats of diamonds each year. They are a global powerhouse in the diamond industry. But De Beers also has a significant role to play in the lab-created diamond market. They have a lab-created diamond brand called Lightbox. <br><br>In contrast, the natural diamond industry is shrinking. There are less and less mines and the earth is running out of diamonds. De Beers has predicted that the world’s diamond mines will supply 27% less diamonds in 2030 compared to 2020. <br><br>Because of the growing demand for lab-created diamonds, Lightbox is expanding production from 200,000 carats to 10 million carats per year.<br><br>There is still a market for natural diamonds and there will be for many years. But lab-created diamonds are a better way to go. They are becoming increasingly more affordable every year.<br><br>We now have the technology to create diamonds in the lab and this process is rapidly becoming more affordable. For this reason, lab-created diamonds are becoming more popular and more affordable.<br><br>It will not be long until all diamonds are lab-created.