The History of Lab Diamonds and its Role in Today’s Jewelry Industry

There’s beauty in contradictions: It’s why we describe some experiences as “bittersweet”; why we’re attracted to our opposites; why perfecting the balance of “old” and “new” often feels so liberating. It’s also why Jean Dousset’s founder, the great-great-grandson of Louis Cartier, is both devoted to and defying the luxury jewelry space’s traditions, by melding lab diamonds innovation with designer excellence. Getting consumers what they want, without compromise, is as much of an art as it is a science, and requires decades of expertise.

History of Lab Diamonds

Over the last decade, we’ve kept our finger on the pulse of lab diamonds, observing the vast advances in technology that have brought lab-grown diamonds to be equal in quality to their mined diamond counterparts. The history of lab diamonds started far longer ago than you might expect: back in 1954, the first lab-grown diamond was created by a General Electric chemist (years before that, scientists around the world were already growing the most nascent variety of lab diamonds). Good things take time—and decades later, extraordinary scientific improvements continue to blaze a trail for the creation of high-quality lab-grown diamonds that are unparalleled in their beauty, and transforming the future of jewelry. Keep reading to learn more about the role of lab diamonds in today’s jewelry industry.

Learn more about Jean Dousset’s designer lab-grown diamonds.

Lab Diamonds & Sustainability

The days of diamond jewelry necessarily entailing a high environmental cost are long gone—because lab diamonds have the same chemical, optical, and physical properties as diamonds made from Earth’s crust… without the need for mining. 

For starters, lab-grown diamonds are often understood to be more environmentally sustainable than their mined counterparts, since the mining process can pollute the air and contaminate freshwater sources. While lab diamonds still require energy to create, research has demonstrated that lab diamonds produce far fewer emissions than natural diamonds (and in the case of some gases, like sulfur oxide, eliminate emissions altogether). Another “green” flag: there are an increasing number of greenhouse gas offsetting options available (e.g. carbon offsetting), which further reduce ecological impact. 

Lastly, courtesy of constantly improving technology in the lab diamond space, history has revealed that as science advances, the environmental downsides of diamond-growing shrink. Case in point: today’s exemplary diamond growing process, called “Chemical Vapor Deposition,” or CVD, uses less energy than the “High Pressure High Temperature” manufacturing process invented in the 1950s—and thus creates fewer emissions. At Jean Dousset, all of our designer lab diamonds greater than 1 carat are grown using the CVD method. Industry experts have no doubt these scientific processes, along with others, will inevitably become more progressive, streamlined, and sustainable as the demand for lab diamonds increases. 

Lab Diamonds & Affordability

For many, the most appealing characteristic of lab-grown diamonds is that—partly because the materials needed to produce these stones are readily accessible, and the lab diamond supply chain employs fewer “middlemen” — lab diamonds are a more affordable option. In previous surveys (conducted by Jean Dousset), shoppers overwhelmingly cited “lower price points” as the most enticing aspect of lab diamond jewelry—a finding that tracks, considering lab-grown diamonds average 30% less in cost than a mined diamond of comparable qualities. This means that a lab diamond can be a fraction of the price of a mined diamond, yet look just as beautiful if you have the skills to identify the most optimal stones (and Jean Dousset does).

Explore lab-grown diamond jewelry.

The Flexibility of Lab Diamond Jewelry

At Jean Dousset, we’ve always been dedicated to crafting the finest diamond jewelry (doing so runs in our blood), and now we’re fully embracing the revolution of lab diamonds, offering designer lab diamond jewelry that is perfected to your liking. 

Across the industry, jewelry experts agree that one of the most exciting aspects of lab diamonds is that they offer the luxury of adaptability: they can be created in a wide range of shapes and sizes, which allows for greater flexibility in design. Jewelry designers are also no longer inhibited by the prices of what is available in the diamond marketplace. Instead, lab-grown diamonds empower craftsmen to choose the stone that works best for a design which means designers like Jean Dousset can now truly empower consumers to indulge their diamond desires without compromise.

To put it simply, it’s incredibly uncommon to find a perfect diamond when probing the mined diamond market—not to mention said perfect stones are ultimately only available to a very small percentage of consumers who can afford the astronomical costs of such a rarity. Lab diamonds, on the contrary, allow more consumers to enjoy high quality diamond jewelry. Not only are perfect lab-grown diamonds created far more often than perfect mined diamonds, but these stones can also be cut and polished to exact specifications (if you have the expertise), which can improve the overall quality and look of the diamond.

“Mine blown” by the possibility of finally getting what you want? Shop our collection of designer lab diamond jewelry and engagement rings.