Manufactured Diamonds: Would They Pass The Test?
Also known as lab-created diamonds, manufactured diamonds are man-made and can be made in a small fraction of the time it takes to develop a mined diamond. Naturally, it is much more affordable than natural diamonds, but this isn’t to say that their quality is significantly inferior.
Mined diamonds are categorized into several groups to grade them. Manufactured diamonds, however, only make use of three classifications: low, medium, and high. These refer to their quality, and it is often easy to classify them because of several obvious properties.
Manufactured diamonds are preferred by many because of their affordability. Popular figures such as Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis and Princess Diana were known to alternately wear genuine diamonds and manufactured diamonds. This is because they occasionally have the desire to wear costume jewelry, and manufactured diamonds are perfect for this purpose.
This is because costume jewelry are often ornate and make use of massive stones, and it’s highly impractical to use mined diamonds on such large chunky pieces.
Grading manufactured diamonds
The low-quality manufactured diamonds are cloudy and this is visible to the naked eye. They are sold in large volumes to costume jewelry manufacturers, and when they are sold retail, they are not kept in display cases. Low-grade manufactured diamonds are simply displayed off the rack, from where shoppers can try them on as they please.
The medium-grade manufactured diamonds possess more clarity than the low-quality pieces and are also often sold wholesale to costume jewelers. Again, they cannot be passed off as mined diamonds, and are usually set in sterling silver. These medium-grade gems are the ones you see sold on the home shopping channel.
They don’t cost as much as mined diamonds do, but are still somewhat pricey. Lastly, there are the high-grade manufactured diamonds. These have nearly the same brilliance that mined diamonds possess, and sometimes could even have a higher refractive index than the real McCoys.
They still cost a fraction of the price of genuine diamonds, though, but could only be purchased from reputable fine jewelry shops. These high-level manufactured diamonds are set in precious metals such as gold and platinum to complement the excellence of the stone.
The most expensive manufactured diamonds can nearly approximate the hardness of mined diamonds and can easily exceed their fire, brilliance, and luster. Wearing manufactured diamonds is a matter of personal choice, and can even be passed on from one generation to another just like genuine diamonds.
