If diamonds are on your gift-giving list this year and you are looking for a more ethically sourced alternative, then lab-grown diamonds are an excellent choice.
Clean Origin, the world’s largest, exclusively lab-grown diamonds brand was founded in 2017 by a team of veterans with over 100 years of combined experience in the diamond industry. As a third-generation member of a prominent family in the diamond business, Alexander Weindling found himself questioning many dark aspects of his profession.
Weindling left his family’s business to build a more environmentally conscious and ethical diamond jewelry brand. When launching Clean Origin, Weindling and co-founder Ryan Bonifacino vowed never to touch any mined diamonds or gemstones.
Consider the difference between mined versus lab grown diamonds:
Mining, the traditional method for producing diamonds, uses heavy machinery, explosives, hydraulic equipment, and other harsh methods to dig deep below the surface in order to extract the gems from the earth, leaving a significant impact on the environment.
For every carat of diamond that is mined, nearly 100 square feet of land is disturbed and almost 6000 pounds of mineral waste is created. One carat of lab-grown diamonds disrupts 0.07 square feet of land and only 1 pound of mineral waste. Mined diamonds cause 1 injury for every 1,000 workers annually, while lab-grown diamonds result in zero injuries.
The only difference between a lab-grown and a mined diamond is its origin. Mined diamonds are formed from carbon under extreme heat and pressure deep beneath the earth’s crust. Whereas lab-made diamonds are created inside a lab under controlled conditions.
There are two methods that labs use to replicate the organic process to grow diamonds – High Pressure-High Temperature (HPHT) and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). An HPHT diamond begins as a small diamond seed that is placed into carbon. Using one of three manufacturing processes the seed is exposed to extreme temperatures of 1500 degrees Celsius and pressurized to approximately 1.5 million pounds per square inch. The pure carbon melts and starts to form a diamond around the starter seed. Then it is carefully cooled to form a pure carbon diamond.
A CVD diamond begins as a thin slice of diamond seed, which is often an HPHT diamond. The seed is placed in a sealed chamber and exposed to intense heat around 800 degrees Celsius. The chamber is filled with carbon-rich methane and other gasses that are ionized into plasma using technology similar to microwaves or lasers. The ionization breaks the molecular bonds in the gasses, and the pure carbon adheres to the diamond seed and slowly crystallizes.
Clean Origin lab-grown diamonds are real. They have exquisite quality that meets supreme standards in terms of cut, color, clarity, and carat. Mined diamonds and lab-created diamonds have the same costs when it comes to cutting, polishing and inspection. However, mined diamonds have a long and complex supply chain that adds expenses. Lab-grown diamonds have a much shorter supply chain and are less expensive, typically, a 20-40% decrease in their price.
Whether you are shopping for holiday gifts – diamond bracelets, earrings, necklaces – or you are looking for unique men’s wedding bands, or the perfect solitaire engagement ring, the knowledgeable team of diamond experts at Clean Origin are ready to help. Schedule a live, one-on-one virtual appointment to get all the advice you need. You can trust that Clean Origin lab-grown diamonds are high quality, affordable, ethical and are backed by a 100-day return policy.