Yes, they say they’re real, but come on, anything that’s made in a lab and not grown in a mine is not real. I have worked for 3 jewellers & I know for a fact they will have very little or no resale value compared to a genuine mined diamond
One of my best friends is a jeweller and has expressed a lot of concern about them as they technically ARE real. The diamond is made in exactly the same way as a natural one but obviously much faster. They form the same difference in the range of colours and have exactly the same inclusions.
There is no way whatsoever he can tell one of these from a mined diamond. Jewellers are having to rely on honesty if a customer turns up with a broken ring with a loose stone. It's easy enough to pick up some second-hand rings, knock out the cheaper stones and either have the lab diamonds replaced into a new un-marked setting to sell on to another jeweller or just sell as a broken parcel.
The current price of the labs are just over half the retail of mined. If you try selling any mined diamond it's going to be at least half what you've paid for it anyway. Especially if you've bought from a chain jeweller. I've always bought second-hand from my friend and had a really good deal to start with (though I appreciate most people don't have a friend in the trade and most will buy at full retail from a chain).
They're a big step up from CZ and Moissanite and the more popular they become the better they'll hold their re-sale value (again, nothing lie the retail price). Once the tags become common the price will settle again.
There's a big market already for them from people who don't want to be sure they're not buying blood diamonds. I've seen a few of these in the flesh from when they first appeared in America and they are as beautiful as the real thing. CZ and Moissanite are really obvious to me (and just about everyone in the trade) but the labs I've seen are identical to diamonds even under a loupe. I own a smaller G VS1 Tiffany diamond that we compared to the lab and there was no difference - even the cut was lovely.
The spiel the chains give you in order to sell is a lot more fake than a lab diamond. I've heard them say everything from getting full money back if you re-sell to the '1-carat princess diamond' made up of four smaller stones being a 'real 1carat' stone. I also overheard one woman tell a young couple that a P3/M stone was the best grade they could get. It's down to personal taste (and a bit of education) but I'd much rather one of these than a natural of the calibre you'd find in a chain jeweller - even a Tiffany at their prices.
If I was half of a young couple on a budget shopping for a beautiful diamond engagement ring I'd have no problem buying one of these - not at QVC's prices though.
Can you tell Moissanite by eye Tarot?
Eye can!
Seriously, I can. All the Moissanites I've seen have had a very slight green tinge. They also throw a slightly different range of colours under lights. If you have one hold it under bright lights so you get the colour flash and look for the pink. It's a colour a diamond doesn't throw.
There is a range of Moissanite that is being sold as a whiter stone without the greenish tinge. I haven't seen one of these in the flesh but I'm told that has the pink flash too.
Although do you think that in view of the eco movement and also the concern over blood/conflict diamonds these type of stones may become the equivalent of faux fur but a lot more expensive and very attractive to the Gretas and Megan’s of this world?
The labs are indeed very attractive to the people that want to avoid conflict stones. The Canadian diamonds are a nice alternative but very pricey.
I prefer the old cuts so antique stones have always been my favourites. They were mined under crappy conditions but at least they weren't sold to finance modern wars etc.
www.london-victorian-ring.com
