‘Made not mined’: Lab-grown diamonds at the center of this N.C. business

MORRISVILLE, N.C. – Regardless of the recognition of diamonds, the worldwide diamond trade has lengthy been criticized. Diamond mining has been linked to human rights points, poverty, little one labor and practices that hurt the atmosphere.

One North Carolina enterprise is on a mission to supply much less controversial and extra reasonably priced different because the diamond trade evolves.

To an untrained eye, the jewellery at Charles & Colvard’s Morrisville showroom seems like another diamond jewellery, however their merchandise are “made not mined.”

“Moissanite is on the blue and our Caydia lab-grown diamond is on the pink. This simply helps us to distinguish it not solely on-line however within the retailer,” Hillary Watson, the director of gross sales and merchandising for Charles & Colvard, mentioned. “Charles and Colvard is definitely the unique creator of moissanite. Moissanite is discovered within the earth however not in giant sufficient portions to be in gemstone-quality jewellery. So we truly discovered over 27 years in the past the way to replicate that course of in a lab.”

The enterprise makes a speciality of moissanite in addition to lab-grown diamonds. So what’s the distinction between these and pure diamonds?

“Moissanite is a colorless gemstone. It is fabricated from silicon carbide. A diamond from the earth is fabricated from carbon. A lab-grown diamond can also be fabricated from carbon. The one distinction is the origin,” Watson mentioned.

Charles & Colvard gained’t give away all of the secrets and techniques about how they’re made, however they are going to inform you how they examine to pure diamonds.

“To offer you an instance of worth, that is 3.9 carats for $4,100 and it is a DEF colorless moissanite,” Watson mentioned.

If that very same ring was a pure diamond, the fee would skyrocket.

“For 4 carats, you are upwards of $40,000,” Watson mentioned.

Their jewellery could be very widespread for engagement rings, with millennials making up nearly all of their buyer base. In reality, 48% of their clients are between the ages of 25 and 44.

“As a result of it’s extra reasonably priced, they’re capable of put a deposit on their dream dwelling, they’re capable of take their dream honeymoon, have a bigger marriage ceremony,” Watson mentioned

How do moissanites examine on the hardness scale that pure diamonds are measured on?

“Particularly, moissanite is a 9.5, 9.25 to 9.5, on the Mohs hardness scale. Diamond is a ten. So moissanite is second solely to a diamond when it comes to hardness, which makes it excellent for on a regular basis put on. It is tremendous sturdy. It isn’t going to interrupt or scratch,” Watson mentioned.

Charles and Colvard is so assured of their product and keen to teach folks about it that they opened up their first ever showroom on the finish of October.

“Shopping for an engagement ring is a brilliant private course of and whereas we do have a direct shopper web site, CharlesandColvard.com, we do get a ton of asks for on-figure images or ‘I need to see what the gemstone seems like in actual life,’ and particularly people who find themselves not acquainted with moissanite or lab-grown diamonds. They need to see and expertise and contact and really feel the product. So we’re actually excited to have this venue, this unimaginable 2,000 sq. ft of showroom, to let shoppers fall in love with the gem stones in individual,” Watson mentioned.

Watson says not everybody within the diamond trade has been welcoming to those lab-grown options, however issues are altering.

“I believe you are all the time going to have individuals who in all probability may have this preconceived notion {that a} diamond is comes from the earth however the trade is adopting lab-grown diamonds,” Watson mentioned.

Charles & Colvard’s jewellery can also be offered in all the Helzberg Diamonds shops, a sequence with greater than 150 places throughout the nation.

Paul Ziminsky, an impartial diamond analyst in New York, says that most individuals nonetheless need a pure diamond however that curiosity in lab-grown diamonds is rising shortly, as they characterize about 10% of diamond jewellery gross sales by worth.