From the People's Daily App.
This is Story in the Story.
Lab-grown diamonds, which have been used for industrial purposes for decades, are now shaking up the $87 billion consumer market as cheaper alternatives to mined gemstones.
Although the consumer market for lab diamonds is only worth $150 million, making up about 2 percent of the consumer market for all diamonds, industry predictions show it is expected to grow at 22 percent each year and reach $14.9 billion by 2035, taking up about 5 percent of the consumer market for all diamonds.
For years, lab-grown diamonds were commonly used in industries related to high-end manufacturing. Meanwhile, the cost of growing them has dropped roughly 90 percent in the past decade.
Cheaper, better, and more accessible - all these characteristics are making lab-grown diamonds a popular alternative to mined gems.
China makes 56 percent of the world's gem-quality lab-grown diamonds, outpacing India in second place.
Today’s Story in the Story looks at China’s lab-grown diamond industry and how the country is meeting demand from younger generations.
An employee displays lab diamonds at a jewelry store in Beijing. (Photo: China Daily)
It sparkles and shines like a diamond from the Earth's mantle, but it's grown in a laboratory.
Replicating the process of how mined diamonds are formed, labs today use two significant methods to grow diamonds - tight pressure/high temperature (HP/HT) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), both of which are used to create an environment of extremely high pressure and temperature.
"Most industrial applications of lab diamonds are associated with their hardness, a characteristic that makes diamond an ideal material for cutting tools," said Han Xiaoping, chief researcher at industry and energy website china5e.com.
Many institutions and companies have started to consider diamonds for use in computer chips, satellites, and even 5G networks as they can be used in extreme environments.
“Nano diamonds, or diamonds with a size below 1 micrometer, also have the potential to operate at higher speeds while using less power than the silicon-based chips," Han said.
"Yet with technological advancements, many labs are now able to create gem-quality diamonds at lower costs," said Sun Lihua, a geologist at the Gem Appraisal Center of Peking University, China's leading institute that offers diamond grading services.
"Rapid technological improvements have allowed many Chinese labs to eliminate the presence of other elements that impact diamond quality, such as nitrogen molecules that make the stone look yellow and reduce its value," Sun said.
Today, the cost of making a lab diamond is about 30 percent lower than that involved in mining a gem of similar size and quality, said Li Zheng, research manager at market research provider Leadleo Research Institute.
A production base of lab diamonds in Yichang, Hubei province. (Photo: China Daily)
"Meanwhile, the time it takes to grow a 1-carat diamond is now five to eight days, much shorter than the time it takes to create a mined diamond, which can take billions of years to form," said Tang Bin, deputy director of the Gem Appraisal Center of Peking University.
"Aside from the fact that lab-grown diamonds are created artificially, rather than discovered under the Earth's surface, they are the same in terms of their physical and chemical characteristics," Tang said.
In 2018, De Beers, the world's largest diamond miner, launched its lab-grown diamond line Lightbox Jewelry. It charges about $800 for a 1-carat lab-grown diamond, which is much cheaper compared with $8,000 for a mined diamond.
Media reports said the move was to address a sales slump in mined diamonds as the industry struggles with economic uncertainties and the rise of lab-grown diamonds. Media reports show that sales of rough diamonds plummeted 44 percent to $280 million in the last week of August, compared with $503 million in the same period a year ago.
Lab-grown diamonds are also becoming more popular in China.
"With the post-1980 and post-1990 generations emerging as a major buying power, lab-grown diamonds used in jewelry will see an increasing presence," Li said.
According to Li, more consumers born in the 80s, 90s, and even millennials, are turning to lab-grown diamonds as they are cheaper than mined gems of similar quality and marketed as eco-friendly and ethically sourced.
Despite claims of lab-grown diamonds being eco-friendly, a report from Trucost, an analysis company under S&P Global, challenged this view. It pointed out that making and polishing a 1-carat diamond can produce about 511 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent compared with 160 kilograms for a mined gem.
"Even if that were true, it is worth noting that most chemical waste from producing lab-grown diamonds can be further managed within the lab. But for mined diamonds, it is another story," Tang said.
(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Lance Crayon, Brian Lowe and Da Hang. Music by bensound.com. Text from China Daily.)