> there's little to no difference in quality between the two

Lab grown can be way better quality. To me it was a no-brainer considering the ethical concerns, then add in the cost difference. The only argument I've heard for natural is "I like the imperfections". Sounds like brainwashing to me. They're chemically identical

The mining industry should die

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kstrauser 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I personally find lab grown much more beautiful, in that they’re an amazing accomplishment of mankind’s science and technology. So a tree got squeezed underground until it turned into a crystal? Cool, I guess, but big deal. Humans learned enough about how matter works to recreate those conditions at industrial scale? That’s amazing!

I’d much rather wear a monument to our cleverness than a dinosaur mashed under a rock.

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msisk6 an hour ago | parent | next [-]

I've never been that interested in gemstones of any sort, but my understanding (from geology classes decades ago) is that natural diamonds on the surface of the earth result from some rather exotic processes.

First, they form deep down in the mantle around 100 miles down. The only way they get up here is through rare and violent high velocity eruption events that bring mantle material up to the surface. Most are very old, too; greater than a billion years old.

I don't recall the source of the carbon they're made from, but it's certainly not any sort of organic material like coal or dinosaurs. ;)

Or I could be totally wrong. I really have no interest in these things beyond the geology behind them and it's possible the science has uncovered new stuff since I last studied them.

Likewise, I have no idea how these synthetic diamonds are being made nowadays, but I bet that's pretty cool, too.

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andrewflnr 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This is a more honest and realistic take than most on the thread. Note that either way it's the provenance behind the gem that you find attractive, much more than any instantaneous quality of it like chemistry, lack/presence of defects, etc. It's the story.

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kstrauser 2 hours ago | parent [-]

It’s not only that. Lab diamonds are superior in every way I’ve heard of. The emotional appeal of their provenance is the sole remaining reason I’ve heard people claim that slave diamonds are superior. I contend that they’re worse there, too. In fact, the only reason I can imagine someone preferring mined diamonds is that they genuinely value the human suffering that goes into them.

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Skunkleton an hour ago | parent [-]

If you ignore the ethical issues, and you shouldn't (!!!), there is an appeal to mined diamonds, and it is exactly what you say above. The idea that some dinosaur or tree or whatever got mushed down is really interesting too.

	▲	sudo_cowsay an hour ago \| parent [-]
		All depends on perspective I guess. Smushed dino or human smarts.

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burnished an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Duder the tree thing is also pretty cool - but yeah also requiring a certain level of clarity after that just feels like gacha bullshit

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eagerpace 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Which is absolutely hilarious given they spent decades "teaching" consumers about imperfections and how you can pay more to avoid them!

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JKCalhoun an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Maybe the lab enshittifiers can add imperfections!

Win, win!

	▲	hbarka 38 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Kintsugi diamonds!