I’ve written about Lab-grown diamonds in the past and how I think that the industry messaging oversimplifies the ethical arguments about diamonds. In essence, they boil it down to try to put forward a simple narrative: Lab-grown diamond = Good. Mined diamonds = Bad
An article I read recently goes some way to removing this thin veil that the lab-grown diamond industry is trying to craft. Essentially, lab-grown diamonds are being used in hypersonic weapons technology. Literal blood diamonds. It goes somewhat against the narrative that these brave 'disruptive' lab-grown diamond producers are striving to create a ‘better world’ (no, really, that's what they say) in the face of opposition from the traditional diamond industry.
I think customers need to be aware that whether a diamond is lab-grown or comes from the ground, it’s pretty complicated as to how ethical it is.
In my opinion, the most ethical option is an ethically sourced natural diamond. Buying a stone that helps a small community in West Africa is a far better choice than helping the rich owner/owners of a lab-grown diamond factory. It will probably be more environmentally friendly too.
Obviously, not all mined diamonds are ethical; they don’t all come from the same place, are mined in the same way or go through the same hands to get to the final customer. You need to exercise caution and scrutiny, but you need to do so with lab-grown diamonds too.
Creating a whole new product category ( lab-grown diamonds) does literally nothing to help the people that the traditional diamond industry has hurt. In fact, it makes things worse. The poorest people at the bottom of the supply chain gain nothing if you buy a lab-grown diamond. What does happen is that the price of mined diamonds goes down, meaning they get even less for their backbreaking work.
Beware if you are buying a lab-grown diamond, make sure it's not a lab-grown blood diamond and the supplier isn’t involved in weapons production. There’s a whole load of greenwashing going on and you need to be aware.