If you would have asked me this question 10 years ago, I would have told you, "Yeah, natural diamonds are obviously better. Lab diamonds are fake, and it's a lot more rare to own a real diamond." But I had no idea what the hell I was talking about, and I was misinformed. I fell for the greatest marketing scheme of all time. Today, I'm gonna bust that myth, and we're gonna find out the truth about natural diamonds versus lab diamonds. Let's go.

De Beers in the 1940s

So, like I mentioned before, natural diamonds, in reality, weren't even a thing until the 1940s. Women didn't even have diamonds as an engagement ring. Only about 3% of the US population even knew diamonds were an engagement ring option. Cue the De Beers company and them absolutely changing the way diamonds were used in the US.

De Beers came up with a marketing campaign called "A Diamond is Forever." It meant that you had to give a diamond to your spouse whenever you wanted to become engaged. Now, what did that do for the diamond industry? It skyrocketed the supply and demand for what we know as engagement rings and diamonds today.

You might have heard this company. They still exist to this very day. De Beers had a beautiful marketing campaign. They would buy their competitors over and over until they owned over 95% of the market share of any single diamond that existed and sold in the early 19th century.

Owning everything means you could choke the supply, create demand, and increase the prices. This would create the biggest false narrative that is still being regurgitated to this very day: diamonds are so rare, and that's simply false. They aren't rare; in fact, they're very common. There are still millions of them in the ground and millions of them on people's hands in all kinds of jewelry that we see on an everyday basis.

How the Diamond Industry Works

Again, this is a huge marketing campaign, guys, and one that you absolutely need to know to understand how this whole diamond industry works. Imagine that all the french fries in the world were owned by McDonald's, and they created millions of dollars of commercials for french fries. But when you went to buy one, all you could buy was one or two or three. That would drive up the prices of french fries and make them almost unattainable.

Well, that's what the De Beers company would do. They would stockpile huge amounts of diamonds and only trickle them out a little at a time. That drove the prices up, made people think that they were rare, and made them drop two to three months of their salary every time they wanted to get engaged. It was a beautiful marketing scam and one that still works to this very day.

The Reality of Diamond Mining

There's also the very ugly side of diamond mining, which is the exploitation of populations in underdeveloped countries like Africa and India. For decades, money that was being used to mine these diamonds and exploit the workers were being misused and funneled into guerrilla games that would use this money to create and wage wars in their countries. Places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone – all these countries have been devastated by warmongers who have been funded by the diamond mining trade.

It's just a sad reality of what's going on, and ultimately, there have been measures to correct this, but there's no way of knowing if it actually has worked or not. It still might be happening, and probably is happening, until this very day.

If war wasn't enough, if the exploitation of people wasn't enough, there's also the environmental impact diamond mining has in today's world. Things like deforestation of the land, water pollution, and pulmonary diseases for those workers that are working in the actual mines. Now let's put all that to the side and think about this as an investment because they always say diamonds are supposed to be an investment, just like gold.

Well, let me debunk that myth real quick and let you guys know with a little bit of stats on what actually goes on when you buy a diamond.

Buying Natural Diamonds vs Lab Diamonds

So, you walk into a jewelry store, ask for prices, and get something that costs around $10,000. It's GIA certified, has all the bells and whistles – nice color, nice cut. You walk out of there spending three months' salary on something that you think is very, very special. And then, ultimately, if you ever go to resell it, you're gonna get some money back.

Well, let me give you the real hard truth on that – it's not gonna give you any money back. Most diamonds that are being sold right now are being resold back to jewelry stores at 20 to 30 cents to the dollar. So, you walked out of there with a ten thousand dollar ring; you went back there five years later, you're divorced, and they're giving you about $2,200 for it. That's what's actually happening on that natural diamond that you just bought.

Now let's talk about lab diamonds. Lab diamonds are created by man inside a laboratory and are identical in every way to a natural diamond. In other words, optically, they are indistinguishable, and chemically they are exactly the same. These diamonds don't cause deforestation; they don't cause internal conflicts within a country. They're 100% sustainable, and they are a fraction of the price. Now let's keep things real here – the resale value on lab diamonds is just as bad as natural diamonds, but in fact, it may be a little bit worse.

Most jewelry stores won't even buy those diamonds at 5-10% of what you bought those diamonds for. So the reality is, yes, there are some setbacks because diamond resells for lab diamonds are much less. However, you're also not investing so much upfront. These diamonds are costing you a fraction of the price, and you're getting chemically and optically the exact same thing.

The Future is Lab-Grown

Now, if you want to continue going down the De Beers and the Alrosa marketing scheme and say diamonds are super rare, you're still going to buy natural diamonds, that's on you. But the future is lab diamonds. It's becoming more and more prevalent in today's market. It's something that I personally stand behind and that I sell in my jewelry store every single day.

I advise against natural diamonds all the time because simply they just doesn't make sense anymore. It's an antiquated marketing scheme that worked over 100 years ago, and it's still being perpetuated to this day. Lab diamonds are the future, and it's something that you should really consider the next time you go and buy that engagement ring or the next time you go and bust that watch down.

Remember, you're not gonna get any of the money back that you invested in that natural diamond. And if you want the look, lab is going to give you that and not break those pockets. As always, you know who sponsors this content – it's GusVilla Jewelry. If you are in the market for an engagement ring or to bust down any of your jewelry – pendants, custom rings, bangles, earrings – contact us directly. We do have a large assortment of lab diamonds. They're 100% sustainable, much cheaper than regular diamonds, and at the end of the day, the look is exactly the same. I won't show you comparison videos because you will not notice the difference.