More and more are the youngest to favor synthetic diamonds and to rejoice. But they are being fooled.
Each year, the coast of natural diamonds decreases. Specialized analyst Paul Zimnisky also told AFP a few months ago that the global market share, in value, of synthetic diamonds increased from 3.5% in 2018 to 18.5% in 2023. A spectacular increase for a booming industry.
But if these new stones are so requested, what are their advantages in relation to natural diamonds? First, you should know that the manufacturing system is very different: if it is natural, the diamond is extracted from the terrestrial mantle – located between the crust and the external nucleus – where it formed 2 billion ago years. The synthetic diamond, on the other hand, is made in a laboratory during a short period, which will necessarily lower its cost.
This decrease in prices also seduces many buyers. According to an investigation Statist Released in 2019, 67% of French people choose to turn to synthetic diamonds because of their more advantageous rate. And for good reason: they are on average 30 to 50% cheaper than naturalness. In some cases, the price difference can go up to 70%.
A considerable advantage for the youngest, as the magazine highlights it Fortune In an article which questions the consumption methods of new generations. More and more of them pride in pride of synthetic diamonds, which would also be supposedly more “ecological”. The media is based in particular on the explosion of publications on the social networks of young people of the Z generation which proudly claim their purchase. Several twenty -year -olds testify. “Most of my friends have diamonds created in the laboratory. I think that corresponds to our way of life, the economy and the environmental situation,” said one of them.
Except that young people who give in to this trend are fooled. Even if the synthetic diamond industry boasts of being less polluting, “the manufacturing process, spread over several weeks, is particularly energetic and requires heat close to 20% of the temperature on the surface of the sun”, according to A report by the Natural Diamond Council (NDC). “More than 60% of synthetic diamonds are produced in series in China and India, where 74% and 63% of the electricity from the network come from coal,” added the association.
NGOs consider more generally than buying a diamond is deleterious. The extraction of natural diamonds leads to lake drains, the destruction of rivers, the spill of pollutants, etc. It is necessary to emphasize that many companies have started a decarbonization course to suit international standards. Now, each industry has its own extraction methodology, more or less polluting. To the consumer, regardless of his generation, to find out if he wishes.