In Pictures: With lab grown diamonds, it will always be about pricing and less about emotions

That's the 'real' thing alright - but UAE's jewellery shoppers are being given the choice of owning jewellery set to lab grown diamonds. Will they take the leap from all-natural to man-made?

Buying a diamond is about being in the moment. That exact moment when a precious stone becomes a part of you and your persona. Diamonds are also about legacies, heirlooms to be handed over from one generation to another, and, hopefully, with a neat little increase in its inherent value. All such diamonds have one common thread – they are derived from within the Earth after being shaped by centuries of organic changes, crafted onto jewellery by skilled artisans, and then picked up by those with the taste and the wealth to spend on it.

So, is the UAE market ready to go for diamonds that not of the Earth but grown inside of labs? To the naked – and untrained - eye, there is nothing to separate a natural stone from one that’s man-made. Now, a handful of jewellery retailers in the UAE are testing whether shoppers’ tastes for diamonds have evolved beyond the ‘natural’ options.

“Lab grown diamonds will have slow acceptance initially, but its value proposition will bring in a new type of shopper to jewellery stores,” said Shaunak Shastree, General Manager of IGI (International Gemological Institute), which does the certification for diamonds, whether natural or man-made.

The value proposition – yes, that will be the key. If retailers can convince shoppers there’s value in buying diamond jewellery that is 30-50 per cent less expensive than the ‘real’ ones, that could convince a sizeable number of shoppers. A younger generation who are not bound by the same tastes as their parents.

This is about buying diamonds stripped of emotion. It is about picking a diamond jewellery piece for its looks and buying it if the price is deemed as accessible.

Consumers in the West are already giving lab grown diamonds a chance. If they want anything else, there is always a Tiffany store near by…

The lab grown diamond collections available in the UAE are imported, and made using a process called ‘Chemical Vapour Deposition’. There is a lot of chemistry and technology involved, with the introduction of a gas into a vacuum chamber. The molecules of the gas are then broken down and the carbon atoms settle on a platform containing a flat diamond seed crystal.

The CVD process thus creates a diamond that bears a close resemblance in character to anything that is found underneath the Earth. But the stark differences show up in the pricing for either jewellery collection.

According to Chandu Siroya of Siroya Jewellers and a member of the Board of Directors at Dubai Gold & Jewellery group, “Whether it’s natural or lab grown, diamond purchases need to be backed up by the right certifications. There are patented processes backing the CVD created diamonds – everything will be done to assure shoppers about the veracity of the stones.”

The man-made stones are there and UAE’s jewellery retailers are bringing out collections featuring them. Now, are shoppers in the UAE ready to go for lab grown diamond options? Or will they prefer to go with the all-natural stones? Will the emotional appeal of owning a natural trump all other considerations, including the pricing?