This Valentine’s Day, you may be planning to buy a diamond… and your jeweler may well suggest a lab-grown diamond. It’s been the symbol of eternal love since the apt slogan of diamond merchant De Beers in 1947, “A diamond is forever .” And when you love, you don’t count. But it turns out that today, the natural diamond solitaire is no longer alone in the market. Since its development in 1954 by the American chemist Tracy Hal, the synthetic diamond has indeed been a serious competitor. So attractive was this that in 2025, the De Beers company itself succumbed. After years of disdain for these artificial stones that it reserved for industry, it began to offer them in jewelry!
Two twin brothers
Chemically, like natural diamonds, synthetic diamonds are formed through the crystallization of carbon under extreme heat and pressure. Only the origin and location of this phenomenon differ. Natural diamonds were born 2.5 billion years ago, deep within the Earth. Their rival, obtained in a laboratory in just a few weeks, is the pure product of human hands. Semantically, a battle of terminology ashasegun and two stories are currently clashing. The natural diamond commands respect by relying on values of infinity and rarity; the synthetic diamond offers an alternative narrative, which summons a form of green alchemy. Praising “the magic of combining science and nature,” as some brands do, seems judicious. Driven by ecological and ethical values, this narrative comforts buyers who feel guilty about buying a natural diamond.
A duel with current issues
Economically, it must be said that the stakes are high… In 2025, a quantitative study estimated that 42% of French people said they wanted to buy a diamond “at least once in their life.” This proportion even climbs to 65% among 25-34 year-olds. During my doctoral research on storytelling phenomena , I investigated this sector, which seemed not to escape accusations of ” greenwashing .” These new issues regarding responsible consumption constitute one of the major areas addressed by the Lifestyle Research Center, which studies new consumption phenomena through research with field actors.
Synthetic diamond dodges criticism.
During my investigation, I understood that the success of synthetic diamonds was built in particular as a counterpoint to the persistent excesses of natural diamonds. Next, synthetic diamonds don’t come from open-pit mines that generate real ecological scandals. To find a few carats of natural diamonds, millions of tons of ore must be extracted from fragile areas, which significantly damages natural ecosystems. The excavated soils, bays, and riverbanks remain disturbed for decades before the flora and fauna regain their balance.
Too young to be guilty
Unlike its big brother, synthetic diamonds are not tainted by the failure of the Kimberley Process (an international negotiation forum bringing together representatives of states, industry, and civil society) set up around twenty years ago to regulate the traceability of the diamond industry. Disowned in 2025 by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Global Witn, which was at its origin, the KP is now in the sights of humanitarian associations such as Amnesty International . The Unita movement in Angola, the two wars in the Congo, and the mafia spiral in Liberia and Sierra Leone have indeed tarnished the historic industry. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the largest extractor of natural diamonds, is now reviving criticism . As a result, synthetic diamonds do not suffer from a bad image in public opinion, while that of natural diamonds is cracked. Of course, exactly half a century ago, Hollywood served as a showcase for natural diamonds: in 1953, Marilyn Monroe sang “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend .” But times have changed. In 2025, the film Blood Diamonds revealed the horror of working conditions in diamond mines. Deeply affected by his role, Leonardo Di Caprio is today a virulent spokesperson against natural diamonds. Since 2025, he has even been a shareholder of Diamond Foundry, a major producer of synthetic diamonds in the United States. So, faced with the risk of public disenchantment, the traditional sector intends to show that once observed under a magnifying glass, synthetic diamonds, too, do not only offer shiny facets.
Natural diamond strikes back
At the global level, the Natural Diamond Council uses its slogan to display its ambitions for recovery: “Only natural diamonds.” In France, the Diamond Collective, which brings together leading organizations in the industry, is relaying he study Trucost, a world leader in environmental risk assessment. These campaigns aim to shine a spotlight on the hidden side of synthetic diamonds. These groups also point out that it is produced using very energy-intensive production techniques. One of the techniques, called HPHT (High Pressure, High Temperature), requires pressure equivalent to 58,000 times that observed on average at sea level and heating to more than 1400°C for several weeks. Thus, the estimated CO2 emissions associated with energy consumption in synthetic production would be nearly three times higher than those of natural diamonds. Critics of synthetic diamonds also point out that their recent production remains poorly regulated. Most of the centers are located in China and India, making it impossible to monitor what is done there, either from an ecological or ethical perspective.A dditionally, its quality is limited in size and color. The largest lab-grown diamond weighs only 9 carats, while the largest rough diamond mined in Botswana in 2025 weighed 174 carats. Natural diamonds also offer a wider range of hues. Assessed according to the 4Cs established by De Beers, namely cut , color , clarity , and carat , lab-grown diamonds are still not competitive. Finally, the natural diamond competitor only involves scientists in laboratories and skilled factory workers, while mining boasts employing more than 77,000 poor people, mainly in Australia, Botswana, Canada, Lesotho, Namibia, Russia, South Africa ,a nd Tanzania. Wanting to eradicate a real economic ecosystem in particularly poor countries remains a difficult discourse to maintain.
A fratricidal face-off?
Today, natural diamonds are still holding their own against the competition… It’s a robust material! A study by the National Jeweler estimates that the market share of synthetic diamonds remains less than 10%. It has increased fivefold in five years, exceeding $6 billion… But synthetic diamonds are now also at the heart of a controversy and could well be on the cusp of decline. In conclusion, even though it’s aware of the progress that needs to be made, the diamond industry is struggling to find an alternative. It’s not easy to attract new generations of diamond lovers with two sectors that are neither ethical nor environmentally friendly, tarnishing each other’s image… at the risk of discrediting both.
Recent Comments