The True Value of Lab-Grown Gemstones: Is the High Price Justified?

A diamond is meant to be a symbol of meaning, rarity, and commitment. Yet in recent years, an entirely new category has entered the market. It promises beauty, ethics, sustainability, and affordability. But does it truly deliver on these promises?

Lab grown diamonds have exploded in popularity, especially online. Their marketing is polished. Their prices appear attractive at first glance. And their messaging is designed to make buyers feel smart, responsible, and modern.

On the surface, this seems appealing. But beneath the branding lies a reality that most consumers are unaware of. A reality that reveals why lab grown diamonds struggle to justify their high price tags, why they lack long term value, and why natural diamonds continue to hold emotional and financial significance that cannot be replicated in any factory.

At Layaz, we work only with natural diamonds because we believe in rarity, authenticity, and timeless value. We understand how diamonds form, how they behave in the market, how their meaning endures, and what makes them truly special. This blog will help you understand these truths clearly and confidently.

This is not a criticism of anyone who has purchased a lab grown diamond. Instead, it is a guide written with care, aimed at people who want to make informed choices and understand the deeper meaning behind what they buy.

Why Lab Grown Diamonds Became Popular

The rise of lab grown diamonds did not happen by accident. It happened through strategic marketing and consumer confusion. Companies positioned lab grown diamonds as the modern answer to sustainability and ethics. They promoted them as identical to natural diamonds, often suggesting they offer more value for the same look.

Many buyers were drawn to the idea of a larger diamond at a lower price. Others felt reassured by the messaging around environmental friendliness. And many simply did not understand how diamond value works or why natural diamonds have held significance for thousands of years.

The desire for clarity and responsible purchasing is admirable. The problem is that much of the lab grown narrative is incomplete or misleading.

To understand why, we need to look deeper.

How Lab Grown Diamonds Are Made

Lab grown diamonds are created using two methods.
High Pressure High Temperature mimics the natural conditions of earth formation.
Chemical Vapour Deposition grows diamonds layer by layer in a chamber.

Both produce diamonds with similar physical and chemical properties to natural ones. The difference is not in what they look like. The difference lies in how they are formed and what they represent.

A natural diamond forms over billions of years in the earth.
A lab grown diamond forms in a matter of weeks.

A natural diamond is rare and finite.
A lab grown diamond is unlimited and mass produced.

A natural diamond has historical and geological meaning.
A lab grown diamond has none.

This distinction is the foundation of everything that follows.

The Real Cost of Producing Lab Grown Diamonds

Lab grown diamonds are often promoted as expensive to manufacture. The truth is very different.

While the initial machinery investment is high, once the equipment is operational, production costs drop dramatically. When a factory can run day and night, producing hundreds or thousands of diamonds on demand, scarcity disappears. The result is a product that should, by all logic, get cheaper over time.

And that is exactly what has happened.

The cost of producing a lab grown diamond is a fraction of the price retailers charge. A one carat lab grown diamond that once sold for four thousand dollars can now be purchased wholesale for under four hundred dollars. The price continues to fall as more factories open and technology becomes cheaper.

This is the opposite of how natural diamonds behave. Natural diamonds increase in value as mines deplete and high quality rough becomes harder to find.

This price behaviour reveals the truth.
Lab grown diamonds have no intrinsic value. Their price is determined only by supply and marketing.

The Problem With High Retail Prices

If lab grown diamonds are so inexpensive to produce, why are they sold at such high prices?

Three reasons explain it clearly.

1. Marketing

Companies invest heavily in branding that portrays lab grown diamonds as ethical, modern, and superior. Consumers believe they are paying for sustainability when they are actually paying for advertising.

2. Large Profit Margins

Retailers maintain profit margins similar to those used for natural diamonds. This inflates pricing far beyond actual production costs.

3. Consumer Misunderstanding

Many buyers assume a lab grown diamond has value comparable to a natural diamond. They often believe it will hold resale worth. They do not realise the price is set artificially and declines every year.

High pricing is not based on rarity, craftsmanship, or historical significance. It is based on perception alone.

Why Natural Diamonds Hold Their Value and Meaning

A natural diamond is rare.
It is unique.
It is born from the earth over billions of years.
No two are the same.

This rarity is the foundation of its value, both emotionally and financially. A natural diamond cannot be mass produced. Every rough crystal that forms is the result of a geological event that will never be repeated.

This is why kings and queens collected diamonds. It is why natural diamonds appear throughout history as symbols of power, commitment, and legacy. It is why heirlooms carry meaning that lab grown stones never will.

A lab grown diamond is not unique.
It has duplicates.
It has no earth history.
It has no story.
It has no rarity.

It is a manufactured product.

This is the core difference that marketing often hides.

A Layaz Case Study: When Lab Grown Seemed Like the Eco Friendly Choice

A client from Auckland once visited us believing a lab grown diamond was the responsible choice for her engagement ring. She had read online that lab grown diamonds were environmentally friendly and ethical. She genuinely wanted to make a good decision and was proud of her research.

We commended her intention, because caring deeply is always the right starting point.

Then we explained the parts of the conversation she had never seen.

We explained that lab grown diamonds require immense amounts of electricity, often generated from non renewable sources. We explained that sustainability claims are widely disputed and unregulated. We explained that lab grown diamonds leave a significantly larger carbon footprint than buyers assume. And we explained how unlimited production means they lose value rapidly and cannot become heirlooms.

By the end of our discussion, her perspective shifted. She realised that natural diamonds are not only rarer, but more meaningful. She realised that a natural diamond holds its place in history, while a lab grown diamond holds a place in a factory line.

She chose a natural diamond, not because we persuaded her, but because she finally understood the truth. Her decision came from clarity, not pressure.

This is the power of education. When people know the facts, they choose authenticity.

The Emotional Difference Between Natural and Lab Grown

A diamond is not bought only for its appearance. It is bought for what it represents.

Natural diamonds represent earth, time, history, permanence, rarity, and connection. They mark moments that last. They become heirlooms that carry stories through generations.

Lab grown diamonds represent efficiency and production. They cannot carry emotional weight because they have no history behind them and no rarity ahead of them.

A natural diamond feels meaningful because it is meaningful.
A lab grown diamond feels affordable because it is affordable.

The difference is emotional, symbolic, cultural, and psychological.

Why Layaz Never Uses Lab Grown Diamonds

At Layaz, we work only with natural diamonds for reasons rooted in integrity and expertise.

Natural diamonds are rare

No factory can replicate geological rarity.

Natural diamonds have intrinsic value

Their price is tied to global supply and earth history, not production volume.

Natural diamonds hold emotional weight

They become heirlooms, symbols, and legacies.

Lab grown diamonds have no investment value

They drop in price every year because supply is unlimited.

Lab grown diamonds have no lasting significance

They are industrial products, not geological wonders.

Lab grown diamonds are energy intensive

Sustainability claims do not match production realities.

Lab grown diamonds are not heirlooms

There is no story to pass on.

Layaz believes in authenticity

We source directly from miners, select only the finest stones, and honour the natural beauty that cannot be manufactured.

Our commitment to natural diamonds is a commitment to meaning.

Clearing Up Common Myths About Lab Grown Diamonds

Consumers are misled by marketing more than anything else. Here are the truths.

Myth 1: Lab grown diamonds are the same as natural diamonds

They are chemically similar, but value, meaning, rarity, and historical significance are completely different.

Myth 2: Lab grown diamonds are environmentally friendly

Energy use is high and often unregulated. Claims are not transparent or consistent.

Myth 3: Lab grown diamonds hold their value

They do not. Retail value drops rapidly as production increases.

Myth 4: Lab grown diamonds are the ethical choice

Ethics cannot be attributed simply by avoiding mining. Many natural diamond mines support communities, fund schools, employ local workers, and follow strict environmental regulations.

Myth 5: Lab grown diamonds are the future

Trends fade. Authenticity does not.

Educational Summary: What You Are Really Paying For

When deciding between natural and lab grown diamonds, the question is not about appearance. At first glance, they look similar. The difference lies in what they represent.

You pay for rarity
You pay for history
You pay for meaning
You pay for uniqueness
You pay for geological creation
You pay for emotional significance
You pay for something that has never existed before and will never exist again

Lab grown diamonds cannot offer these qualities.

Natural diamonds have held value for centuries because they are part of earth’s story. They have journeyed through pressure, heat, time, and discovery. When someone chooses a natural diamond, they choose a piece of that story. They choose authenticity.

At Layaz, we believe your jewellery should reflect your identity, your values, and your legacy. That is why we work only with natural diamonds. Not because it is easier, but because it is meaningful.

When you understand the truth behind value, the choice becomes clear. Natural diamonds are not expensive without reason. They are valuable because they are rare, billions of years old, completely unique, and irreplaceable.

No factory can create that.