Lab grown or in ground diamond and apporopiate size?

Lab grown is an excellent idea. One carat is quite large! You’ll have to know if that’s what your partner wants. Large stones can be tough to wear for people who prefer smaller jewellery or have small hands.

I also have a lab-grown diamond ring from Spence! It was really important to me from the get-go that the ring we chose was ethical and as ecologically friendly as possible. I also made it clear that I wasn’t comfortable spending tens of thousands of dollars on a piece of jewelry before we even had a house so the lab grown diamonds (or as Spence calls them, Artisan Diamonds) were the perfect solution! Here’s mine:

Another one for lab diamond! I also got mine from Spence. Having a lab diamond was really my only major requirement, for ethical reasons. In addition to the ethics, it also supports a ton of scientific research so its just cool all around. I am super proud of my ring and would promote lab diamonds all around

My FH got my ring from Spence! It’s lab created diamond! 1 carat & rose gold!! I love love love it! Sparkles so much ! He made a great choice! Price wise it was more than the price you would like to spend but you can get under a carat and save money as well! Look into Spence and they will work around your budget!

View quoted message Omg absolute beautiful! I love it! The size is amazing on your hand! Hmm yes I’m thinking 1ct ish maybe less with a great colour...thanks for the comments I’m definitely leaning towards a lab grown diamond for ethical and environmental reasons... plus cost as my gf is frugal and would kill me if I spent too much she loves travel and adventure and experiences and it’s in my budget I’m more than comfortable spending that


Thanks 😊 for the comments
Pierre

View quoted message Thank you for your comment! It was helpful! Was the carat big enough you think? I want it between too small or too big... that just right size.... I was thinking a 1 ct ideal cut, on rose gold thinner solitaire setting... the hooks that holding diamond be white gold so it looks like it’s floating I’m definitely leaning towards a lab grown diamond... it’s for ethical reasons and cost! My gf really cares about things like that and if I spend too much she’d kill me lol she’d rather have an adventure thanks again

I have a lab grown moissonite diamond its beautiful i think i have just under 1 ct and it was about 3k and it is super nice i absolutely love it!! my hubby and i dont support the diamond cartel!

My fiance got my ring from Brilliant Earth! They're ethically sourced diamonds and the rings are beautiful!

I think mine is 0.5 carat but I don't know for sure because he's banned me from looking at the website cause he doesn't want me to know how much he spent lol.

I'd say carat size would depend on your girlfriend's style, does she wear a lot of jewelry already? I don't really so I think mine is the perfect size

Congratulations! I have a lab diamond, which I requested for ethical reasons. They are cheaper which is awesome, and are real diamonds! I unfortunately don’t know the exact price but I know it was less than $3000 and is .75 carats.
I didn’t know much about lab made when we started looking so we went to talk to a jeweller and it was super helpful! I would definitely encourage you to do that if you have the chance! Best of luck!

Lab grown diamonds can look so real even jewelers can barely tell. If you have Netflix there's an episode of a documentary called Explained that I found really informative.


I would have been happy with either, I have a mined Canadian stone. I fell in love with the shape of the ring. I have teeny fingers and it is so dainty!

Congrats on deciding to pop the question! Do you have a plan for how you want to do it yet? I love a good proposal story.

I have a 1c. Moissanite (lab-grown) solitaire ring and wouldn't have it any other way! I LOOOOVE that it's environmentally-friendly and ethically sourced and it's as clear and sparkly as any diamond I've ever seen. Plus it was MUCH cheaper than a mined diamond. My FH bought it from Gema & Co (based out of San Fransisco) and they were awesome - checking in to see how it went after the fact and to make sure I was happy with it. I would've preferred a Canadian business but the ones that I found were still more expensive than Gema, even after the exchange rate and duty fees. 10/10 would recommend if that's the route you choose!

I should also add -- a lot of diamonds on the market are refurbished, or getting a second life. Sometimes they are recut but a lot of the time they are just put back out there as is. They aren't identified as such for the most part, unless you are buying something still set. This is one of the reasons tracing a diamond and determining it's source is so tricky.


I absolutely love stones and I love talking about them so I'm happy to help if I can!

Congratulations on your impending engagement!
I'm not too familiar with lab grown diamonds. I do know the cushion cut will be less expensive than a round brilliant. Depending on colour and clarity you are looking for, $4000 might be a bit tight for a carat. I think you might need to increase that up to $6000, unless you are wanting maybe a really warm diamond (I think warmth even up to an M can be beautiful if set right but it isn't everyone's cup of tea).

If you are really set on a limit of 4k I would recommend lab grown and shooting for just shy of a carat, say 0.9 You won't see any visible difference but the price tag will be much lower as "at least a carat " is a common goal post.Also, you might be well served to see the stone before you purchase as you might be able to "cheat" a bit on clarity. Some I1 may be graded as such because of an inclusion that is hidden in a facet and therefore not noticeable. Again, this would bring the price down closer to your budget. I know Ritani will ship to a local jewellers so you can inspect before you buy. I've also had good experience with Ritani before.
I also know a lot of people like moissanite. If you want something similar to a diamond and want it ethically sourced, that may be worth exploring.
Best of luck!