INDIANAPOLIS — At a time when so much seems to cost people more, the price of diamond earrings or an engagement ring has never been more affordable.
You just have to be OK with your diamond having been made in a lab rather than dug out of a mine.
"Chemically, it's identical," said Brian McCall, owner of Midwest Estate Sales and Jewelry in Indianapolis. "There's technically no difference (between a mined diamond a lab-created one). What it doesn't have is that rarity, that uniqueness."
But that doesn’t seem to bother a growing number of consumers who are eager to take advantage of a same-looking diamond that costs between three and 10 times less.
"When they first came out, they were rather pricey," said Mike Ellis, who owns Ellis Jewelers in Frankfort. "But as time has gone on, there are more manufacturers and the price has continually dropped."
Ellis displayed a ring behind his own counter with lab-grown diamonds. It had a $2,995 price tag. He said the same ring with natural diamonds would cost nearly $9,000.
Pandora, the world's largest manufacturer of diamonds, recently announced it would no longer use mined diamonds and instead rely completely on those that are created in a lab.
The move was seen as a way to be more eco-friendly. Although some jewelers say man-made diamonds still leave behind a sizeable carbon footprint in the manufacturing process, and lab-grown diamonds hold very little resale value.
Ellis said he believes lab-grown diamonds may be forever. But the natural ones aren't going away either.
"To me the natural diamonds just have more clout. It's not an item that was created and put together. Yes, the something that's been in the earth for millions of years. It has history to it.”
McCall recounted a recent customer who bought a pair of lab-grown diamond earrings for his wife.
"He told me he loved being able to do that," McCall said. "But said if it was an engagement ring he was buying, he'd probably stick with the natural diamond."