April 9, 2021

Half-price Synthetic Diamonds are Within Reach

“Synthetic diamonds”, artificially made from carbon for use in jewelry, are spreading in Japan.

Synthetic diamonds are 50-70% cheaper than natural diamonds, and their brilliance and other qualities have improved with technological advances. Conventional diamonds involve environmental problems, because they are typically excavated from land where forests have been cleared, and their impurities are washed with huge amounts of water.

Natural diamonds form when carbon crystallizes under high temperature and pressure in deep parts of the Earth’s crust over billions of years. Synthetic diamonds, on the other hand, are industrial products, grown in factories by reproducing the environment of places deep in the Earth. There is no physical difference between them and natural diamonds. Prices vary with weight and with grades of brilliance and other properties, but they are cheaper by 50-70%.

Fashion and ethical consumption are intimately linked, and the connection has inspired many innovations so far. The love of animals led to the creation of fake fur, and the US Allbirds sneakers, which use no petrochemical-derived materials, have been popular in recent years. They are supported by young people because they are produced with concern for the environment.