Jewelers have been developing all sorts of tests to be able to determine diamond simulants from natural diamonds. Garrett Payne, a certified gemologist in Phoenix, Arizona explains why jewelry stores would be doing this. “One of the things that I learned in my undergraduate gemology class is just how difficult it is to separate the real ones from the fakes,” he says. “So, the only reliable way to tell the difference is to take the stone to a reputable jeweler and have him take a look at it.” At the end of the day, the reason they are doing this is because they are nervous about these new man-made diamonds.

Because they look so believable, you might want to consider a lab created, man-made diamond. For the progressive purchaser, there are so many advantages why you should something different. Here are a few of the main reasons:

1. Cost- The most obvious reason is that simulated diamonds are significantly cheaper than real diamonds. A high quality precision-cut Swarovski gemstone in a top notch 14k gold or platinum setting can be purchased for under $1000. However, a similarly sized high quality diamond in the same setting would be around $10,000.

2. Clarity – Diamond Simulants are perfect because they are made in a lab. What this means for the consumer is that all the light passing through the stone won’t be changed by the blemishes in a diamond and will be considerably more brilliant. If a diamond, however, is rated as “flawless”, the price jumps dramatically.

3. Color – Synthetic diamonds do not have deep color inclusions. Diamonds without these colors would be considered the most costly and excellent because they would have a color rating “D” on the gemstone scale. In order to obtain a diamond of this caliber, you would need to pay a significant amount of money, even if compared to a regular diamond. Many women have diamonds with marks and different color hues because they are more in the budget.

4. Many in Society Opt Out of Financing the Diamond Cartels – Riddled with leaked documents outlining price gauging and bogus inflation of prices, as well as child labor has caused more people who simply don’t want to contribute to the diamond trade. The “Kimberly Process” (which jewelers like to mention) does little to conquer the terrifying and appalling human rights abuse in Africa–and diamonds are still the main result of horror in these countries. Unfortunately, the Kimberly Process is simply a public relations scheme designed to cause men and women to think the diamond cartel has shaped up when in reality they haven’t.

5. People Will Not Know It’s Not a Natural Diamond – There are a lot of ways in which to see if a diamond is real however most of these methods require viewing the gemstone with magnification or doing analytical testing with the loose stone. The better part of society will never be able to tell the difference between real and synthetic is if you have a Swarovski diamond-cut simulant placed in a very nice platinum or 14k gold setting. There is no way of them knowing if it isn’t a real diamond unless the person tells them.

Naturally, it is up to the man or woman to decide if they will buy a lab, man-made diamond or a mined diamond. However, being so close in appearance to a diamond there are a lot of people deciding to go the way of synthetics–not only for financial purposes but also because they are not needing to buy them for the same reasons as they used to.

Julia McKinnon has been an author and professional in the diamond industry for the past decade. As a former buyer for one of the largest diamond corporations in the world, she now teaches men and women about the various diamond alternatives on the market. Take the opportunity to read her intriguing insights on man made diamonds on her blog and website.