Diamonds may still be a girl”™s best friend, as Marilyn Monroe sang, but increasingly they are lab-grown rather than mined. With consumers worried about ethically sourced natural diamonds and celebrities like Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Lady Gaga sporting lab-made versions, the latter are growing in popularity. Not to mention that they tend to be 50% to 75% cheaper.
Liori Diamonds expert Avi Arandbaiev said, “As the consumer becomes more educated on the efficacy of the lab-grown diamond, it will continue to become a growing staple among consumers. The lab-grown trend is already thriving and will only continue to soar in our erratic and bleak economy.”
Arandbaiev added that larger engagement ring center stones will become the new norm because of the rise of the lab-grown diamond market. Currently, the average engagement ring in the U.S. hovers around 1.5 carats. But due to the accessibility and cost savings in the lab-grown market, Arandbaiev added, the average carat size for engagement rings in the U.S. will move past 2 and closer to 3 carats.
