Are Lab-Grown Diamonds a Good Investment?

The money question

Short answer, and an honest one: no, a lab-grown diamond is not an investment. But neither is a mined one. The good news is that this is not the point - and understanding why makes you a smarter buyer.

Why no diamond is an investment

An investment is an asset you can resell easily, at a known price, on a liquid market. A diamond ticks none of those boxes. There is no diamond exchange for consumers; at resale, you are offered a fraction of what you paid, because the buyer has to make a margin too. This is true of mined and lab-grown alike. What you buy is jewellery - not a share in a fund.

What about the gold content?

Some reassure themselves: "at least the gold holds value." True for a bar, far less for jewellery. In a 14k gold piece, the gold is only part of the price; the rest pays for the stone, the labour, and the design. Melting a piece to recover its gold means losing everything that made it jewellery. That is not a strategy, it is a last resort.

Diamond, gold, real investment: the comparison

The real return: cost per wear

Here is the right way to judge jewellery. A $700 pair of studs worn almost every day for ten years works out to a few cents a day. By that measure, a beautiful lab-grown piece is one of the most "rewarding" purchases there is - not because it appreciates, but because it gives back, every day, in wear and pleasure.

If you genuinely want an asset

Then buy an asset: physical gold, an index fund, whatever suits you. And buy the diamond for what it is - a piece to wear and love. Mixing the two logics always ends in overpaying for a poor investment. Keep them separate, and each dollar does the job it was meant for.

Judged by cost-per-wearA few cents a day, worn for years.The Dewdrop Stud$870.00 View →

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