[Lab-grown (left) and natural diamond (right)]
[Page Neal and jewelry at her store]
Page Neal (interview): “It’s something that we use and have been using to represent sort of our identities, our power, our, like, very significant life moments. And that’s initially what attracted me to jewellery because it it’s so rich, and all that it can represent. But when we’re using materials that have caused harm to other people and the environment to create a symbol of love and commitment or identity, to me it feels at odds, you know, and we’ve, we’ve, taken the privilege of making jewellery for other people very seriously. And we want, to only work with materials that we feel like our clients would be proud to own.”
[Diamonds in cases, in recycled and lab grown cases]
[Lab-grown diamond]
[Ulrika D’Haenens-Johansson performing test that uses ultraviolet light to determine whether diamond is positively natural or “referred” for further testing]
[Natural (right) and lab-made diamond (left) side by side]
Ulrika D’Haenens-Johansson (interview): “In the past, poor quality laboratory grown diamonds, you could actually identify by eye. They would have clear heterogeneous distribution of colour, for instance. You can see these growth structures by eye. Or you would have pieces of metal that got stuck in from the growth process, the artificial growth process. But nowadays, obviously, because demand is for higher colour and lower impurity contents for the stones, you’re not going to have these inclusions. And that means that by eye, unfortunately, because they’re chemically the same materials as natural stones, they’re imperceptible. You can’t see whether they’re lab-grown or natural.”
[GIA gemologist inspecting diamond under microscope]
[Lab-grown diamond in liquid nitrogen]
[Lab-grown diamond being placed under laser microscope]
[Lab-grown diamond girdle being inscribed]
Paul Zimnisky (interview): “I mean, there are some man-made diamonds that are produced with hydro, energy or solar energy. And then you have some that are produced, you know, with grid power that’s being fed by coal. And then you have some, you know, some natural diamond production operations that are, you know, very efficient and, you know, very thoughtfully run, you know, from an environmental impact standpoint. So, there’s a lot of variation. So I think to just say that, you know, man-made diamonds are the eco-friendly alternative is too simple of a narrative. It’s much more nuanced than that.”
[Neal looking at her sustainability report]
Page Neal (interview): “For customers who want to buy a lab grown diamond, with the idea that it’s the most sustainable choice, I would suggest that they really research where the lab grown diamonds are coming from. Most lab grown diamonds on the market are produced overseas, with a really high environmental footprint due to, like, the energy that sourcing them, are sourced to make them. Our lab grown diamonds are sustainably certified, are carbon neutral through an offset program, or the type of energy that, is being used to make them. I would also suggest that customers really research the type of metal that is going on the rings. We use either 100% recycled metal or fair-mined gold, and we also make all of our jewellery in our Philadelphia workshop. I think that’s a piece that often gets ignored is how the jewellery is made and where it’s made.”
[Jewelry on display]
[Lab-grown diamond (left) and natural diamond (right)]
[Exterior of Bario Neal jewelry shop]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.