NATURAL VS LAB GROWN DIAMONDS

Mondial are proud to only offer their clientele the finest quality, ethically sourced natural diamonds, guaranteed for their authenticity and hand selected for their beauty by trained diamond professionals.

We celebrate the exceptional rarity and natural beauty of real diamonds. A genuine diamond stands apart, exuding luxury and representing an unparalleled level of commitment. Among all gemstones, natural diamonds have emerged as the definitive symbol of love, embodying pure, everlasting, and timeless devotion. Since opening our Strand Arcade boutique, we have established strong partnerships with suppliers and manufacturers who strictly adhere to the Best Practice Principle (BPP).

This means that all diamonds we source go through a thorough verification process to ensure full ethical practices are followed throughout the entire diamond pipeline. We address important social, employment, business, health and safety, as well as environmental issues. Additionally, we are proud to work with suppliers and manufacturers who are members of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC).

The RJC is a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting responsible ethical, social, and environmental practices that respect human rights within the Diamond, Gold, and Platinum Group Metals Jewellery supply chain. This ensures that our diamonds not only meet high standards of quality but also address important factors such as human rights, labour rights, environmental impact, mining practices, and product disclosure.

When it comes to natural diamonds, their desirability goes beyond their physical properties. They hold a special place as the ultimate symbol of love—pure, enduring, and timeless. A diamond is the ultimate gift of commitment.

Unlike a natural diamond which is formed by chance in the earth under ancient layers of stone and rock and brought to the surface by natural forces of volcanoes and erosion, man-made diamonds are mass produced in an industrial environment, made at will and are neither rare nor precious. As the manufacturing methods are made more efficient and the capability to produce large quantities of the man-made material is harnessed, the cost of production will fall rendering these stones of little value in the near future. Natural diamonds are recovered from their birthplace in the natural environment in a small number of minute areas globally. The number of natural diamonds bought to market depends entirely on the discovery of a natural source that can be efficiently recovered. There is a limit to the supply dictated by nature that has not seen any new deposits identified in the past 50 years. Once a new source of natural diamond is identified it will take approximately 20 years to bring a new deposit online for recovery.

Inaccurately, synthetic stones have been marketed as a ‘green’ alternative to natural diamonds with false claims regarding the lower environmental impact of synthetic diamond production. It is important to clarify that synthetic diamond production consumes massive amounts of electricity to create the required manufacturing conditions. The by-product of the manufacturing process is non degradable industrial waste that cannot be effectively disposed of. Synthetic diamond production generates 3 times the environmental impact of the process of recovering natural diamonds from their source.

Synthetic diamonds have been misleadingly promoted as an affordable alternative to natural diamonds that are more accessible. Initially synthetic diamond offerings have been priced at a nominal value of roughly 70% of the natural diamond equivalent.

It is important to understand that this price has no true basis and is not indicative of the cost of production. It is a price commanded by the company producing the stone and in no way reflects its actual worth. Over the past 12 months, market forces including the entry of De Beers into the synthetic diamond market, have seen a significant downward correction of the cost and value in a move to correctly reflect the mass-produced nature of synthetic stones. De Beers has sought to set an industry standard price of USD $800 per carat for all synthetic diamonds, reflecting their mass manufactured origin that should not in any way be linked to the value of natural diamonds. As a result, many synthetic diamonds purchased as little as 2 years ago are now worth significantly less than the price they were bought for. This downward trend is likely to continue as the amount of material produced increases in the marketplace.

For this reason, synthetic diamonds should not be purchased as a future store of wealth but rather in the same way as other diamond simulants.

Traditional recovery of natural diamonds from their source has often been in remote areas inhabited by indigenous communities. The international diamond industry has sought to ensure that mining activities are strictly governed by responsible, and sensitive best practice minimising the impact on the natural environment and the local communities living in the location. Modern diamond mining mandates a social responsibility to remediate the natural environment and to invest in the local communities it touches by developing infrastructure such as hospitals, transport and housing. Many communities in areas of diamond mining have been significantly enriched through the investment of the diamond industry. In contrast, the synthetic diamond industry makes no restitution for the impact of the resource intensive manufacturing process. There is no investment made in the social or environmental wellbeing of manufacturing locations. Synthetic diamonds are produced by industry for profit maximisation and commercial benefit alone.

Synthetic diamonds may have the same chemical structure as their natural counterpart and to the eye may appear as a natural diamond offering the same physically attractive play of light however it is important to remember that only a diamond of natural origin is real, rare and sought after. Like a reproduction of a rare artwork, replica watch or handbag, the mass-produced copy may look the same but will never hold the same value or luxury as the real authentic item.