July 2020 - Lab Grown Magazine

July 2020 | LG | The Lab Grown Diamond Resource Book 16 To advertise call (888) 832-1109 | July 2020 17 Mikimoto cultured pearl designs since 2016, so it is not inconceivable that a magnificent lab- grown colored diamond set in an equally mag- nificent jewelry design could also find itself on the auction block. Rose-Colored Glasses As businesses continue to reopen in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we should take off our rose-colored glasses (yet, keep the face masks on) and look to other industries that sell alternative products. Today, countless consumers consume many man-made commodities with greater excite- ment than their natural counterparts. As one example, do you enjoy hamburger? No need to kill cattle anymore or cause environmental de- struction. Just look at companies such as Be- yond Meat and Impossible Burger. Their burg- ers and sausages look, smell, and taste just like the meat variety and are very popular even at a higher price. Do you want sun-kissed skin, but don’t have time for the beach? No worries, a few 20-minute sessions at a tanning salon gives you a created tan. Gifting flowers to someone special? Those stunning roses weren’t plucked from a rose gar- den, they were probably GMO-manufactured in a controlled green house. The point is, if you improve the service, qual- ity, variety, and benefits of something natural by making it yourself, it is clear that people may actually pay more for the created version. Want to own a junior-sized, but genuine col- ored diamond of the natural variety selling for millions? If you can afford a few thousand, the look is yours, or yours to give. Either way, you’ll feel like a million dollars. Join the Club Since you’re reading this story, you have a vested interest in LGDs or about to take the plunge. Either way, a question looms—a ques- tion most can’t answer. There are two LG non-profit organizations active today. They exist to assist the lab-grown community (trade and consumer) with a focus on the trade. Here’s the question: Can you name one of the two LG non-profit associations or groups created to support you? Try the same question on the non-profit mined-diamond side. Can you name any one of over a dozen global groups created to sup- port mined diamonds? There is an abundance of global mined-diamond groups, each with ► The innovative Made by Man Diamonds factory in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo: MBM) A Chatham LG pink diamond in the rough displaying trigons (small “v” shapes). Trigons were formerly used as evidence that a diamond was natural. This is no longer the case; technology is so closely aligned with natural diamond formation that even trigons have appeared. (Photo: Chatham)