Diamond Wars - Why the Jewellery Industry Has Been Asking the Wrong Question
By David Law, Hatton Garden Master Jeweller
In 2022, the Netflix documentary Nothing Lasts Forever ignited one of the biggest debates the diamond industry has ever faced.
At the centre of it was Martin Rapaport, Chairman of the Rapaport Group, who argued passionately that lab-grown diamonds threatened the very foundations of the natural diamond industry. His most memorable argument was that an engagement ring should represent genuine financial value rather than what he described as a cheaper alternative.
Whether you agreed with him or not, the documentary forced the jewellery industry to confront a question it had avoided for years.
Are lab-grown diamonds changing the future of jewellery?
Three years later, I believe we finally know the answer. But perhaps not the one anyone expected.
A Battle That Changed the Jewellery Industry
For decades, natural diamonds occupied an almost unchallenged position.
Then laboratory-grown diamonds arrived.They were chemically, physically and optically diamonds, but manufactured rather than formed beneath the earth over billions of years.
Consumers suddenly had a choice. One stone carried rarity and geological history. The other offered significantly greater size, colour and clarity for a smaller budget.
The debate quickly became polarised.
Natural versus lab-grown.
Emotion versus value.
Tradition versus technology.
The Market Has Spoken
Regardless of anyone's personal opinion, consumer behaviour has changed dramatically.
Lab-grown diamond engagement rings now account for a substantial proportion of engagement ring sales in both the UK and the United States.
At the same time, natural diamond prices have fallen considerably across many of the most popular engagement ring sizes.
As an independent bespoke jeweller, I now regularly source natural diamonds at prices that simply weren't possible a few years ago.
Ironically, this means bespoke jewellery has become even more competitive against many of the large online retailers.
Then GIA Changed Everything
One development has received surprisingly little attention outside the jewellery trade.
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA)—long regarded as the benchmark for natural diamond grading—recently changed the way it reports on lab-grown diamonds.
Rather than using the familiar colour and clarity grading system developed for natural diamonds, GIA now uses broader classifications.
According to GIA, more than 95% of laboratory-grown diamonds submitted fall within such a narrow quality range that the traditional grading scale is no longer the most meaningful way to describe them.
It is a significant shift.
Not because lab-grown diamonds have changed.But because the world's most respected grading laboratory has decided they should no longer be described in exactly the same way as natural diamonds.
Meanwhile, HRD Walked Away
Another major laboratory, HRD Antwerp, has taken an even more decisive step by withdrawing from grading loose lab-grown diamonds altogether. That leaves the industry in an interesting position.
Why I Choose IGI
Today, every lab-grown diamond I supply is independently certified by IGI (International Gemological Institute), established in 1978.
Why?
Because IGI continues to provide detailed grading using the internationally recognised 4Cs:
- Cut
- Colour
- Clarity
- Carat Weight
For my clients, this provides familiarity, transparency and confidence when comparing diamonds.
Natural diamonds supplied through my business continue to be sourced with internationally respected certification, most commonly from GIA.
I believe clients deserve clear, independent information regardless of which type of diamond they choose.
In others, the jewellery may hold greater value as inspiration rather than as a finished design. Many heirloom pieces were created decades ago, when styles, manufacturing techniques, and lifestyles were very different from those of today.
A thoughtful redesign often allows the sentimental value to remain while creating something far more wearable.
So, Who Is Right?
That's probably the wrong question.
GIA isn't wrong.
IGI isn't wrong.
HRD isn't wrong.
Each organisation has simply taken a different view of how laboratory-grown diamonds should be assessed.
The real question is whether consumers actually benefit from understanding those differences.In my experience, they do.
After Forty Years, Here's What I've Learned
I've spent more than four decades helping people commission engagement rings and bespoke jewellery.
During that time, I've watched enormous changes in the jewellery industry. Mass production and cheap China Imports.
Computer-aided design and 3D printing.
Lab-grown diamonds.
Online retailers and artificial intelligence.
Yet one thing has remained remarkably consistent. Almost nobody walks into my studio asking about certification first.
They ask:
"Will it look how I've imagined?"
Can I compare different diamonds?"
"Can I make changes?"
How do I know I'll love it before it's made?"
Those are the questions that really matter.
The Real Winner Hasn't Been Natural or Lab-Grown Diamonds
It Has Been Bespoke Jewellery.
While much of the industry has spent years arguing over diamonds, bespoke jewellery has quietly undergone its own revolution.
Today, my clients can:
- Compare carefully selected natural and lab-grown diamonds side by side.
- View multiple design concepts.
- Experience realistic 3D visualisations.
- Wear accurate wax jewellery models before manufacture.
- Refine every detail before a single gram of precious metal is cast.
- Traditional Hatton Garden Craftsmanship
That level of confidence simply didn’t exist a generation ago.
Technology hasn’t replaced craftsmanship.
It has enhanced it.
The result is jewellery that is more personal, more accurate and more collaborative than ever before.
So Has the Diamond War Been Worth It?
Perhaps. Consumers now have greater choice than ever before.
Natural diamonds remain extraordinary.
Lab-grown diamonds have opened entirely new possibilities.
Both have a place. But after watching the industry debate these two products for years, I can't help feeling we've all been looking in the wrong direction.
The most important change wasn't the arrival of lab-grown diamonds. It was the transformation from mass-produced, cheap imports back to handcrafted bespoke jewellery.
My Personal View
Whether an engagement ring contains a natural diamond, a lab-grown diamond, a coloured gemstone, or a treasured family stone is ultimately a personal decision.
What gives your ring its real value isn't the certificate. It isn't the resale price. And it certainly isn't which side of the diamond debate you happen to support.
Its value comes from the thought behind it. The time invested in creating it and the conversations that shaped it. The confidence of knowing it was designed specifically for one person. An engagement ring or any piece of jewellery is not an investment in a commodity. It is an investment in a future together.
That, in my opinion, is something no laboratory can ever certify.
If you would like guidance on which diamond is right for you
