A diamond purchase in Egypt is rarely just a purchase. It is an engagement milestone, a family keepsake in the making, and, for many households, one of the biggest lifestyle splurges of the year. As a result, lab-grown diamonds are prompting a more practical question as they appear more often on local jewellers’ websites: are they a smart way to get the look of a larger stone for less, or a trend that does not translate well to long-term value? Lab-grown diamonds are diamonds made in a laboratory rather than mined from the earth. They are not imitation stones such as cubic zirconia. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) says synthetic, laboratory-grown diamonds “have essentially the same chemical composition, crystal structure and physical properties as natural diamonds,” meaning the difference is origin, not what the stone is. In consumer terms, lab-grown diamonds are typically produced using two methods. One production technique is through high pressure, high temperature, which replicates the extreme conditions under which diamonds form in nature. The other is through chemical vapour deposition, which grows diamond material in a controlled chamber from carbon-containing gas. Lab-grown diamonds are “man-made,…
