How Lab-Grown Gems Contribute to Environmental Preservation

If you’ve made it this far, you probably know that gemstone and metal mining is detrimental to the environment - and that lab-grown alternatives are paving the way for more sustainably sound jewellery. Now, lab-grown gemstones go beyond diamonds and venture into the world of moissanite and even sapphire gemstones. But exactly how are lab-grown diamonds better for the environment? Keep reading to find out.

What are gemstones?

Other than diamonds, there is a whole range of gemstones suitable for making a show-stopping engagement ring. From rubies to emeralds to sapphires – there is something for every style and aesthetic. While on the Mohs scale (measuring gemstone hardness) mined diamonds and lab-grown diamonds measure at a 10, these other gemstones aren’t far behind. Sapphires and rubies measure at a 9 while emeralds measure at 7.5-8 – making them all durable gemstones to include in your engagement ring. Unfortunately, much like mined diamonds, gemstones also come with their own ethical and environmental baggage . Luckily, our range of sapphire, moissanite and lab-grown diamond engagement rings will do the job – and make sure you can have a clear conscience about your purchase.

Are lab grown gems ethical?

The short answer is yes , but allow us to elaborate. Taking sapphire engagement rings as an example, though the same can be said for most if not all mined gemstones.Mined sapphires are formed deep in the earth, similar to mined diamonds. When we say deep, we’re talking 100 feet in the ground deep. Digging this deep requires heavy machinery, masses of fuel and a significant amount of human labour which isn’t always by choice.

Though many mined-gemstone jewellers and mining companies might claim to off-set their emissions, much of the land where mining takes place is no longer suitable for living close to due to air and water pollution from the emissions. This leads local communities (many of which already live in poverty) to be forced off their land and out of their ancestral homes. The activity of mining doesn’t guarantee that any gemstones are found in the land, meaning all of this might even be for no benefit.

Lab-grown gemstones on the other hand, don’t require any of this. Not only are lab-grown gemstones chemically and visually identical to their mined alternative, they also don’t require any physical mining or disruption to the environment – due to the growing all being done in controlled lab-like conditions.

Are lab-grown gemstones real?

Not only are lab-grown alternatives to diamonds and sapphires physically identical, they are chemically identical too. This is due to the lab-grown process being able to closely replicate the growth process of mined-gemstones. In fact, experts can only tell the difference between mined and lab-grown gemstones with special tools that tell us the chemical source of a gemstone. This, paired with the unrivalled price of lab-grown gemstones, means you can get the ring of your dreams without compromising your ethics.

The Cullen Jewellery way

We take extra precautions to ensure our jewellery is as ethical and environmentally friendly as possible. Not only are our gemstones all lab-grown, our lab grown diamonds are even carbon neutral!. We also detail in our Impact Report that all participants of our supply chain must adhere to our rules about child labour and safe working conditions, and we have regular audits to ensure these are being kept to. Basically, we do all the leg work in making your engagement ring as good to the world as possible.

If buying a lab-grown diamond or sapphire engagement ring seems like a no-brainer – feel free to get in touch with us here to discuss the piece of your dreams.