EXACTING STANDARDS
AMAZING OPTIONS
LAB-GROWN
COMING OF AGE diamonds
YOUR
THE DELIBERATE ART OF PAIRING STONES TO PERFECTION
PERFECT
MATCH
Centuries ago, when alchemists dreamed of transforming lead into gold, there were also those who tried tirelessly to convert common coal into diamond. While the former can only be done at a steep cost, creating lab-grown diamonds has become a fairly refined process that is comparatively affordable. Starting in the late 1700s, scientists tried unsuccessfully to create diamonds in the lab. That changed nearly two centuries later, with the work conducted by H. Tracy Hall, a chemist working on General Electric’s Project Superpressure. After several failed attempts, he succeeded in 1954, creating the first man-made diamond. Interestingly, in those days, lab-grown diamonds cost twice as much as mined diamonds. Today, lab-grown diamonds (LGD) have come of age. A surge of LGD manufacturers and jewelry designers are now creating collections featuring not only colorless gems but also a variety of colored diamonds at affordable prices. Star power has helped to get the LGD message out. Celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio have endorsed them. This is seen by many as a reason to believe that the mined (natural) diamond sector can happily co- exist with the LGD sector, perhaps with each staking out its own territory. Proponents cite two major advantages of lab- grown diamonds: they are priced lower than natural diamonds; and there are claims that they are more eco-friendly than mined diamonds. There is also an argument that LGDs are conflict-free. Whatever the reason for purchasing them, one thing is clear: lab- grown diamonds offer the same characteristics and beauty as mined diamonds. They have indeed come of age.
Colored stones are harder. Pairing two sapphires so their fire matches, or building out a run of tourmalines that shifts in one smooth gradient, takes rare sourcing and an eye that’s spent years learning what to look for. Finding one good stone isn’t hard. Finding several that are nearly identical to each other is the harder job, and it only gets harder as the piece gets bigger. A larger set means a longer search, but it also means a better result. When the matching is done right, the piece reads as one continuous design instead of a handful of stones strung together. Each one supports the next, and the overall effect ends up more refined than any single stone could manage on its own. That’s the standard that makes a piece worth keeping. A matched suite isn’t just rare; it’s the product of real craftsmanship: dozens of stones brought into
Photo by Nina Bashaw Photography
Real excellence in fine jewelry comes from more than one beautiful stone. It comes from how well every stone in a piece works with the others, something most buyers don’t think to look for until they see it done well. Picture a pair of diamond studs that mirror each other almost exactly or a tennis bracelet where every diamond matches the one beside it or a strand of pearls that holds the same warm color from end to end. None of that happens on its own. It takes a long, deliberate process of matching, stone by stone. To put together a properly matched set, our gemologists and designers go through dozens of stones looking for ones that share the same saturation, the same cut, the same way of catching light. Pearls get the same treatment, each one picked for its surface and for a tone that sits well next to its neighbor.
close enough agreement that they stop looking like a group and start looking like one connected piece. That’s the kind of detail that turns jewelry into something people hold on to and pass down.
Scan to Discover More
Scan to Shop
10 • KIEFER JEWELERS MAGAZINE
11 • KIEFER JEWELERS MAGAZINE
Powered by FlippingBook