Million Air Summer 2024

elite traveler SUMMER 2024 91

Cartier Le Voyage Recommencé High Jewelry necklace, 18-karat white gold, natural diamonds and two cabochon-cut rubies. Price on request, available by appointment only at select Cartier boutiques, cartier.com

Louis Vuitton Deep Time Origin high jewelry bracelet in 18-karat white gold with natural diamonds. The concept of Deep Time Origin re fl ects the

idea of spiraling towards in fi nity. Price on request, louisvuitton.com

Lightbox tennis bracelet set with .25 carats of Lightbox lab-grown diamonds

DOLLARS AND CENTS Because of the pricing structure, someone who could not a ff orda natural diamond engagement ring may well be able to purchase a lab-grown diamond. At Lightbox, a one-carat lab-grown diamond (as of press time) is approximately $800 a carat. “And it’s linear pricing in lab-grown diamonds,” said Borde. “So, you would pay $1,600 for a two-carat stone, and so on.” The same one-carat natural stone would cost about $5,000 to $6,000, and the pricing is not linear. “With natural diamonds, larger stones are much rarer and therefore more expensive per carat. The cost of a two-carat stone, for instance, has nothing to do with the cost of a one-carat diamond,” said NDC’s Kellie. Additionally, a natural diamond may hold its value and could increase in value, especially once there are no more to be mined. Of course, just like a new car, a natural diamond can lose 10% or slightly more of its value once it walks out the door. Currently, a lab-grown diamond — because of the massive amounts being produced — generally loses its resale value almost immediately, dropping by 30 to 40%, according to experts. The most common use these days for lab-grown diamonds, because of their a ff ordability, is in high-end fashion jewelry that marks a great alternative for travelers who may not want to bring their ‘good’ diamonds on vacation with them. “Chemically and optically, a lab-grown diamond is a diamond, so it is good for a fi rst-time purchase. But it’s not sexy since it’s being stamped out in a factory,” said Jennifer Heebner, a veteran journalist in the jewelry industry. “But it is great for travel jewelry. A person can buy a lab-grown diamond necklace or bracelet and it looks exactly like the real thing, and they don’t have to worry about traveling with their more expensive natural diamonds.” Additionally, Lightbox’s Borde said that because of the price accessibility, “consumers can now stack jewelry products such as rings and bracelets without spending too much money.” AND CENTS

Lightbox preparing tiny lab-grown diamond seeds to be placed into a plasma reactor for CVD synthesis

Photos Lightbox