Lab-grown diamonds are taking over — and big gem is sweating.
Brides-to-be are snapping up bigger, cheaper, jaw-dropping lab-grown rocks, and the once-untouchable natural diamond market is feeling the heat.
Prices are being slashed, traditions are being challenged, and the engagement-ring game is getting a serious remix.
Even De Beers, the industry’s longtime gatekeeper of engagement-ring prestige, is blinking, quietly cutting prices on natural stones as demand slumps and lab-grown gems chew into its bridal stronghold.
Translation? The sparkle monopoly is sweating. And brides like Lisa Materna are proof of why.
“I have a lab-grown engagement ring and am obsessed with it,” Materna, a 34-year-old PR manager from Phoenix, Arizona, told The Post.
Her now-husband, Jakob Materna, proposed in May 2023 with a nearly 2-carat emerald-cut lab-grown diamond set high on a white gold band — an $8,000 ring purchased from an Arizona jeweler so eye-catching it regularly stops strangers in their tracks.
When Materna’s hubby shopped mined stones, similar rings of that carat size were priced at roughly $17,000 to $18,000.
“The cost was a driving factor,” Materna said of her beau’s decision to purchase a lab-grown diamond ring over a natural one.
“He knew I wanted a larger diamond. He couldn’t afford a 2-carat natural one. He was able to get the size and look I wanted at a fraction of the cost.”
Far from hiding it, Materna says she’s open about the ring’s lab-grown origins — and feels zero shame.
“I don’t feel any stigma,” she said. “I don’t normally share unless someone asks. But it’s not for the sake of keeping it a secret — people really can’t tell the difference.”
Her wedding band followed suit: a white gold lab-grown ring with horizontal marquise diamonds.
The money saved, she said, went where it mattered more — not into the marketing myth of mined stones, but into building a life.
“You really can’t tell the difference, plus the money saved on the ring can be used for the wedding, or, even better, a house,” Materna said.
Mrs. Materna, who wed in September 2025, had a message for skeptics who won’t accept anything but natural diamonds: “If that’s all that matters to you, then maybe you’re getting married for the wrong reasons.”
Another bride proudly bucking the mined-diamond status quo is Michelle Bernstein, 33, an animal behaviorist and born-and-raised New Yorker from The Bronx — whose lab-grown sparkler has become a full-on conversation starter.
Her fiancé, Jamie Evan Bichelman, 35, proposed in Central Park in October 2023, popping the question in front of Cherry Hill Fountain — a nod to Bernstein’s favorite show, “Friends” — after commissioning a Gotham–based jeweler to craft a lab-grown ring that checked every box.
The roughly $5,000 ring from Union Square’s Taylor & Hart delivered the exact look Bernstein wanted — without the sticker shock of a mined stone.
And for the couple, choosing lab-grown wasn’t about following a trend, but staying true to their values.
The 1.75-carat diamond would have cost “three to four times more if mined,” Bichelman said, noting that Taylor & Hart’s customer service experts — along with other jewelers they consulted — confirmed the price gap.
“We wanted to find something that was comfortable for us, and most aligned with our ethics,” Bichelman told The Post.
“It is reaffirming that we are on the right side of history and that we made a thoughtful, Earth-friendly choice.”
Bernstein, like Materna, said she saw little reason “to pay more for a natural diamond” when the lab-grown version they went with was visually indistinguishable.
“People always stop me and say that my diamond ring is so beautiful,” she said. “No one ever asks me if it’s lab-grown, but I’m still always proud to say that it is.”
But for many couples, the shift isn’t about rejecting diamonds altogether — it’s about getting more sparkle for their money.
Once a niche product, lab-grown diamonds are now sold widely by major U.S. jewelers rather than specialty boutiques alone.
Online and New York City-based retailers such as Brilliant Earth, Blue Nile and James Allen — all major players in the engagement ring market — now list lab-grown stones alongside mined diamonds, where they often cost 30% to 70% less than mined diamonds of the same size and cut.
In California, couples have similar access to both lab-grown and natural diamonds at major jewelers across Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
Local favorites include Capri Jewelry in the Los Angeles Jewelry District, Grown Brilliance on Melrose Place, and JK Diamond Co. in Santa Monica, all of which offer a wide selection of certified lab-grown stones alongside mined diamonds.
The global lab-grown diamond market was valued at more than $22 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow significantly over the next decade, with some forecasts estimating the market could reach roughly $56.9 billion by 2032.
Lab-grown diamonds have become especially appealing to budget-conscious couples, allowing them to upgrade to larger stones, custom settings, or matching bands that would have been out of reach with mined diamonds.
The stones now account for a meaningful share of the market, reflecting rapid growth in consumer demand beyond niche jewelers.
Meanwhile, the mined diamond industry has faced slowing demand and pricing pressure: natural diamond prices have softened since their 2022 peak, prompting major producers, including De Beers, to cut prices amid rising competition and inventory buildup.
Analysts say the rise of lab-grown diamonds — visually identical but significantly cheaper — has accelerated this shift.
Lab-grown diamonds typically sell at a steep discount compared with mined stones of similar size and quality.
Depending on the cut and carat weight, lab-grown diamonds can cost 70% to 90% less than natural diamonds, according to industry pricing comparisons.
A multi-carat lab-grown stone can cost just a few thousand dollars, while a mined equivalent may sell for tens of thousands.
Mara Opperman, 45, co-founder of Louped (formerly I Do Now I Don’t), a Diamond District–based marketplace for secondhand engagement rings, says today’s brides aren’t rejecting tradition so much as rewriting it.
Opperman, who wears a more than 3-carat secondhand natural diamond that her husband reset into a custom setting, says lab-grown stones haven’t cheapened the meaning of engagement rings.
However, Opperman stressed that lab-grown diamonds “don’t hold resale value the way natural stones do” — a tradeoff some couples accept in exchange for size, affordability, or ethics.
Many brides, like Opperman herself, are “gravitating toward secondhand natural diamonds,” drawn to their longevity and smaller environmental footprint — not unlike Gen Z thrifting vintage real fur that’s already existed for decades instead of letting it end up in a landfill.
Opperman prefers secondhand natural gems, as they “come with a past, they’ve stood the test of time, and still hold up their value — both emotionally and financially.”
Unlike brand-new mined diamonds, they didn’t require “new mining or a new footprint.”
Rachelle Bergstein, author of “Brilliance and Fire: A Biography of Diamonds,” says the industry’s current identity crisis has been decades in the making — and De Beers has been scrambling to control the story ever since lab-grown stones crashed the party.
Mined diamonds, Bergstein noted, still trade heavily on prestige — their finite supply, perceived long-term value and the “romance of a stone that formed billions of years ago deep inside the Earth.”
But that same origin story is a turnoff for others, particularly younger buyers raised on blood-diamond exposés and environmental concerns.
“Real diamonds do have a little bit of a bad rap,” Bergstein said, pointing to the 1990s conflict-diamond scandals and the lasting impact of Leonardo DiCaprio’s 2006 blockbuster “Blood Diamond.”
That tension has fueled the rise of lab-grown stones, which Bergstein called “arguably more sustainable,” even as the industry pushes back.
Lab-grown diamonds first entered the commercial jewelry market in the early 2000s, Bergstein noted, but became competitive with mined diamonds in the 2010s as manufacturing technology improved.
As prices declined and consumer awareness increased, lab-grown stones captured a growing share of the U.S. engagement ring market.
Some industry estimates suggest lab-grown diamonds now account for a substantial portion of new engagement ring center stones, a sharp rise from just a few percent a decade ago.
Groups like the Natural Diamond Council have stepped in to revive the old-school diamond dream — a playbook De Beers wrote in the 1940s when it controlled up to 90% of the world’s diamonds.
Still, celebrities continue to prop up the mined-diamond fantasy. Red carpets remain flooded with legacy jewelers like Bulgari and Chopard, and Bergstein pointed to Taylor Swift’s recent engagement — sealed with a massive antique-cut natural diamond — as proof the prestige pull isn’t gone.
At the same time, everyday couples are making colder calculations.
“This is a tough economic time for many people,” Bergstein said. “It makes sense for some to spend less on a ring and save up for a house.”
Her verdict? Lab-grown diamonds aren’t a fad — they’re a “parallel lane.”
“Lab-grown diamonds are here to stay,” she said. “You’ll still have celebrities chasing the prestige of mined diamonds, and regular people at the same time saying, ‘I still want a diamond — just something more affordable.’”
Blue Nile has a lovely selection of rings, starting with this 14k yellow gold solitaire with a classic design that allows the stone to take center stage.
It serves as a beautiful foundation that you can easily glow up later by pairing it with a lavish diamond-encrusted anniversary band to celebrate your growing journey together.
This California-based dealer is one of our top choices for popping the question. She will be in awe of this three-stone lab-grown diamond with its brilliant cut available in multiple styles and four metals.
If 2 carats isn’t large enough because she might say no based on the size, this ring is available in sizes up to 9 carats. And dare we say, it makes. lovely anniversary gift!
If you’re leaning toward a more traditional expert, James Allen is a total pro who mastered the engagement game long before lab-grown diamonds were a valued choice. They’ve since evolved into a super modern destination, offering trend-forward styles that keep you ahead of the curve.
Much like the trendy Emily Ratajkowski engagement ring, the Toi et Moi ring is a stunner that obviously she’ll want for the obvious two-for-one reason, but also for the lovely symbolism it represents: you’re better together.
She eventually reimagined it into rings after her split for a me-time ring, so just know, however this love grows, it’ll be appreciated.
