TikTok · New York · The Guardian Technology
Diamonds for sale: lab-grown gem auctions are all over TikTok right now, but some aren’t happy about it
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The first time Andrea Greenhill came across a livestream auction for lab-grown diamonds while scrolling on TikTok, she was stunned.
Key facts
- The stone cost about $500 while the 14-karat gold band with white gold prongs cost about $1,100, she revealed in a TikTok video
- Typically, the diamonds are sold on their own at a price point of $100 to $200 a carat, offering consumers a lower barrier to entry than ever before to the diamond market
- For buyers in the market for a smaller lab-grown diamond, it’s not difficult to find one for $100 or less
- Isabella Stolberg, a 21-year-old wardrobe stylist, said that her whole family has gotten into watching the auctions
Summary
“I have two rings that are both natural diamonds and cost a fortune,” she said. For years, lab-grown diamonds did not have the same cultural cache as natural diamonds, even though the chemical composition of both are the same. Typically, the diamonds are sold on their own at a price point of $100 to $200 a carat, offering consumers a lower barrier to entry than ever before to the diamond market. “It was only the rich and high class who could afford diamonds, and now they’re accessible to anybody and everybody, and that’s exciting,” said Kenzie Cisneros, a jeweler and the owner of Diamond Hideout.