NEW YORK, Feb 13 — These two diamonds, which look identical, are anything but.

The one on the right came from a mine. The one on the left was grown in a laboratory.

Lisa Bissell, President and CEO of Pure Grown Diamonds, the company that makes the jewels, explains, “This is a technological breakthrough. After 70 years of research and development, we have cultivated diamonds in a laboratory that are optically, chemically and physically identical to mined diamonds. They’re indistinguishable even under a microscope and yet they’re very affordable.

Bissell says they’re not only beautiful, but they’re also new and noteworthy.

“This is the world’s largest pure grown diamond. It’s 3.04 carats, it’s I colour and it’s SI clarity, US$23,000 (RM82,490). This is an equivalent earth-mined diamond. It’s the same size of the laboratory grown diamond and it’s US$40,000, so that’s a significant savings.”

Seventy years in the making, the world’s largest lab-grown diamond is unveiled in New York City. — Reuters pic

The way it works is scientists create the same conditions in a lab that would make a diamond crystallize in nature.

The whole process takes between six and twelve weeks.

Not enough lead-time for this Valentine’s Day — but there’s always next year. — Reuters