Are diamonds still a girl’s best friend?
The natural diamond industry has battled controversies for decades. With an increase in climate anxiety and the growing popularity of lab diamonds, are the storied gemstones still a girl’s best friend, asks Marie Kelly.
From museum heists to celebrity engagements, diamonds are the topic of more water-cooler conversations right now than Claudia Winkleman’s Celebrity Traitors wardrobe. It’s a reminder of the power, prestige and romance that diamonds have represented for centuries; they were the original family heirlooms, before designer handbags, Himalayan cashmere and heritage silk scarves were marketed as modern legacy items.
“Every natural diamond is like a snowflake, completely unique,” says Lisa Levinson, head of marketing and communications at the Natural Diamond Council. “Diamonds will last longer than handbags and cashmere because they are a tough, hard, solid material. There is also such strong emotional value in a diamond,” explains the Stockholm native.
It’s true that diamonds are weighted with meaning and as brand storytelling goes, it’s hard to compete with the mystique of rocks formed deep within the Earth’s crust over billions of years, brought to the surface through volcanic eruptions and excavated in large-scale treasure hunts. “It’s very Indiana Jones,” remarks Levinson. But just like an Indiana Jones movie, there’s a darker side to the story.
Concerns about plundering, unethical work practices and the funding of terrorist conflicts have shrouded the industry for decades and while the Kimberley Process – an international certification scheme to prevent the trading of blood diamonds introduced in 2003 – means 99.8 percent of the world’s diamonds are certified and traceable, questions around the industry’s environmental legacy are being asked, especially by a younger generation plagued by climate anxiety.
Levinson believes the industry has been transformed in recent years, with most diamond mining companies following rigorous environmental guidelines. “The Responsible Jewellery Council was founded in 2005 and it’s had a huge impact on the industry,” she explains. “It ensures that if you’re operating in a region, you’re protecting the land. The diamond industry is now a leader in working with local communities on conservation projects.” She cites De Beers’ Moving Giants initiative as an example, an operation to move 200 elephants from an overpopulated game reserve in South Africa to an underpopulated part of Mozambique, where poaching has threatened their extinction.
Creating sustainable societal benefits is also an industry priority, she says. “It’s important that the diamonds recovered are used for the benefit of the communities in which they’re found. Eighty percent of rough diamond revenue remains in local communities through salaries, taxes and local purchases,” she reveals. In fact, this is what attracted Levinson to the industry in the first place. “When I was studying at the Harry Oppenheimer Diamond Training School in Johannesburg, an ANC politician walked me around the townships and explained why diamonds are so important to South Africa. He told me, ‘It’s on these natural resources that we’re building the future of our country’. I realised that day that diamonds are so much more than an item of beauty to the society in which they’re mined.”
For a generation concerned with planet-warming emissions, will certifications and community initiatives be enough to outshine the appeal of lab-grown alternatives – synthetic stones with the same chemical make-up as natural diamonds but created in a laboratory in a matter of months. They are graded using the four Cs – carat, cut, colour, clarity – just as mined diamonds are and they are generally deemed to be less damaging to the environment, although this depends on a laboratory’s specific production methods and energy sources. They are also significantly less expensive – a two carat lab diamond costs about €6,000 in comparison to €26,000 for a natural diamond of the same size. It’s not surprising then that the lab-grown variety has been rising in popularity since the 2010s and in 2021, Pandora, the world’s largest jewellery retailer, announced it was switching entirely to lab-made diamonds.
For a generation concerned with planet-warming emissions, will certifications and community initiatives be enough to outshine the appeal of lab-grown alternatives?
For Margaret O’Rourke of MoMuse and her director and general manager Richie Bergin, comparing natural diamonds with lab-grown is like comparing cashmere with merino wool. “Lab diamonds are fine in a 9ct setting,” says Richie. “It makes sense because they’re not a luxury product – you’ll see them on Dior handbags in a matter of months. They’re really just elevated costume jewellery.”
“We’re surrounded by jewellers here in Dublin 2,” adds O’Rourke, “Some have moved in the lab-grown direction and they’ve become a destination for that kind of customer, but our demographic is 30-plus and they’re looking for something alternative and unique with natural diamonds. Lab-grown never enters the conversation,” she says. In both their experience, the appeal of lab-grown diamonds is confined to Gen Z. “If you’re young and just starting out and you have to buy a house, a couch, a freezer etc, it makes sense to a lot of people to buy an engagement ring with a lab diamond,” says Bergin. “Visually it looks the same and it can be set in the same way, but those customers are less interested in luxury items.”
For goldsmith David McCaul, there’s nothing like a natural diamond. “It’s amazing that these stones come out of the ground and I find them fascinating as a material.” Having said that, he doesn’t want to work with diamonds that are coming from a mine that’s damaging the environment. “People are interested in provenance in everything they buy and I want to provide that.” For Bergin, reputation is incredibly important. “Every step we take, we want to maintain our reputation, so we ask questions,” he explains. “We only deal with Anglo-American mines managed by well-established, publicly-traded companies with social responsibility. We don’t have a huge supply chain either. For our fine diamonds, we deal with two individuals from a generational, family-owned business. No industry is perfect, but everybody is trying,” he says.
McCaul adds that when you’re creating something that’s a symbol of love, like an engagement ring, you don’t want any negativity attached to it. He occasionally gets asked for a lab-grown diamond, but he says it’s a small proportion of the business. “People come to us looking for something unusual, design-led and handcrafted. It’s not just about the rock. If you’re only interested in the biggest diamond you can afford, then lab-grown are great because they look the same and cost less. But that’s not our customer.”
He loves the circularity of natural diamonds. “I work with third and fourth generation diamonds all of the time,” he says. “They get passed down and I love to see the organic faceting on old diamonds, which were cut without the tools we use today.” Levinson agrees. “You won’t find a single natural diamond in a recycling station unless it’s there by mistake. It’s an inherently circular product. You buy it for life, for your children and your grandchildren.”
Paul Sheeran of the eponymous family-owned jewellery store in Dublin explains, “For us, it’s about quality and ensuring that our fine jewellery will stand the test of time and get passed down through the generations because that’s where the longevity in value lies. This is why we specialise in natural diamonds.” He adds that customers have become more educated on the subject and are embracing different types of natural stones, from Taylor Swift-inspired vintage diamonds to colourful gemstones.
Of course diamonds don’t have to be about investment, heirlooms and legacy, they can just be about fashion, style and fun. A couple of weeks ago, a jewellery store owner in the US revealed his €1.6 million, two-carat diamond prosthetic eye on Instagram. “People are using diamonds to express their personality,” says Levinson, adding, “It’s becoming increasingly common to see men buying jewellery for themselves, especially young men, and they’re wearing it with jeans and T-shirts. The casualisation of clothes we’ve seen in recent years is translating to diamonds and fine jewellery.” Sheeran has also noticed the trend away from saving jewellery for special occasions and he agrees that, “Men are absolutely more engaged now in the jewellery industry, with specific views on the types of wedding bands they’d like.”
In terms of engagement rings, Levinson says oval diamonds are the number one dream diamond for 18-25-year-olds, according to a consumer survey by the Natural Diamond Council last year. “And I can’t find an antique, elongated, old-mine cushion-cut diamond like Taylor Swift’s anywhere in London. They are sold out everywhere.” Women are now the biggest demographic of diamond purchasers and Sheeran says a rising number are buying diamonds for themselves. “There is a lot more independent female wealth out there and women have become braver with their purchases, choosing coloured stones and bigger pieces such as cocktail rings.” Diamonds are still a girl’s best friend then.
This article was originally published in The Sunday Times Ireland, November 2025