Lab-grown diamonds come with sparkling price tags, but many have cloudy sustainability claims

By ISABELLA O’MALLEY
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Lab-created diamonds come with sparkling claims: that they are ethically made by machines running on renewable energy. But many don’t live up to these claims or don’t respond to questions about their electricity sources, and lab diamonds require a lot of electricity. They are chemically the same as diamonds found in the ground, but cost a fraction of the price, which appeals to younger people facing high costs of living. Proponents of mined diamonds counter the marketing campaigns, saying natural diamonds hold their value better for longer and are more rare, thus more special.