Are lab-grown diamonds as sustainable as advertised? WHIO TV 7 and WHIO Radio [Video]

NEW YORK — The natural diamond industry has been fueled by a glittering marketing strategy for decades, but is the sustainability of modern, lab-grown diamonds as clear-cut as consumers believe?

Since De Beers Group’s 1940s “a diamond is forever” advertising campaign, dubbed by Advertising Age as the “slogan of the 20th century” in 1999, the natural diamond industry exploded into a multi-billion-dollar industry and cemented itself into modern culture.

“Diamonds are very ingrained in our culture,” Paul Zimnisky, a leading diamond industry analyst, told ABC News. “I think, as humans, we just desire these rare, precious gemstones and metals. It’s not practical, but it makes us feel good.”

In 2022, the global natural diamond market was valued at $100.4 billion and is projected to reach $155.5 billion by 2032, according to Allied Market Research.

However, the natural, mined diamond industry has been disrupted by a just as shiny and substantially …