Why I've Chosen Not to Work with laboratory Grown or Synthetic Gemstones

It's a question I don't get asked all that often "Do you work with laboratory-grown stones?" The short answer is No, I don't. And I don't plan too.

I want to explain why, because it's not about using "natural" or "earth mined" for the sake of it, or dismissing laboratory-grown as "not real" (they are chemically and physically the same) It's about what sits at the heart of everything I make.

Every piece I create carries a story. That's not a marketing line, it's genuinely how I work. A reclaimed stone, they've existed in the world, been mined, cut, worn, loved, sometimes broken, and now they get a second life in something new.

A mined stone, has a history of its own, a marvel of beauty that has formed over million's of years, with some believed to have come from outa space! They have details within that laboratory grown simple can't.

A laboratory-grown stone doesn't have that journey. It's grown in a chamber over a matter of weeks. There's nothing wrong with the science, but for me, it strips away the very thing I'm drawn to as a maker: the idea that a piece of jewellery is a continuation of something, not a fresh, uniform, printed-off starting point.

A while ago I attended a talk with a laboratory diamond dealer, and something they said has stuck with me ever since. They shared to think of laboratory-grown diamonds as technological products. The cost will only keep coming down as the process gets cheaper. They even said that one day, this technology will be so accessible it'll be used in clothing.

That sat really uncomfortably with me, and it still does. Jewellery is an emotional investment. It's meant to hold a moment, a relationship, a milestone, something that matters enough to be worn for a lifetime and passed on after that. How can I, in good conscience, set something into a piece thats to hold that much meaning, knowing it's a manufactured product on a downward cost curve, a technology that will keep getting cheaper and more common until it's used on a t-shirt?

I've only worked with a laboratory-grown diamond once, for a family member, and if I'm honest, I feel incredibly guilty about it now. Not because the diamond wasn't beautiful, it was, but because already the cost to make it now would be dramatically different, even with the rise in gold prices, and it doesn't sit right with everything else I believe about what I make and why.

My whole practice is rooted in wabi-sabi, finding the beauty in imperfection, in things that have been broken, weathered, or worn. laboratory-grown and synthetic stones are, by design, made to be flawless. Consistent. Controlled. That's actually their selling point.

But flawless isn't what I'm after. I want the tiny inclusions that prove a stone formed in the earth over millions of years. I want the very slight asymmetry of a hand-cut rose cut. I want the stone that's been broken and put back together, wearing its history rather than hiding it. Perfection, to me, is the least interesting thing a gemstone can be.

I know the argument for laboratory-grown often centres on ethics and environmental impact, and I take that seriously. It's exactly why I only work with recycled and single mine origin gold, and gemstones I can stand behind. But "responsibly sourced" and "manufactured" aren't the same conversation.

Choosing reclaimed and responsibly sourced natural stones means I'm working in a way that alines with my ethos. I make wedding rings, engagement rings, and bespoke commissions that are meant to become the next generation's heirlooms. Pieces with a past already stitched into them feel like they belong in that story in a way a synthetic or laboratory stone, however beautiful, just doesn't for me.

If you're planning a bespoke piece and want a stone with real history behind it, one that's been reclaimed, responsibly sourced, or given a second life through my Beauty in the Broken work, I'd love to talk it through with you.

*Images shows a ring commission with a central reclaimed sapphire.