Synthetics put on Presidents' Meeting agenda, again.

Ernest Blom, president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) said the issue of lab-grown diamonds (LGD) would - once again - be on the agenda of the event, with a panel discussion featuring industry experts.

"What distinguishes natural diamonds from lab-created diamonds, apart from the whole love element, is that natural diamonds are a non-renewable source," Blom says. "The supply of natural diamonds is limited by nature. Importantly, more expensive natural diamonds have historically maintained resale value after purchase which is tied to the inherent rarity of higher-quality natural diamonds. Synthetic diamonds will not hold value. Natural diamonds do."

Blom's announcement comes at a time that there is a wealth of information available to the trade and the public about LGDs. Forbes published an article on August 24, written by Kyle Roderick and entitled "Lab-grown diamonds: regulators warn that some claims fail to fulfill their hype." The article covers all the issues and questions that have been discussed and pondered by the trade and the - trade and consumer - media.

 "As it happens, a group of manufacturers producing laboratory-created diamonds—also called lab-grown diamonds or LGDs—is creating considerable confusion among consumers through their online marketing efforts. First created for industrial use due to the stones' exceptional hardness, lab-grown diamonds have been around for decades. But today, they are frequently marketed as eco-friendly, ethically sourced, and heavily discounted. Are LGDs socially and environmentally preferable to natural diamonds, or is the hype too good to be true?" Roderick wrote.