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Clean Origin is one of the newest diamond retailers on the market, being founded in 2017. In my eyes, they have one quality that really sets them apart from others—they specialize in lab-grown diamonds.
It’s a little rare to find a retailer dealing solely in lab-grown diamonds, however, lab-grown diamonds are becoming more and more common, so I’d expect to see a growth in the number of retailers copying the Clean Origin mandate in the near future.
So what can we expect quality-wise when looking at diamonds and diamond jewelry from a lab-grown diamond retailer? A reduction in quality? More modern designs? A focus on ethics maybe? Let’s explore who Clean Origin are and whether they’re worth purchasing diamonds from.
- The Main Event: Clean Origin Diamonds
- Diamond Jewelry
- Clean Origin Ring Designs
The Company
My previous question about ‘a focus on ethics’ was a bit of a giveaway. Clean Origin, in it’s ‘Our Story’ section, write that the company is ‘on a mission to change the way couples experience diamonds’, adopting an ‘environmentally conscious approach’ that guarantees ‘100% ethical diamonds’.
The reason they can state this is a practical one—they deal in 100% lab-grown (or ‘synthetic’) diamonds. Some background on this:
In the past, diamonds have had quite a shady history. With many diamond deposits being discovered in less economically developed countries, each have their own unique history of turmoil and exploitation caused by foreign aggressors, many of the world’s diamonds were mined with little care and often genuine harm being caused to those people doing the mining. It is not inaccurate to say the diamond market has had an incredibly checkered past, with the profits of many diamond sales going towards war and terrorism.
Fortunately, with modern practices of transparency and accountability, the number of unethical diamonds that are directly linked to illegal activity has dropped dramatically. And lab-grown diamonds are a part of this.
Because lab-grown diamonds are crafted in laboratories, they will never be linked to the aforementioned activities, which is a real advantage for those consumers who are worried about their ethical or environmental footprint.
Ultimately, while lab-grown diamonds do depreciate in value a lot (an issue natural diamonds don’t experience), they are great because they are identical to natural diamonds (they have exactly the same chemical composition), and are completely ethical.
Where to Buy Lab-Grown Diamonds Online
If you’re looking to purchase a lab-grown diamond, I would also suggest considering other retailers. James Allen has a superb selection of lab diamonds, as do Brilliant Earth and now Whiteflash has started adding lab diamonds to their site.
Clean Origin Diamonds
Clean Origin have a surprisingly large amount of loose diamonds available on their site. It’s also one of the rare moments where an exclusively lab-grown diamond company has gotten GIA certification for their diamonds. This is a great sign, as the GIA are one of, if not the best and most trusted diamond certification organizations operating today.
While searching their diamonds, I noticed they had an incredibly useful function. While you scroll over each diamond listed, a small description box pops up on the right, which details the:
- SKU number
- Symmetry
- Measurements
- Polish
- Table
- Girdle
- Depth
- Culet
For the uninitiated diamond buyer, these measurements might not mean much, but experienced diamond buyers will appreciate the level of depth that Clean Origin has gone to. One issue I find is that they don’t contain hi-res images in this initial list. You can only find hi-res images on their individual diamond pages, such as for this 1.04 ctw IF Ideal diamond.
When it comes to images, I will always say that the best example of images being used on a site for diamonds is Whiteflash. Not only do they include hi-res imagery of each diamond, they include video, 360-degree images, and images where the diamond is lit by different types of light so that different refraction types (such as fire and brilliance) are seen. If I would change anything about how Clean Origin advertise its diamonds, it’s to include more images like this.
Overall, there’s a wide range of diamonds available. In general, because of their origin as lab-grown, they are less expensive than natural diamonds, often by a considerable amount. The 1.04 ctw IF Ideal diamond I mentioned before comes in at $3,557. At Whiteflash, a diamond of similar qualities—this 1.03 E VVS1 Ideal diamond—comes in at $14,631. This is despite being a lower clarity grade.
As you can see, for someone on a strict budget, a lab-grown diamond is an incredibly savvy investment choice.
Diamond Jewelry
Like other diamond retailers, Clean Origin offers the same types of designs you’d expect, such as earrings, pendants, and bracelets. And again, this is the perfect opportunity for those working to a strict budget. They’ve got a really lovely selection of tennis bracelets, which are a timeless classic when it comes to gift ideas for a loved one.
This 12.8 ctw Round Classic Tennis Bracelet really caught my eye due to its elegance.
Image credit: Clean Origin
They’ve also got some fantastic offerings in other metal styles, such as this 14K yellow gold Half Moon Bay Diamond Pendant. Overall, I’m very impressed with diamond jewelry that Clean Origin have on offer.
Image credit: Clean Origin
Clean Origin Ring Designs
Potentially the most important type of diamond jewelry is the ring—especially the engagement ring.
Website & Policies
As you can tell if you’re currently visiting the Clean Origin site, it’s clean, versatile, easy to navigate, and has the right amount of information.
They also offer a number of different services on top of their wares:
Forever Service Plan
An optional servicing plan in which you gain:
- Free shipping for repairs;
- Annual jewelry inspection;
- Ring resizing;
- General repair and maintenance;
- Cleaning;
- Rhodium plating.
Affirm Financing
While I wouldn’t recommend financing for diamond jewelry, Clean Origin does offer it for those interested.
Lease-To-Own
Similar to financing, this leasing option is a way of avoiding the large upfront payment and then eventually owning the piece you have chosen. The difference here is that you don’t immediately own the jewelry, but are actually leasing it off the purchasing entity, up until full ownership can be acquired.
Again, I would never specifically recommend anyone utilize this method of purchase.
Warranty
Clean Origin offers a lifetime warranty which covers original and unaltered products, and can be utilized if you believe your item has a manufacturing defect.
My Final Thoughts
I would recommend Clean Origin for purchasing any type of diamond jewelry. They’re legitimate, skilled, and their items are undeniably beautiful. I would immediately recommend them if you’re:
- Looking for diamond jewelry on a smaller, stricter budget;
- Deeply invested in finding an ethical diamond supplier.
One thing I would want you to remember is that lab-grown diamonds do not hold their value well at all. You might buy a lab-grown diamond for $3,000, and find that upon resale you can’t even get a third of that value back. This is the unfortunate reality of lab-grown, so you need to make sure you research your pieces and choose what you or the recipient is highly unlikely to resell.
Discover More Top Quality Diamond Retailers
Evidently, Clean Origin is not the only diamond seller on the market. So where else can you start looking for top quality diamond jewelry? Right here at Diamond Expert.
Over the last several years, I’ve been compiling data and reviews on many of the most well-known diamond retailers in the business, offering my experience and opinion on what is the best and what is worth avoiding. My most popular reviews are Whiteflash, Brilliant Earth, James Allen and Brilliant Earth.
