At the engagement ring counter of a jewelry story in Chicago, a fiancé surveys the selection. He’s looking for an impressive symbol of his romantic commitment at a price that won’t have him starting his marriage in the poor house.
Until a few years ago, the fiancé might have chosen a natural one-carat diamond that today would sell for about $7,000 (Canadian). But with today’s widespread social acceptance of lab-grown diamonds, the fiancé is satisfied with a synthetic equivalent priced at $1,300.
