This newsletter comes out every other Thursday and hopefully provides you with thought-provoking content about the mundane, wacky, and weird. I will be writing until the 75th edition. If you know someone who may enjoy the newsletter, you can share it here.
Jenny and I got engaged!
You probably didn't notice in the above picture that there is anything unusual about her ring because there isn't. It's a lab-grown diamond, which is indistinguishable to the human eye from a traditionally mined diamond.
Only a diamond expert with a high-tech microscope can tell the difference in origin. Months earlier, Jenny and I had talked about marriage and the type of engagement ring she wanted. We both felt a lab-grown diamond was a better fit for us, because of the environmental and humanitarian issues with mined diamonds.
History, Environment, and Global Effects
The history of the diamond stone, its connection to engagements, and its market over the last centuries are too much to cover in this newsletter. However, the Netflix explained series has a succinct episode on diamonds. They do a great job digging into the suspect history of DeBeers and the diamond industry.
In terms of the environmental effects of mined diamonds, studies show that lab-grown diamonds emit about 5% of what a mined diamond emits. Not to mention the land that is used for mining.
Globally, the effects of diamond mining have had large ramifications for many countries, particularly in African countries. Hundreds of miners die every year in tunnel collapses that are seldom reported because they happen so often. Particularly in the mid-2000s diamonds provided warlords the profits for their military arms.
An estimated 3.7 million people have died in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia, and Sierra Leone in conflicts fueled by diamonds. There is obviously a lot more to cover with mined diamonds, but let's transition to lab-grown diamonds.
What is a lab-grown diamond?
A lab-grown diamond is chemically and physically identical to mined diamonds. The only difference is their origin. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission officially changed its jewelry guide in 2019, eliminating the word “natural” from its diamond definition.
Naturally occurring mined diamonds are forged in the crushing pressure and immense heat of the Earth’s mantle around 100 miles underground. Conversely, a lab-grown diamond starts with a diamond seed, which is a single crystal diamond that is thinner than a human hair. There are two main ways to make a lab-grown diamond.
One version is called "High Pressure, High Temperature". This method replicates the process of the earth's mantle, essentially heating up the seed to 5,000+ degrees Fahrenheit and adding a ton of pressure.
The more recent method is called "Chemical Vapor Deposition", which combines methane and hydrogen gases to create carbon plasmas that stick to the diamond seed. It's like if the salt bae man was sprinkling carbon plasma instead of salt.
After a few weeks in the machine, the diamond has grown to a full-size block. From there it is cut and polished by high-tech lasers.
📈Rise of lab-grown diamond
The lab-grown diamond makes up about 5% of the global diamond industry and is growing 15-20% every year since 2018.
My friend Adam Ali ran an Instagram poll asking which do you prefer "natural diamonds" or "lab-grown diamonds" and here are the results.
Adam's audience skews younger and represents a lot of people recently married or going to be engaged in a few years. A lot of younger people want to put their money (any they have left after avocado toast and international travel) for jewelry that is more ethical and sustainable. Lab-grown diamonds may only make up 5% of the diamonds today, but I'm betting in the next decade they will grow to 30+% of the overall market. More competition in the lab-grown industry will lead to better diamonds and drive down costs.
Speaking of costs, here is a price comparison of a mined diamond vs a lab-grown diamond.
The ring looks beautiful and I am glad we decided to go with a lab-grown diamond.
What to watch on Netflix?
It's always tough to select a show or movie on Netflix, especially in a group. I've found that searching for a specific genre has helped me narrow down on what to watch. Netflix has secret codes for each genre.
Here is the templated code: https://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/CODE
New Zealand's movies code is 63782
Slapstick comedies code is 10256
Motivational Video
I first heard this a few years ago and recently added it to my Spotify workout playlist. An incredible story of grit from a guy who tries to make it to the NFL.
Pic of the week
Jenny and I are in Crested Butte, Colorado this week. We are celebrating fellow Beach Bi-Weekly subscribers Jamie and Hayden's marriage.
While we are in Colorado, Chloe is staying at a dog sitter's house for the first time. She seemed particularly sad the day we left, sitting by the window all morning. We have gotten updates from the dog sitter and she seems like she is having a blast playing with the other dogs.