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Wednesday, February 19th
12FIFTEEN is part of the Forever Companies brand family, which includes Diamond Nexus and Forever Artisans. The common thread? None of the brands use mined stones in any of their jewelry, letting you shop freely knowing that your purchase will always be conflict-free.
Small-ish selection of jewelry beyond engagement rings
The selection of lab-created diamond jewelry at 12FIFTEEN is small, if you're just looking at pieces beyond engagement rings. At the time of our most recent visit, the online store had just under 200 options, but some of them were chains or other items that didn't have diamonds. Choices included everything from simple necklaces and earrings under $300 to tennis necklaces and bracelets in the $6,000 to $9,500 range.
Generous selection of loose lab-created diamonds
But, when you jump to loose stones and engagement settings, your options expand exponentially. Of course, the selection will be different from one day to the next (because people are creating the pieces of their dreams), but you'll probably find over 17,000 loose lab-grown diamonds at 12FIFTEEN at any given time. We saw a couple dozen gems under $300 (mostly under a half-carat), and a little over a dozen in the $20,000+ category. The jeweler's highest-end lab-created diamond during our visit was a 11.12 ct round stone, ideal cut, E color and VS1 clarity, priced at $83,630.
Filter your choices
It's easy to find all of the man-made stones sold by 12FIFTEEN. Just indicate if you have a preferred shape, carat size, price range, color, clarity, or cut quality, and you'll be good to go. You can also check boxes that will display stones that are marked down, available for quick shipping, or that are designated as "Hearts & Arrows'' (a near-perfect round brilliant lab diamond that radiates a hearts-and-arrows pattern when seen through a professional scope).
Free design services for a hand-crafted piece of jewelry
Whether shopping for an engagement ring or some other type of jewelry, you can use 12FIFTEEN's design services to create a one-of-a-kind piece. Connect with one of their consultations with anything you have in mind - photos, drawings, even a sketch on a cocktail napkin - and within 72 hours you'll get a CAD file with the preliminary design. Once you've suggested any edits you'd like and approved the final design, your custom lab-grown diamond jewelry will be made by hand in Milwaukee.
No complaints here
Not only does 12FIFTEEN have an "A+” rating and accreditation from the Better Business Bureau, there were also no complaints filed there over the last three years. Not bad for a company that's been around for a decade. There are also about 100 reviews on the 12FIFTEEN site you can browse, looking at customer photos and comments (which are, unsurprisingly, all positive). While we'd like to see a little more feedback in other places - Trustpilot, for example, only had one review when last we checked - this retailer is plenty active on its social media channels, so we have no concerns that 12FIFTEEN is anything other than a solid choice for buying lab-grown diamonds.
Free shipping and 30-day returns
How about shipping and returns? All orders over $100 ship free here. 12FIFTEEN gives you the standard 30-day period starting from the date your order is delivered. Just make sure your diamond or jewelry is in perfect, unused condition with all protective materials in place, and that you send it back with all original packaging and paperwork or else you'll be charged a $75 fee.
Worth your time to take a look
12FIFTEEN easily ranks as an above-average option for buying jewelry made with lab-grown diamonds. The selection of diamonds is good (but doesn't compete with rivals' inventories of 130,000+ stones), there's a nice array of non-engagement ring pieces to consider, and by all appearances 12FIFTEEN's clients love what they get. Although there are a few stores we'd shop first, there's no reason not to go with 12FIFTEEN if something sparkly catches your eye there.
Lab-grown diamonds, also known as synthetic or cultured diamonds, are man-made gemstones that are created in a laboratory environment using advanced technological processes that mimic the natural conditions under which diamonds form in the earth's mantle.
Sounds pretty technical, but the amazing thing is that these diamonds are essentially identical in chemical, physical, and optical properties to natural diamonds mined from the earth. They are also graded on the same 4Cs scale used for natural diamonds, which stands for cut, clarity, color, and carat weight. All of the same sparkle factor? Yes, please!
Better yet, lab-grown diamonds are generally less expensive than natural stones of the same size and quality. And, if you've ever been concerned by the idea of "blood diamonds”, lab-grown stones are perfect for you: they don't involve the environmentally damaging (and often unethical) practices associated with natural diamond mining.
However, lab-grown diamonds have a few small drawbacks. One major concern is that they may not hold their value over time as well as natural diamonds, since they aren't as rare or unique. Additionally, some people may prefer the idea of owning a natural diamond as a symbol of their love or commitment - even if lab-created stones are undetectable as such to the average person's eye.
When you realize that some jewelers offering lab-grown diamonds have an inventory of over 100,000 stones to choose from, you might feel a little overwhelmed. Take a deep breath, try to enjoy the process a little, and use these ideas to make your shopping easier:
Shopping for jewelry made with lab-grown diamonds can be an exhilarating experience, and Top Consumer Reviews has evaluated and ranked today's most popular retailers to give you an advantage as you browse. We hope this information helps take the edge off any nervousness you might be feeling, so that you can find - or create - the perfect piece of jewelry for that proposal, anniversary, or "just because” moment.
Select any 2 Lab Grown Diamond Stores to compare them head to head