Lab Grown Diamonds

[LaMarschallin]

A poster has started a thread about whether or not to buy a diamond ring.
The diamonds are lab grown and a few people have said things like "That's a lot for a fake diamond" (my italics).
Didn't want to derail that thread with my question, but I want to get some diamond stud earrings and have been considering lab grown - basically because I'd get more bang for my buck (or carat for my cash, if you will).
I appreciate they aren't exactly the same as mined diamonds, but thought that they'd at least be superior in appearance to, say, CZ.
What are people's thoughts/experiences with lab grown stones?
I noted that they had been talked about as better for the environment than mined diamonds which I liked the idea of, but must admit that my main reason for considering them was price rather than ethics

@Tourmalines

Thank you 💐
That's exactly the sort of useful information I was hoping for.

Diamonds - whether „real“ or lab grown - are a rather crappy investment to begin with….

A quick update: I have my earrings! 🤩
Total weight of 1 carat (so 0.5 carat each) set in silver from TJC.
Since I'd bought something from them as a present, TJC kept sending emails of "special offers" etc
Eventually they offered the above-described earrings for £200. I'd seen similar on another site for £1000 so that seemed quite good.
From my research here and elsewhere, TJC seems to be reliable in its claims about its diamonds. It may be naive of me, but I was also encouraged by the fact it was one of the companies featured on The Apprentice for the TV selling task - made me more confident that I'd at least recieve my earrings!
I'm really pleased - they look pretty, very sparkly, and are large enough to be seen and look luxurious. I suspect that if I'd gone for 1 carat each they may have looked OTT and possibly almost fake.
I've tried to add some photos, hopefully they'll work but they're a bit blurry:

Eta Images under review

They’re beautiful! I still love my tjc lab diamonds :)

Ragamuffin8

Thank you!
Glad you're still loving yours 😊

Beautiful earrings, OP!