Nothing beats the sparkle of a diamond, but engagement rings aside, few of us can afford the genuine article.

Grown in a laboratory, a tiny seed of real diamond is blasted with high-pressure, extreme temperatures and carbon atoms to mimic a three-billion-year process in just three weeks.

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The result? A stone that looks like a diamond, with the same physical and chemical characteristics, but which costs considerably less.

Diamonds are sold by the carat, with one carat measuring 6.5mm in diameter, roughly the size of a garden pea.S. in September) will cost $800 (around £600). By comparison, Buy Diamonds Jewellery Online a one-carat natural diamond will start from at least £3,000 for a low-grade stone without any settings.

Savvy shoppers have been faking their diamonds for years. Now, though, it has decided to satisfy the growing global appetite for seriously good synthetics, which are expected to make up 15 per cent of the diamond market by 2020. (Kinetique also sells ‘hybrids’, where the diamond is grown around a man-made ceramic core: a one-carat hybrid IQ diamond set on an 18ct gold band costs about £1,000.)

The truth is, really savvy shoppers have been faking their diamonds for years, opting for high-grade zirconium oxide, commonly known as, whisper it . . . cubic zirconia. While ‘cz’, as it’s known in the business, is often sneered at (you’d be forgiven if cracker prizes spring to mind) the good stuff is on a different level.

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Top-quality cz won’t go yellow or lose its sparkle; combine this superior raw material with hand-cutting and expert polishing by master craftsmen and you’ve got something extremely convincing.

Prices vary depending on the level of workmanship involved. Combining cz diamonds with lab-grown sapphires and rubies (which are cheaper to make than lab-grown diamonds), a whopping cushion-cut ‘sapphire’ ring, the equivalent of seven carats, can be yours for £99 (reduced from £169: another advantage of going synthetic . And if you think no bride-to-be would be caught dead with anything less than the real thing, think again. They spot our pieces in the window, and come in asking if a few zeroes have fallen off the price. . . natural diamonds are rarely discounted). ‘A cheap, clunky setting is always a giveaway. A finer setting, with a quality metal, really makes the difference. Their flashy cocktail rings are a popular payday purchase. ‘Couples often buy them as stand-in rings to be replaced later, but generally they don’t end up changing them!’ . . in fact, women with their own collection of natural diamonds are some of our best customers. ‘These are people who really know their stuff, too. Carat gems, for example, are typically rated ‘IF’ (internally flawless) – the highest level of clarity. The firm’s cz diamond earrings range from £59 for a pair of baby hoops, to more than £400 for show- topping chandeliers.

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Dervla also notes that customers are aware that opting for a synthetic diamond avoids the ethical implications involved with the real deal, whether it’s the environmental impact (1,750 tons of earth have to be extracted to find a one-carat rough diamond), or the human cost of child labour and ‘blood diamonds’, where stones mined in conflict zones fund warlords.

Belinda Scott revealed clients choose cz diamonds to avoid the worry of breaking or losing their jewels (file image)

Ethics aside, the big benefit of a cz diamond is practicality. Flanking a real engagement ring with two of her eternity bands is another bargain bling-boost: a single 3.5mm cz-encrusted band in 18ct gold is £55.

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Her clients aren’t at all embarrassed about their not-so natural jewels. They don’t have massive insurance fees or the hassle of locking something up in a safe every night, and they still get compliments.’

Belinda’s fakes may have saved a marriage or two, as well. ‘One lady came in brandishing a single diamond earring – the other was lost on a beach and she didn’t want to tell her husband.

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‘Keep your carat size within the realms of possibility,’ she says. ‘Too big and your friends will know instantly that it’s not real. Plausibility is everything.’

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