Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and future engaged couples can opt for a less expensive version of the traditional diamond ring. Pure Grown Diamonds say they have made the world’s largest man-made diamond at 3.04 carats after 70 years of research.

A finished synthetic stone sells for about half of the price of the mined gems and the lab-grown synthetics are identical to the stones coming from the Earth’s mantle.

When put next to each other, natural and synthetic diamonds are virtually identical. The Gemological Institute of America verifies that the man-made stones are real diamonds, and that differences can only be seen under specialized microscopes and UV light.

Pure Grown Diamonds reproduces the conditions of space, where carbon seeds are put into vacuum chambers and sprayed with gases containing hydrogen and methane. After a few weeks, the seeds grow out to a rough stone ready to be polished.

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