(IDEX Online) - Almost half of all consumers (47 per cent) don't believe lab grown diamonds are "real", according to new research for De Beers.Seven out of 10 said they wouldn't spend over $1,000 on one, because they're concerned that lab growns won't retain their value over time. Prices of LGDs are predicted to fall by as much as 60 per cent in the next two years.An increasing number of buyers are aware of lab growns, but see them as "new, modern, fun, and appealing for impulse or self-purchase," rather than as a serious investment, according to a survey of 5,000 US respondents for De Beers Diamond Insight's sixth Flash Report.Only six per cent of those questioned associated lab growns with the words authentic or romantic (compared to 60 per cent and 41 per cent for mined stones).Meanwhile the gap between the wholesale price of mined and lab growns is widening, says the report. Lab growns were selling for about 20 per cent of mined diamonds of equivalent size and quality, as of December 2021.China is by far the biggest producer of LGDs, at about 3m carats in 2020, representing almost half the worldwide production (6-7m carats). India is second (1.5m carats) followed by the US and Singapore (both 1m carats).Pic courtesy De Beers