So as we approach what will be our busiest time of year, more men than ever will be taking the big decision to opt for a man-made diamond engagement ring over a natural stone. In doing so, more and more couples are denying the harmful lure of natural diamonds.

Every day as more people become aware of the possibilities now posed by man made diamonds, they are seeking us out and giving us the honour of creating their perfect engagement ring.

So why might a proposal with one of our engagement rings be viewed as more special? Even though they might not admit it, most people are vaguely aware that natural diamonds are tainted by a sketchy ethical profile. Most commonly known is the fact that absolutely any natural diamond could be a conflict stone in one way or another. Most people are wise enough to know that even stones advertised as conflict free are almost always part of a wider story that involves past or present human suffering at some level. Less known is the terrifying environmental impact diamond mining causes, but once considered this often becomes the prominent motivator for avoiding mined diamonds. The thing is, whilst companies can make half-legitimate claims about conflict stone, there is simply no denying whatsoever about the ecological devastation diamond mining inflicts on the world.

Back to the point in question... why might a proposal with one of our engagement rings be viewed as more special? When you propose with a MADE Diamonds engagement ring and your partner understands that her stone will perform just like a natural diamond, the quality of the diamond is optically identical to the very finest mined diamond, and most importantly that you took the decision to opt for an ethical stone that doesn't compromise any of her beliefs and values, it simply means so much more than any natural diamond could ever mean.

Being the only company in the UK who focus exclusively on supplying man made diamond engagement rings, people are beginning to see us as the trusted and renowned option for an ethical engagement ring that rivals the quality of any ring you would find at any of the most prestigious jewellers in the UK. We're not talking about high street jewellers (even high end ones!). Our rings are individually hand crafted in the UK by our master jewellers, to the same quality that you would expect from an exclusive boutique jeweller providing bespoke rings for £20-30K upwards.

So consider how your partner will feel when she knows you took the time to find a ring that has all of luxury of the very finest engagement rings in the world, whilst being truly 100% unquestionably ethical. It will be a more meaningful gesture than anything she could have expected.

We believe by focusing on just one thing, you are more able to do it very well. We do just one thing: we create engagement rings. Rather than opting to create a wide range of jewellery, we chose early on to focus dedicatedly on our speciality of creating engagement rings. It's what we do, it's our forte and it sets us apart from others in the industry. 

Our obsessive focus on creating the very finest engagement rings allows us to provide a service tailored to people in the market for just that. Yes other people sell engagement rings alongside all of their other jewellery, but not many focus their craft on such a tight niche. 

We take the concept a step further by not aiming to have the largest collection of engagement rings. If you want hundreds of different style options, you can find them at any high street or online jewellery retailer. But you will rarely find such rings are handmade to order just for you. We offer just three limited edition designs at any one time. 

At the end of the day, we're not trying to be a one-stop shop. There are already so many of those in existence. The race to have a bigger, more varied offering does not lend itself to fine artisan craftsmanship. We're not a volume retailer. We are specialists, and proud of it.

View our range of limited edition cultured diamond engagement rings here.

We realise there are a host of reasons NOT to buy a MADE Diamonds engagement ring for your marriage proposal. It could be seen as a risk, it might not be seen as the "safe" option, but for some people out there we know it makes perfect sense.

The reason it can be seen as a risk is that doing anything other than the norm can be a risk, and lets face it, a natural diamond is the norm. There are years worth of marketing campaigns from the natural diamond industry ingraining in peoples heads that natural diamonds are the only option and that there could never ever be an alternative. This has successfully built somewhat of a social stigma surrounding any other kind of alternative to a natural stone. But thankfully there are the few who do not care for such stigmas and are willing to opt for something new, something better. Thanks to these people taking the "risk" and being the first to do it, it will open up more and more people's minds to the idea of man-made, natural diamond alternatives. 

Especially if buying the ring as a surprise, most men will inevitably opt for the safe option of a natural diamond. It may be a minuscule, poor quality stone, set in a crappy, mass-produced setting, sold at an extortionately inflated price... but at least it's safe. This will be the logical course of action for most men unfortunately.

But for those brave soles out there who have took the time to really consider what they want from an engagement ring, thankfully a few people realise they want something better than the norm, and they seek out an alternative. We exist to serve these brave few. 

It's interesting to note that many of our customers are couples who are searching for a ring together. It seems that when both parties come together to make the purchase, it seems to more easily lead to a diamond alternative that might have otherwise seemed like too much of a risk for a gentleman purchasing a ring by himself or without his partners knowledge. When that element of risk is taken away through mutual consent and logical decision making, couples become far more open to the benefits of a man-made stone, form both a value and ethical stand-point. It's therefore great news for us that more and more couples are choosing to get engaged in this way; making the proposal but then taking the time to choose the perfect ring together. 

At the end of the day, it really comes down to what you want the ring to represent. If the ring is a symbol of how much money you can waste, sorry spend, on a ring then our engagement rings of course won't be for you. But if you know that your partner would appreciate the thoughtfulness of a truly ethical stone, and that they won't just want to know how much money you spent so she can tell her friends, the safe option may not be the best option after all.

It's relatively easy to find a company from whom you can buy an apparently ethical natural diamond. This is especially claimed to be the case with diamonds from places like Canada and Russia where the stones are almost certainly in no way "conflict diamonds".

But whether your natural diamond is from Canada or Sierra Leone, the inescapable fact is that it has taken causing catastrophic damage to the earth in order to retrieve the stone. So many people think that as long as a diamond is not a conflict diamond, it's surely ethically sound. This could not be further from the truth. Diamond mining causes irreparable damage to the earth no matter where it takes place. Above is a picture of an open-pit diamond mine in Russia and the devastation to the natural ecosystem is clear for all to see.

The kind of impact obviously varies on location, but the level of destruction is always devastating. On average 1750 tonnes of earth has to be moved to find just one carat worth of diamond, but this doesn't imply a one carat gem quality stone, this merely refers to one carat worth of stones which are more often going to be tiny non-gem quality stones, so you can imaging how much virgin earth needs to be moved to find gem quality stones.

So if you've been taken in by the mystique created by the natural diamond cartels, that nothing compares to a natural stone, that a the allure of a diamond is the fact that it's taken millions of years to create rather than the visual quality of the stone, then please don't buy any kind of natural diamond and kid yourself into the fact it might be ethically sound just because it's not a conflict stone.

If you are the kind of person who values our earth and all of the species that inhabit it, then there really is no way to justify buying a natural diamond. Whilst it might seem dramatic, the fact is that in buying a natural diamond you are directly contributing to an industry that is destroying our precious earth.

MADE Diamonds- Luxury with Integrity.