The laboratory-grown diamond expert Vrai has created and is auctioning three so-called "single stone cross" diamond pendants.

It believes that they are the first of its kind, and now these three works have been blessed by Pope Francis.

A press release from the company went on to describe the works as "a cross nearly an inch high, a single crystal diamond made by Vrai."

The final weight of these diamonds is approximately 5 carats and uses 30 carats of diamonds grown using zero-emission renewable energy at Diamond Foundry in Washington State.

It was then cut in San Francisco, California, and polished in Vrai's studio in Xi'an, China.

These works are being auctioned on Vrai's website, and at the time of writing, the highest bid was $13,000 (£9,800).

Proceeds from the auction will be donated to Scholas Occurrentes, an international organization that operates in 190 countries through an extensive educational network created by Pope Francis.

Scholas' mission is to bring together young people from different backgrounds for education. Scholas is open to all beliefs, without any beliefs, and is independently funded.

Pope Francis has commented on sustainability and environmental issues in the past. He said: "Due to short-sighted methods, the earth's resources are being plundered.

"Mining gets wealth from the land, but paradoxically, it does not create wealth for the still poor local residents.

"The entire resource sector needs to completely change the paradigm-towards sustainable development and overall ecological development."

Vrai believes that its work of manufacturing laboratory-grown diamonds is an example of the change requested by Pope Francis.

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