It is the structure of the crystal that makes a crystal whatever it is. It is slices of quartz that run our quartz watches - are quartz watches natural or man-made?
This is a picture of a lab-grown clear quartz crystal in my collection of 'paraphernalia' - it is a very potent tool. I can't tell it apart from the 'natural' wands I have owned in the past.
WOW - what a stonker you have there tarotbear!
I generally go for natural or lab-grown. Lab-grown I might think are happier as they haven't been dug out of the ground somewhere - possibly (not always) creating trauma for both the natural environment and the residents of that area. If I want to buy natural I like to source their origins.
(Though most of my present collection I bought many years ago - before I was really clued into this kind of thinking).
I have a favourite synthetic. It's Blue Goldstone. It reminds me of the night sky and the Goddes Nuit (Ancient Egyptian) - and I have 2 self-strung blue gold stone malas (prayer beads) and some other pieces.
Why this stone? Well, in the "night sky", it embodies this for me:
"And where shall we get religion? Beneath the open sky.
...The crystal sphere of silence is surcharged with deity,
The midnight earth sends incense up, sweet with the breath of prayer.
Go out beneath the naked night and get religion there!"
(Sam Walter Foss - perfectly expressing the essence of my spirituality - Wicca. Well probably not just mine, but it fit beautifully.)
In terms of energetics - I think there's a clearer "power" if you like, from crystal that has grown as it naturally would. And I do like to know what the natural state/appearance of a crystal is. However, I think the greatest power is in our own heads.
Price ofcourse - can be relative to where you are, and who's selling.