Lab-grown diamonds
A lab-grown diamond is a diamond. It is grown in a laboratory instead of being mined, and it should always be sold as exactly that.
What it is
A lab-grown diamond is crystallized carbon, the same material as a mined diamond, with the same crystal structure. It has the same hardness, ten on the Mohs scale, and handles light in the same way.
It is not a diamond simulant. Cubic zirconia and moissanite are different materials that only resemble diamond.
How it is grown
There are two methods. HPHT (high pressure, high temperature) reproduces the pressure and heat under which diamond forms in the earth. CVD (chemical vapor deposition) builds the crystal layer by layer from a carbon-rich gas. Both start from a thin slice of diamond called a seed, and both take weeks rather than ages.
The rough crystal is then cut and polished exactly as a mined diamond is.
How it differs from a mined diamond
In where it comes from, and in what it costs: a lab-grown diamond generally costs much less than a mined diamond of the same size and grade.
It cannot be told apart by eye. A gemological laboratory identifies it with instruments, and its grading report says plainly that it is laboratory-grown.
How it is graded
On the same scale as any diamond: carat weight, color, clarity and cut. Each of our diamonds of 1 ct or more comes with a report from IGI, an independent grading laboratory.
What to expect from it
A diamond for life: it does not cloud, fade or wear down in ordinary use, and it is cared for like any other diamond.
Buy it to wear rather than as an investment. Lab-grown diamonds have little resale value.
How we describe ours
Every diamond we set is lab-grown, and every title and description says so. Our sapphires, rubies and emeralds are lab-created, and each product page says that too.