What is a Lab Grown Diamond?
What is a Lab-Grown Diamond?
A laboratory grown diamond is a real diamond, they have the exact same crystal structure, chemical composition, optical properties, and physical properties as a mined diamond making them indistinguishable, even to the highly trained eye. Rather than being dug out of giant pits in the ground, these diamonds are created using one of the most precise and difficult manufacturing techniques that humans have ever achieved.
It took almost 60 years to develop the precision necessary to grow gemstone quality diamonds! The process can involve re-creating the conditions found hundreds of kilometres underground using HTHP (High-Pressure High-Temperature) or by starting with a small ‘seed’ of diamond and growing it using a process called CVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition).
Whereas in the past, laboratories were only able to produce smaller diamonds (under 1ct) of lower qualities and were not commercially viable due to cost, now the growing process has been refined. Today, laboratory-grown diamonds are, on average 30-40% cheaper than a mined diamond and can be found in all colours, clarities and shapes – some laboratories are even able to produce diamonds 5ct and up as well as fancy colours!
These diamonds are certified by the most prestigious diamond grading laboratories who verify their authenticity but also grade them according to the 4 C’s in exactly the same way they do with mined diamonds. Place a mined diamond ring beside a lab-grown and it’s impossible for anyone to differentiate between the two.
100% DIAMONDS
Laboratory created diamonds are 100% diamonds and can only be distinguished from mined diamonds with sophisticated lab equipment. The only difference is that the origin is a laboratory and not the earth.
"Lab-created diamonds are cultivated in a laboratory, but their quality, strength, optical finish, and overall physical and chemical properties are absolutely identical to those of mined diamonds, which grow over millions of years beneath the earth.
IGI - International Gemological Institute, 2016