Lab-Created Diamond Buying Guidesustainable, and affordable

What is a Lab Created Diamond?

Lab-created diamonds, also known as man-made diamonds, or Lab Grown Diamonds are diamonds that are produced by a controlled process in a laboratory environment. They look the same as natural diamonds and are physically, chemically and atomically identical. Lab-created diamonds also have the same durability as natural diamonds, and their color and clarity will not change over time. Most importantly, they possess that same special brilliance and sparkle as their earth-mined counterparts.

How are Lab-Created Diamonds made?

All diamonds are a crystalline form of carbon that has undergone a transformation under conditions of extremely high pressure and temperature. Mined diamonds were formed deep within the earth's core a few billion years ago, making their way to the earth's surface via volcanic explosions.

Lab-created diamonds are the result of one of two processes: High Pressure-High Temperature (HPHT) or Chemical Vapor Disposition (CVD). Both processes expose a small diamond seed (a paper-thin sliver of a diamond) to very high temperatures. The HPHT process places the seed into carbon and uses high pressure to melt the carbon to form a crystal around the seed. The CVD process begins with a seed placed in a chamber filled with carbon-rich gas; the gas is ionized using high heat, which causes the pure carbon to crystalize and adhere to the seed. Either process takes about 8 weeks to create a mature diamond.

How are Lab-Created Diamonds graded?

Since the only difference between lab-created and natural diamonds are their origin (where they come from), lab created diamonds are evaluated by the same grading process as natural diamonds using the 4 C's: Carat Weight, Cut, Clarity and Color. Please select this link to learn more about the 4 C's.

What are the Benefits of purchasing a Lab-Created Diamond?

Beauty - Like natural diamonds, lab-created diamonds possess the same incredible sparkle, brilliance and fire of their natural counterparts. They also come in a variety of sizes and shapes, including round, cushion, emerald and oval.

Quality - Lab-created diamonds are the real deal, offering the same physical and chemical properties as natural diamonds. They are graded and certified by the same gemological labs to ensure their worth.

Value - Because a lab-created diamond skips the mining process, fewer steps are involved in its supply chain and that savings is passed onto you. Thus, you will find that lab-created diamonds are more affordable, offering greater value per carat than natural diamonds.

Conflict-Free & Eco-Friendly - Lab-created diamonds are an ethically sourced alternative to natural diamonds. Grown in a controlled environment, lab-created diamonds skip the mining process and any of the social concerns that go along with it. In addition, they use less resources in their creation than mined diamonds and emit less air pollution.

Which do I choose?

Although chemically exactly the same, no two diamonds are alike – and that is also true for lab-created and for natural (mined) diamonds. In fact, the only differences between the two are origin and cost and, overall, a customer can get a bigger stone for the same amount of money if they choose a lab-created diamond. Nearly all diamonds have inclusions, and all certified diamonds, whether lab-created or nature-formed, are rated on their carat weight, cut, clarity and color. How do you choose between the two? That depends upon your budget, your values and your concern about your ecological footprint. Whatever you decide, the most important factor in choosing a diamond is the love that it represents.