Lab-grown vs natural diamonds
The honest version, in plain English
A lab-grown diamond is a real diamond. It is pure crystallized carbon with the same hardness, the same sparkle, and the same physical and chemical properties as a diamond pulled from the earth. The only real difference is origin: one grew over billions of years underground, the other grew in a few weeks in a controlled lab using the same heat-and-pressure recipe. Everything else your eye cares about is identical.
What's exactly the same
Composition, brilliance, hardness (10 on the Mohs scale), and durability are all identical. A trained gemologist cannot tell a lab-grown diamond from a natural one by looking — it takes specialized equipment that reads the stone's growth pattern. Lab-grown diamonds are graded by the same labs, on the same carat, color, clarity, and cut scales, as natural ones.
What's different
Two things. First, origin — lab-grown stones are made above ground, which avoids the sourcing and environmental concerns some buyers have about mining. Second, and this is the big one for most people, price. Because supply isn't constrained the same way, a lab-grown diamond typically costs a fraction of a comparable mined stone. That means for the same budget you can step up meaningfully in size, in clarity, or in color.
Are they "fake"?
No. A "fake" diamond is something like cubic zirconia or moissanite — a different material that only looks like a diamond. A lab-grown diamond is a diamond; the Federal Trade Commission recognizes it as such, which is why it's described as "lab-grown" rather than "imitation." We sell lab-grown diamonds with full disclosure, every time.
What about resale value?
Be clear-eyed here: diamonds of any kind are bought to be worn and enjoyed, not as investments. Both natural and lab-grown diamonds lose value the moment they leave the store, and lab-grown prices in particular have fallen as the technology has improved. Buy the stone you love at a price that makes sense to you — not on a promise of appreciation.
The bottom line
If you want the largest, cleanest, most brilliant diamond your budget allows — and you're comfortable with a stone that was grown rather than mined — lab-grown is an easy call. Every diamond in our collection is lab-grown, IGI-certified, and listed with its full grading report so you know exactly what you're getting.