You may have come across information on lab manufactured diamonds versus naturally formed diamonds while researching diamonds. Others may call to lab-created diamonds as "fake diamonds," "imitation diamonds," or "simulants," however this is inaccurate.
Lab-created diamonds have the same or similar chemical and physical qualities as natural diamonds formed by Mother Nature's geological processes. Yet, due to the differences in formation conditions between natural and lab grown diamonds, lab grown diamonds exhibit various characteristics that allow them to be gemologically identified from natural diamonds. Cubic zirconia and moissanite, which resemble diamonds, have significantly distinct chemical and physical properties and are referred to as simulant diamonds.
Diamonds made in laboratories are grown under carefully controlled settings that seek to replicate the Earth's natural growing environment: high pressure and high temperature. These synthetic diamonds have the same chemical composition, crystal structure, visual and physical qualities as natural diamonds.
Diamonds that have been "grown" in a controlled laboratory environment are known as lab grown diamonds. They are built of the same chemical components as natural diamonds (carbon atoms organised in a precise pattern), but rather than being generated deep inside the earth's crust, lab made diamonds are created in a laboratory. Because lab-grown diamonds are chemically identical to genuine earth-made diamonds, their look, quality, and durability are practically indistinguishable.
They aren't strictly "synthetic diamonds" because their chemical makeup is the same as that of naturally occurring diamonds, and they can display the same fire, scintillation, and sparkle as biological diamonds, but they do have distinct, detectable internal properties. Depending on the method of manufacturing, lab-grown diamonds are classified as either high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) or chemical vapour deposition (CVD) diamonds.
Lab-grown diamonds are available in white, yellow, blue, pink, and green, with colour grading ranging from D to K. Certain varieties of lab-created diamonds, however, are color-treated. "Many, but not all, CVD-grown diamonds come out a type of brown colour and are then de-colorized through a treatment procedure to make them colourless or near colourless," says Michelle Graff, Editor-in-Chief of National Jeweler.
Organic diamonds are available in every colour imaginable, with an endless variety of colours, tone, and saturation levels. Color is caused by impurities (such as nitrogen molecules) becoming trapped inside the diamond lattice as it grows. The presence of various trace compounds in pure carbon results in a variety of hues and saturation levels.
Whenever a diamond is discovered to be laboratory-grown, the GIA publishes a Synthetic Diamond Grading Report, which differs significantly from the regular grading report. To distinguish themselves from organic diamonds, lab-grown diamonds exhibit optical traits such as colour zoning, metallic inclusions, weak strain patterns, and UV fluorescence colours. The Synthetic Diamond Grading Report includes the same information as the GIA Colored Diamond Grading Report for genuine diamonds, as well as a more generic assessment of colour and clarity.
After a lab-grown diamond is graded, the girdle is laser-inscribed with the report number and the statement that the stone was generated in a laboratory. We finally want buyers to be able to compare the diamond or diamonds and observe how they genuinely behave with light and light return. Even when strict grading criteria are followed, not all diamonds perform the same. Customers can pick what is important to them once they can view the diamond.
Natural and lab-grown diamonds are both made of pure carbon that has been turned into gleaming crystalline stones. While lab generated diamonds have the same visual qualities as genuine diamonds due to their chemical base, they are not as rare as natural diamonds. Natural diamonds, formed over millennia by the pressure of being crushed deep under the earth's crust, acquire their brilliant forms. As a result, all natural diamonds that will ever exist have already been made, making them eternally rare. Laboratory created diamonds, on the other hand, have an infinite supply.
Finally, natural diamonds are frequently regarded as family heirlooms and passed down from generation to generation. A diamond, once cut, can be recycled and upcycled indefinitely. Several of our vintage pieces have flawless diamonds. Furthermore, because lab-grown diamonds are less expensive and have a more uniform appearance, they are more likely to be discarded or left behind, only to end up in a landfill for eternity.


