Natural vs Lab Diamonds

A lab-grown diamond is a diamond. It is the same material as a natural one: pure carbon arranged in the same crystal structure, with the same hardness of 10 on the Mohs scale and the same way of bending and returning light. It is not a lookalike.

That sets it apart from simulants such as cubic zirconia and moissanite, which are different materials that resemble diamond. A simulant can be told apart with simple tests. A lab-grown diamond cannot, because it is diamond.

The only real difference is origin: one formed in the earth, the other was grown above it. Everything else that follows, price, resale, the story you tell, comes from that one fact.

Natural diamonds formed deep in the earth’s mantle, most of them between one and three billion years ago, under enormous heat and pressure. Volcanic eruptions carried them towards the surface, where they are mined today in a small number of countries, among them Botswana, Canada, Australia, Russia and South Africa.

Every natural diamond carries a record of that journey in its inclusions, the tiny crystals and feathers trapped as it grew. No two are alike. For many people that is the whole point: the stone on the hand existed long before anyone was there to see it.

There are two methods. HPHT, high pressure and high temperature, recreates the conditions of the mantle in a press, so that carbon crystallises around a small diamond seed. CVD, chemical vapour deposition, takes place in a vacuum chamber, where a carbon-rich gas is broken down and carbon atoms settle onto a diamond seed plate, layer by layer. Either way, a rough crystal grows in a matter of weeks.

From there the two kinds of diamond follow the same path. The rough is planned, cut and polished by the same kind of cutters, on the same equipment, to the same proportions. A badly cut lab diamond sparkles as poorly as a badly cut natural one.

Not by eye, and not with a jeweller’s loupe. A lab-grown diamond and a natural diamond of the same grade look identical, to you and to a trained gemmologist. Telling them apart takes specialist laboratory equipment that reads the tiny differences in how the crystals grew.

Standard handheld diamond testers identify both as diamond. That is why the grading report matters: it states the origin plainly, and the report number is usually laser-inscribed on the edge of the stone, invisible without magnification, so the diamond and its paperwork can always be matched.

A lab-grown diamond must always be sold as lab-grown. Any honest jeweller will describe it that way on the quote, the invoice and the certificate.

Both kinds of diamond are graded on the same 4Cs: cut, colour, clarity and carat. Independent laboratories such as IGI and GIA issue reports for lab-grown stones as well as natural ones, and the report states which it is.

The grade matters more than the origin when it comes to what you see. A well-cut G VS2 lab-grown diamond and a well-cut G VS2 natural diamond look the same on the hand. Read the report before you fall in love with a stone, whichever kind it is. Our certification guide explains how.

This is where they part company. A lab-grown diamond costs a fraction of a natural diamond of the same size and grade, and that gap has widened as production has grown. For the same budget, lab-grown buys a noticeably larger or finer stone.

Resale is the other side of that coin. Natural diamonds have a long-established second-hand market, though it is worth knowing that even natural stones usually resell well below what was paid for them. The resale market for lab-grown diamonds is very limited, and their prices have fallen as production has scaled.

So the honest framing is this. If you want the largest, brightest stone your budget allows and you see the ring as something to wear rather than something to sell, lab-grown makes a strong case. If rarity and the idea of an heirloom carried from the earth matter to you, natural does.

There are honest arguments on both sides. Lab-grown diamonds involve no mining, and their origin is easy to trace. But growing a diamond takes a great deal of energy, and its footprint depends heavily on how that energy is produced.

Natural diamonds traded through legitimate channels fall under the Kimberley Process, which exists to keep conflict diamonds out of the market. It is an important safeguard, though a narrow one: it addresses conflict, not every labour or environmental question. Mining also supports large economies and many livelihoods in producing countries such as Botswana.

Whichever you choose, the right questions are the same. Where did this stone come from, who graded it, and can you show me the paperwork?

A few questions usually settle it:

What matters more, size or story?

If the stone’s journey through the earth means something to you both, choose natural. If presence on the hand matters more, lab-grown stretches the budget further.

What does your partner think?

Some people feel strongly either way. If you can find out without spoiling the surprise, do.

Will you ever want to sell it?

If resale is a consideration at all, natural holds value better. If the ring is forever, it may not matter.

Have you seen both?

Seeing a natural and a lab-grown diamond of the same grade side by side tends to answer the question faster than any article.

We design and we make rings with both natural and lab-grown diamonds, and we will never tell you one is objectively better. Every diamond we set comes with an independent grading report, and we will always tell you exactly what you are buying, so the choice is made with full information.

At a consultation we compare the two for the shape and grade you have in mind, with the reports in front of you, so you can decide with full information.