The short answer
A lab grown diamond is a diamond. Same carbon crystal structure, same hardness, same refractive index, same sparkle. The differences are origin, price, and what the certificate says — not the stone itself.
How they are made
Mined diamonds formed in the earth's mantle over a billion years or so. Lab grown diamonds are made in a few weeks, either by High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT), which copies mantle conditions, or by Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD), which builds the crystal layer by layer from carbon-rich gas. Both routes produce real diamond.
Can a jeweller tell the difference?
Not by eye, and not with a loupe. The crystal growth pattern differs at a microscopic level, so specialist equipment in a gemmological laboratory can separate them. A standard jeweller's diamond tester cannot — it reads thermal conductivity, and a lab grown diamond conducts heat exactly like a mined one, because it is one.
Price
This is the part that matters to most buyers. A lab grown diamond typically costs a fraction of a mined stone of the same carat weight, colour and clarity. In practice that means you can buy a visibly larger or noticeably cleaner stone for the same budget — or the same stone for considerably less.
Certification
Our lab grown diamonds are GIA or IGI certified. The certificate grades the stone on the same four Cs used for mined diamonds — carat, colour, clarity and cut — and states that the stone is laboratory grown. Ask for the certificate on any diamond above a quarter of a carat, from any seller.
Do lab grown diamonds hold value?
Honestly: diamonds of any origin are a poor investment. Retail markup means almost no diamond resells for what it cost. Buy a diamond because you want to wear it, not because you expect it to appreciate. On that basis, lab grown is straightforwardly the better value — more stone for the money, with no sacrifice in how it looks or wears.
Durability
Diamond rates 10 on the Mohs scale, the hardest natural material known, and lab grown diamonds are identical on this point. They do not cloud, scratch or dull with wear. They can chip if struck hard on a facet edge — true of any diamond.
What we sell
Every diamond in our catalogue is lab grown, set in solid 10K, 14K or 18K gold — never plated, never filled. Each piece is made to order in our own workshop.