Lab-Grown vs. Natural Diamonds

When you are shopping for an engagement ring, wedding band, or other jewelry, you can choose lab-grown or natural diamonds. What are the differences between them and how you evaluate them?

Lab-grown and natural diamonds are chemically identical and are of equal quality and beauty. They have the same structure, evaluation criteria, shapes, and care. Which you choose is entirely personal preference.

Natural diamonds are classic. They are rare gemstones, forged from the earth over billions of years. Natural diamonds begin as carbon miles below the ground where the extreme heat and pressure bonds them into diamond crystals. Volcanic conduits bring them closer to the earth, where they are extracted and then cut and polished into gemstones. (The 2003 Clean Diamond Trade Act ensures that all diamonds exported to the United States are mined ethically and conflict-free.) Their timeliness and history has made them synonymous with eternal love and beloved as family heirlooms.

Lab-grown diamonds are modern. They were first produced in the 1950s and became available in gemstone-quality for jewelry in the early 2000s.They are created from lab processes (either high pressure high temperature (HPHT) or chemical vapor deposition (CVP)), which makes their quality easier to control and their pricing more affordable. Only an expert in a lab with specialized equipment can distinguish the difference between lab–grown and natural diamonds. Choosing a lab-grown diamond may enable you to get a larger or higher quality diamond for your budget.

Whether you’re looking for traditional or modern diamonds, you can shop confidently at Robbins Brothers as we evaluate and hand select all diamonds in the same way based on their visual beauty, sparkle, and structural integrity. We only select 1 in every 10 diamonds we see, whether natural or lab-grown.