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Natural and Lab-Grown Diamonds

The same material, formed differently. What that changes, and what it does not.

A lab-grown diamond is a diamond.

It is carbon in the same crystal structure, with the same hardness and the same optical behaviour. A gemmologist tells the two apart with specialist equipment reading growth patterns and trace elements, not by looking at the stone on a hand.
The real differences are origin, rarity and what happens to the value afterwards. Those are worth understanding before you choose, because they are the differences you will live with.

Side by side

Natural
Lab-Grown
Origin

Formed in the earth over one to three billion years and brought up by volcanic activity.

Grown in weeks in a chamber, from a diamond seed under high pressure or in a plasma of carbon gas.

Composition

Crystalline carbon.

Crystalline carbon. Chemically and physically the same material.

Appearance

No visible difference at the same cut, colour and clarity.

No visible difference at the same cut, colour and clarity.

Hardness

Ten on the Mohs scale. Suitable for daily wear for a lifetime.

Ten on the Mohs scale. Identical durability.

Identification

Distinguished only by laboratory equipment reading growth structure and trace elements.

Most reports also carry a laser inscription on the girdle stating the origin.

Grading

Independently graded on the same four measures.

Independently graded on the same four measures.

Price

Considerably higher, and tied to rarity and supply.

A fraction of the natural price for equivalent grades, and still falling as capacity grows.

Resale

An established secondary market, with value that has historically held.

Little secondary market so far, and prices that follow production cost downwards.

Our Position

We set both, and we always say which.

Every piece states the origin of its stone on the specification, on the report that accompanies it, and in conversation. You will never have to ask.
Where a budget is fixed, a lab-grown stone buys visibly more size and higher grades. Where the piece is meant to be handed on, a natural stone holds its meaning and its market. Both are legitimate; we will tell you which we would choose in your position, and why.