What Exactly Is a Lab Grown Diamond?
Introduction: The Question Everyone Is Asking
Let's get straight to the point, because if you've landed on this page, you've probably already heard something along the lines of: "Oh, lab grown diamonds? Are those even real?"
And to that, we say — with all the authority of a gemologist, a physicist, and someone who deeply loves beautiful jewellery — yes. Emphatically, scientifically, undeniably yes.
A lab grown diamond is a real diamond. Not a simulant. Not a substitute. Not a "diamond-ish" thing that sparkles nicely in candlelight. It is a genuine, bonafide, molecularly-identical-to-what-comes-out-of-the-ground diamond.
The only meaningful difference between a lab grown diamond and a mined diamond is where it was born. One spent between one and three billion years forming in the Earth's mantle under conditions so extreme they make a commercial kitchen look like a gentle stroll in the park. The other was grown in a laboratory, using cutting-edge technology, in a matter of weeks.
Same diamond. Different address.
What Is a Lab Grown Diamond, Exactly?
A lab grown diamond (also called a lab created diamond, synthetic diamond, or cultured diamond) is a diamond that has been produced in a controlled laboratory environment rather than extracted from the earth through mining.
Here is where it gets fascinating — and where a lot of the confusion gets cleared up.
A diamond, regardless of where it forms, is defined by its chemistry. Diamonds are pure carbon atoms arranged in a specific three-dimensional crystal lattice structure known as a cubic diamond structure. This arrangement — where each carbon atom bonds to four neighbouring carbon atoms in a tetrahedral configuration — is what gives diamonds their legendary hardness, their extraordinary light dispersion, and their breathtaking brilliance.
Lab grown diamonds have exactly this structure. Not a similar structure. Not an approximation of it. The exact same structure.
According to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the world's most respected gemological authority, lab grown diamonds have "essentially the same chemical composition and crystal structure as diamonds created by nature." When the GIA says essentially the same, they're not hedging — they're acknowledging that in some cases, lab grown diamonds are actually purer, containing fewer trace impurities than their mined counterparts.
Think about that for a moment. Science has not only replicated the most extraordinary natural phenomenon on earth — it has, in certain respects, exceeded it.
A Very Quick (and Very Interesting) Lesson in Diamond Chemistry
To truly understand why a lab grown diamond is a real diamond, it helps to understand what diamonds actually are at the atomic level. Don't worry — we'll make this entertaining.
All matter is made of atoms. Carbon is one of the most versatile elements in the universe — it forms the backbone of all organic life, and it also forms, under the right conditions, the hardest natural material ever discovered.
When carbon atoms are subjected to enormous heat and pressure, they organise themselves into the diamond crystal structure. Each carbon atom in this structure forms four strong covalent bonds with four neighbouring atoms, creating a rigid, interlocking three-dimensional lattice. It is this structure — not the location of formation — that makes a diamond a diamond.
In a lab grown diamond, those same carbon atoms arrange themselves into that same lattice. The process is different from natural diamond formation (more on that in Post 2: CVD vs HPHT — The Two Ways Science Grows a Diamond), but the outcome is chemically and structurally identical.
Fun Fact 🔬: Diamonds and graphite — the soft, grey stuff in your pencil — are both made entirely of carbon. The difference between writing a shopping list and the crown jewels comes down entirely to how those carbon atoms are arranged. Geometry really does change everything.
The History Behind the Science: How We Learned to Grow Diamonds
The story of lab grown diamonds is one of humanity's most persistent scientific ambitions. For centuries, scientists knew that diamonds were carbon, and for centuries, they tried — and failed — to make them.
The first serious modern efforts began in 1941, when General Electric assembled a team of researchers under a project known, brilliantly, as Project Superpressure. Their goal was straightforward in concept and staggeringly difficult in practice: recreate the conditions deep within the Earth to grow diamonds in the lab.
World War II interrupted their work, but by 1950 the project was back in full force. GE commissioned a hydraulic press that stood two storeys tall and could exert 1,000 tons of pressure — and still the diamonds didn't come easily. The project burned through its entire research budget, then a second funding allocation, then a third. GE's research managers nearly voted to shut it down entirely.
They didn't. And on 16 December 1954, a GE chemist named Howard Tracy Hall changed the world.
Hall placed two diamond seed crystals into a graphite tube with iron sulfide, subjected it to temperatures of around 1,600°C and pressures of roughly 100,000 atmospheres using a belt press of his own design — and produced the first verified synthetic diamonds in history.
The reward for this world-altering breakthrough? A salary increase from $10,000 to $11,000 per year, and a $10 savings bond. (Science: sometimes criminally underpaid.)
GE reproduced Hall's results twenty times over the following two weeks and announced the achievement to the world on 15 February 1955. The diamond industry would never be quite the same again — though it would take several more decades before lab grown diamonds were available as the gem-quality stones we know today.
By 1970, gem-quality lab grown diamonds were being produced for the first time. By the 1980s, they were commercially available. By 2024, they were a defining force in the jewellery market.
Trivia 💎: Project Superpressure's budget concerns nearly killed the entire endeavour. GE's research director Guy Suits overruled his team and approved funding one final time. Had he not, lab grown diamonds might have been delayed by decades. The entire modern lab grown diamond industry exists partly because one executive trusted his gut.
Are Lab Grown Diamonds the Same as Cubic Zirconia or Moissanite?
This is perhaps the most persistent myth in the entire lab grown diamond conversation, so let's address it with crystal clarity (pun absolutely intended).
No. Lab grown diamonds are not cubic zirconia. They are not moissanite. They are not diamond simulants of any kind.
Here's the breakdown:
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Cubic Zirconia (CZ): A synthetic stone made from zirconium dioxide (ZrO₂). It looks like a diamond to the untrained eye, but it has a completely different chemical composition, a hardness of only 8–8.5 on the Mohs scale (compared to diamond's perfect 10), and significantly different optical properties. CZ is a diamond simulant — it mimics the look of a diamond without being one.
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Moissanite: A naturally occurring mineral (silicon carbide — SiC) first discovered in a meteorite crater in 1893. It's a beautiful gemstone in its own right, with even more brilliance than a diamond (it has a higher refractive index), but it is chemically distinct from diamond and has a hardness of 9.25 on the Mohs scale.
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Lab Grown Diamond: Pure carbon. Diamond crystal structure. Hardness of 10 on the Mohs scale. Identical optical, physical, and chemical properties to a mined diamond. A diamond, full stop.
The confusion arises because all three are produced or available in laboratory settings. But "made in a lab" does not mean "the same thing." Aspirin is made in a lab. So is insulin. So is the water treatment that keeps your tap water safe. The location of manufacture does not determine what something is — its molecular composition does.
How Do They Perform? The 4 Key Properties
Let's talk performance — because diamonds aren't just pretty, they're remarkable materials.
1. Hardness
Diamonds — lab grown and mined — score a perfect 10 on the Mohs Hardness Scale. This is the maximum possible score. Nothing on earth scratches a diamond except another diamond. Lab grown diamonds are equally scratch-resistant, equally durable, and equally suited to daily wear across a lifetime.
2. Brilliance and Fire
The way a diamond handles light is determined by its refractive index (how much it bends light) and its crystal structure (which governs dispersion). Lab grown diamonds have the same refractive index as mined diamonds — 2.417 to 2.419. The sparkle, the fire, the scintillation — scientifically indistinguishable.
3. Colour
Both mined and lab grown diamonds are graded on the D-to-Z colour scale developed by the GIA. D is perfectly colourless; Z has visible yellow or brown tints. Lab grown diamonds are available across the full colour spectrum and are graded using exactly the same standards.
4. Clarity
Clarity refers to the presence of internal inclusions or external blemishes. Lab grown diamonds, because they form in controlled conditions, often have fewer inclusions than mined diamonds, making high-clarity stones more consistently achievable. Both types are graded on the same clarity scale (from Flawless to Included).
Fun Fact 🔬: The GIA notes that more than 80% of HPHT-grown lab diamonds contain detectable concentrations of boron — giving them characteristics of what gemologists call "Type IIb" diamonds. In nature, Type IIb diamonds are extraordinarily rare and include some of the most famous blue diamonds ever found. In the lab? They're simply part of the process.
What Makes Lab Grown Diamonds Different From Mined Diamonds?
Given that they are chemically identical, this is a great question. The differences that exist are not about quality — they're about origin, process, and market dynamics.
1. Formation time: Natural diamonds take between 1 billion and 3.3 billion years to form in the Earth's mantle. Lab grown diamonds take approximately 6 to 10 weeks from seed to rough stone.
2. Price: Because the supply of lab grown diamonds is not artificially constrained by geological rarity or mining costs, they are significantly more affordable. In 2024, a one-carat near-colourless lab grown diamond cost approximately $1,325 on average, compared to $5,035 for an equivalent mined stone. That is a price difference that translates, for many buyers, into a substantially larger or higher-quality stone for the same budget.
3. Environmental footprint: Lab grown diamonds require no mining — which means no land excavation, no open-pit scarring, no water table disruption. The environmental picture is nuanced (labs do consume energy), but the mining footprint is entirely absent. We'll explore this in detail in Post 7: The Environmental Case for Lab Grown Diamonds.
4. Provenance certainty: With a lab grown diamond, the chain of custody is transparent and traceable from seed to setting. There is no ambiguity about where the stone came from, or under what conditions it was produced.
5. Detectability: Can gemologists tell the difference? With specialised equipment — yes, sometimes. Under visual inspection, even by a trained gemologist? No. The differences require sophisticated spectroscopic analysis to detect, and the GIA issues separate grading reports for lab grown diamonds to clearly identify their origin.
What doesn't differ: the beauty. The fire. The sparkle. The hardness. The meaning. The romance.
The Market Has Spoken
The lab grown diamond industry is no longer a niche curiosity — it is a mainstream reality. In the first quarter of 2024, 13.5% of all diamond jewellery items sold in the United States featured lab grown stones, according to diamond industry analyst Edahn Golan. That figure has been climbing steadily year on year.
Major jewellery houses have introduced lab grown diamond collections. Retailers that once dismissed them are now stocking them prominently. And consumers — particularly younger buyers who prioritise value, ethics, and transparency — are choosing them in increasing numbers.
The most striking market signal? Pricing. In 2016, a one-carat near-colourless lab grown diamond cost $5,440 — nearly the same as its mined equivalent at $6,538. By 2024, that same lab stone cost $1,325 while the mined equivalent sat at $5,035. The market is not just accepting lab grown diamonds — it is rapidly repricing the entire value proposition of diamonds as a whole.
How Are Lab Grown Diamonds Certified?
Just like mined diamonds, quality lab grown diamonds are graded and certified by independent gemological laboratories. The two most recognised certification bodies for lab grown diamonds are:
GIA (Gemological Institute of America) — the global gold standard in diamond grading. GIA issues Laboratory-Grown Diamond Reports (LGDR) that assess cut, colour, clarity, and carat weight using the same criteria applied to mined diamonds.
IGI (International Gemological Institute) — widely used for lab grown diamond certification, with grading reports that provide comprehensive assessments of all quality parameters.
At H&H Jewellery, every lab grown diamond in our collection comes with full gemological certification, so you know exactly what you're getting — transparently, honestly, and with complete confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Are lab grown diamonds considered "real" diamonds?
A: Yes. Lab grown diamonds are chemically, physically, and optically identical to mined diamonds. The GIA classifies them as real diamonds.
Q: Will a lab grown diamond pass a diamond tester?
A: Yes. Standard diamond testers measure thermal or electrical conductivity — properties that lab grown and mined diamonds share. Both will return a positive diamond reading.
Q: Do lab grown diamonds lose their sparkle over time?
A: No. Because they have the same crystal structure as mined diamonds, they maintain their optical properties indefinitely. No fading, no dulling, no deterioration.
Q: Can a jeweller tell the difference between a lab grown and mined diamond?
A: Not with the naked eye. Specialised spectroscopic equipment is required to detect the subtle growth pattern differences that distinguish the two.
Q: Are lab grown diamonds graded the same way as mined diamonds?
A: Yes — using the same 4Cs system (Cut, Colour, Clarity, Carat) and the same grading scales developed by the GIA.
Conclusion: A Diamond Is a Diamond
The question "Is a lab grown diamond a real diamond?" has a clear, science-backed, industry-endorsed answer: yes.
Carbon atoms, cubic crystal structure, Mohs hardness of 10, identical brilliance, identical fire, identical durability. The only thing that differs is the remarkable story of how it came to be — not born of geological chance over billions of years, but grown through human ingenuity, precision science, and not a small amount of wonder.
At H&H Jewellery, we believe that a diamond's value lies in what it means to the person wearing it — not in the postcode of its formation. Lab grown diamonds allow more people to access genuinely beautiful, genuinely real diamonds, with full transparency about their origins and a conscience that's as clear as the stone itself.
That feels like progress to us.
Continue the Series:
- 📖 Post 2: CVD vs HPHT — The Two Ways Science Grows a Diamond
- 📖 Post 3: From Seed to Sparkle — The Full Journey of a Lab Grown Diamond
- 📖 Post 4: The 4Cs and Lab Grown Diamonds — Your Complete Buying Guide
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