What are Lab Grown Diamonds?
Lab-grown diamonds are man-made diamonds created in a controlled environment using advanced technological processes that replicate the natural conditions under which diamonds form. They have the same chemical, physical, and optical properties as natural diamonds but lack the rarity and geological history that give mined diamonds their value.
Why are Lab Grown Diamonds a Scam?
Here are some of the most compelling reasons why I believe that lab-grown diamonds are a very bad idea.
- Lab Diamonds Have an Uncontrolled Market
- The Inflated Price of Lab-Grown Diamonds
- Resale Issue. No One Wants to Buy Back Your Lab Diamond
- Lab Grown Diamond Prices are Falling Rapidly
- Lack of Marital Commitment Value in a Lab Diamond
1. Lab Diamonds Have an Uncontrolled Market
The biggest problem with lab-grown diamonds is that anyone with the right machine can make them, creating an unlimited supply of stones.
Unlike natural diamonds, which come from deep in the earth and are carefully released in limited amounts, lab diamonds can be made in huge quantities without restriction. This means the market is flooded with more and more lab diamonds, causing prices to drop fast. A lab diamond that was once sold for $30,000 can lose most of its value in just a few months, leaving buyers with something that’s almost worthless when they try to resell it.
On the other hand, the natural diamond market is carefully controlled to keep prices more-or-less stable. While diamonds may not be as rare as people think, companies like De Beers limit how many get sold each year, making sure demand stays high. This control keeps natural diamonds valuable, unlike lab diamonds, which keep losing their worth. Without regulation, lab diamonds are turning into a bad investment—one that quickly loses value and leaves buyers with something that’s worth a fraction of what they paid.
2. The Inflated Price of Lab-Grown Diamonds
One of biggest selling-points for lab-grown diamonds is that they’re at least 60% cheaper than natural diamonds. But are lab-diamonds really your cheapest option if you can’t afford a natural diamond?
The answer is no. Lab grown diamonds are way more expensive than Cubic Zirconia, even though, like natural diamonds, almost no one can tell them apart.
Let’s compare all your options. Let’s say all three of the following options were equal, measuring at G color, VS2 clarity, and weighing 1.50 carats:
- The natural diamond will cost approx $10,000.
- A lab-grown diamond will cost approx $2,800.
- A cubic zirconia gemstone will cost approx $100.
Our point is that if you don’t want to pay the price of a natural diamond, we completely understand. It’s expensive and not for everyone, but in that case, we strongly recommend going straight to a synthetic diamond. The lab-grown diamond is not the cheapest alternative, and as you will see below, it is also a really bad idea.
3. Resale Issue. No One Wants to Buy Back Your Lab Diamond
The resale value of lab-grown diamonds is non-existent. This is, in my opinion, the most compelling reason to stay far away from lab-grown diamonds!
In other words, if you go to a random jeweler and offer to sell them your lab-grown diamond, they will not buy it, at any cost. Even the jewelers who sold you the lab-grown diamonds will not want them back (unless their return policy forces them). They would rather just print a new diamond for a fraction of the selling cost than buy them back, even at a fractional price of what they were sold at.
“There is nothing rare or distinct about a lab-grown diamond,” says Benjamin Khordipour. “There is no market cap or control on how many can be made available. They are completely worthless in my eyes. No one I’ve met in the jewelry trade wants to buy them.”
Counter Argument: You may argue that you have no intention of ever selling your lab diamond from your engagement ring, to which we counter that case, you should just buy a synthetic diamond.
4. Lab Grown Diamond Prices are Falling Rapidly
We’ve been watching the lab-grown diamond market carefully over the past few years, and we’ve seen a massive drop recently.
In other words, the lab diamond prices are falling very quickly. Too quickly.
“One of the most alarming issues with lab-grown diamonds is their massive price drop,” says Benjamin Khordipour GG, Chief Gemologist at Estate Diamond Jewelry. “They’ve lost over 80% value from 2016 to 2024, which is only one of the massive red flags associated with lab-grown diamonds. I estimate that they will drop another 200% in 2025.”
This will also greatly impact the ability of a lab-grown diamond to be any form of financial heirloom for the next generation.
5. Lack of Marital Commitment Value in a Lab Diamond
An engagement ring isn’t just a piece of jewelry—it’s a powerful symbol of love, commitment, and a man’s ability to provide for his future wife and family.
For generations, natural diamonds have carried deep emotional and financial significance, representing a serious investment in a couple’s future together. A real diamond isn’t just about sparkle—it’s a lasting statement that the groom is willing and able to make a meaningful sacrifice to ensure his fiancée feels valued and secure. When she wears her diamond ring, she’s reminded not only of his love but also of his dedication and generosity in building a life together.
Lab-grown diamonds don’t hold that same weight. Since they are mass-produced, endlessly available, and rapidly losing value, they lack the permanence and significance of a natural diamond. Instead of symbolizing commitment and stability, a lab diamond feels like a shortcut—an easy, replaceable alternative rather than a true investment in the relationship. Over time, as the price of lab diamonds continues to drop, so does their meaning. What should be a once-in-a-lifetime symbol of devotion starts to feel like something temporary and disposable, rather than a treasured heirloom meant to last for generations.
The FTC’s Involvement in Lab-Grown Diamonds
As soon as lab-grown diamonds hit the market and began to make waves, the FTC saw a massive problem. Jewelers were selling lab diamonds and not clearly marking them as lab-grown.
In 2018, the FTC started a crackdown on jewelry companies representing their lab-grown diamonds as genuine, naturally mined diamonds. In fact, according to the FTC, using the term “diamond” for a lab-grown diamond is illegal unless you add a descriptor that makes it clear that it is lab-made.
Here’s an article from USA Today that gives a better idea. In short, lab-grown diamonds have an uncomfortable element that is now associated with scams and shady business practices.
Important Note: According to FTC rules, if a store wants to sell lab-grown diamonds or gemstones, it must declare that the product was made in a lab. It can’t leave this information ambiguous.
Are There Any Pros of Lab-Grown Diamonds?
As you can see, we are very uncomfortable with lab diamonds, but to be fair, there are very few positive elements about lab-grown diamonds. Here are a few of the benefits of lab-grown diamonds:
- They are much cheaper, and even though their resale value is nonexistent, you don’t have to put down as much money as a natural diamond. (Of course, if you want to save money, we recommend purchasing a cheap Cubic-Zirconia diamond for under $20.)
- Lab diamonds are great for industrial purposes. The Mohs ranking is high, and they are great for drilling and manufacturing uses.
- Lab-grown diamonds are better for the environment than earth-mined diamonds. It is for this reason that we sell vintage diamonds, which are even better for the environment than lab-grown diamonds.
How to Authenticate Against Lab-Grown Diamonds
The good news is that GIA and most professional diamond certification companies can easily tell you if a diamond is natural or lab-grown.
“With colorless HPHT synthetics, the contrast in fluorescence color between growth sectors is much more subtle and can be difficult for a gemologist to detect even while rotating the sample in the DiamondView.” – Gemological Institute of America.
Adding fuel to the fire, Chinese companies have been mass-producing synthetic diamonds. And they’ve managed to get stones larger than 10 carats when cut.
That being said, GIA still determined that it is possible to differentiate between the two because all lab-grown diamonds have an odd fluorescence pattern. When subjected to imaging instruments, artificial diamonds show odd patterns. These aren’t the same as natural diamonds of the same clarity and color.
The problem is that the cheap diamond testers on the market cannot differentiate between natural and lab diamonds. For that reason, if you are suspicious of a diamond, send it to get tested by a certification company.
In conclusion, the experts can determine the difference between genuine natural diamonds and lab-grown artificial diamonds.
Short History of Lab-Grown Diamonds
Here’s a very short breakdown of the 150-year history of lab diamonds.
In the late 18th century, scientists discovered that diamonds are made from pure carbon. This prompted them to start developing methods to grow diamonds under artificial conditions.
James Ballantyne Hannay and Frederic Henri Moissan gave it a fair shot, but by today’s standards, their method was crude. Within a crucible furnace, they heated charcoal to more than 3,500°F together with iron. Then, they cooled the iron to create the pressure needed for diamond creation. This first experiment flopped. But it motivated others to try their luck with the process.
In 1953, ASEA, the Swedish utility company, claimed to have developed the process during 1953. Yet, they kept it a secret until well into the 1980s.
General Electric (GE) is credited with producing the first lab-grown diamonds in 1954, under the codename “Project Superpressure.” This groundbreaking work involved using high pressure and high temperatures to transform graphite into diamond. Initially, these diamonds were too small for jewelry and were primarily used for industrial applications. It wasn’t until 1971 that GE produced gem-quality synthetic diamonds, although these early versions were often yellow and contained many inclusions.
How Are Lab Grown Diamonds Made?
There are two basic ways to make lab-grown diamonds. See below for more information.
- High-Pressure High-Temperature (HPHT). This method involves placing a seed into a highly pressurized and heated mold and then dissolving molten metal into it.
- Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). This method involves inserting carbon-based gases into a chamber, energizing them, and providing good conditions for the growth of the diamond.
In general, the machines need to run for about a week to yield a 1-carat diamond. During the early years, the lab-grown diamonds were of poor quality. The gems were yellow and brown. This was because they got contaminated with nitrogen and nickel.
However, adding titanium or aluminum allowed the manufacturers to produce pure white diamonds. And if boron gets added, diamond laboratories get blue gemstones.
Click here to skip straight to where we explain why buying a lab-grown diamond is a massive scam.
The 5 Different Types of Lab-Grown Diamonds
The different types of lab-grown diamonds can be primarily categorized into two main types:
Simulant Diamonds (AKA Fake Diamonds)
These materials resemble diamonds but are not composed of carbon crystal structures like genuine diamonds. They only share some visual similarities with natural diamonds.
Examples include:
- Cubic Zirconia Simulants: These are affordable and visually similar to diamonds but lack durability.
- Diamond Nexus Simulants: These are known for better durability than cubic zirconia and are made from a mix of carbon and other substances.
- Moissanite Lab Gemstones: Created through a laboratory process, they are known for their brilliance and hardness comparable to diamonds.
These types of “diamonds” are the ones that you’ll see on eBay for $10 per diamond. They look 80% real and will fool most beginner jewelry enthusiasts.
Cultured Diamonds (Lab-Grown Diamonds)
Carbon diamonds produced in a lab share the same physical, chemical, and optical properties as mined diamonds. As mentioned before, there are two types of lab diamonds.
Cultured lab Diamonds can be divided into:
- HPHT Synthetic Diamonds: Created under high pressure and high temperatures, replicating the natural diamond-creating conditions. They are carbon diamonds with almost identical characteristics to those formed underground.
- CVD Diamonds: Grown from a hydrocarbon gas mixture using the Chemical Vapor Deposition method. This technique is favored for its flexibility and impurity control, making it popular for industrial applications and research.
These lab-created diamonds offer a more affordable alternative to natural diamonds while maintaining most of the desirable properties of their natural counterparts.
Final Thoughts and Verdict
We understand that, as a seller of natural diamonds, you may not deem us completely objective. That said, if we believed lab-grown diamonds were a good idea, we would sell them in our store. The markup on lab-grown diamonds is far greater than natural diamonds!
We haven’t sold unnatural diamonds on our website, and we won’t. And for all the reasons mentioned throughout the article, we also believe that lab “diamonds” are not an ethical product at all.
In conclusion, we firmly believe in using what’s already out there and are strong proponents of antique diamonds. Antique diamonds are environmentally conscious, prettier, and romantic and carry their worth better than any synthetic or lab diamond.