Consumers often wonder if lab-grown diamonds can be considered “real” diamonds, or if they ought to be classed with diamond simulants such as cubic zirconia. The difference is that diamond simulants (also called imitation diamonds) are not diamonds while a lab-grown diamond is identical in chemical structure to a mined diamond. Whether it was grown in a laboratory or deep below the surface of the Earth, a “real” diamond is characterized by its chemical composition of almost pure carbon. So the short answer is yes, lab-grown diamonds are real diamonds, chemically identical to mined diamonds. Read on to learn more.

How Are Diamonds Formed?

The diamonds extracted from mines grow 150 km (90 miles) deep, in the upper mantle. Most minerals are formed in the Earth’s crust, but two—the diamond and the peridot—are formed in the mantle and then carried upward by lava flows that burst through weak spots in the crust. In the upper mantle, temperatures can reach 1300°C (2400°F). The pressure is also immense down there, an incomprehensible 240 kbar, or 240,000 times the pressure of the atmosphere at sea level. This extreme heat and pressure crystallizes carbon atoms, rearranging them into a three-dimensional lattice-like structure.

During this process, other elements and minerals are sometimes captured within the crystal, which can affect the appearance of the diamond. Sometimes, these take the form of inclusions, which are minute quantities of liquid, gas, or even another crystal that get trapped inside the diamond while it is growing. Other times, the captured element will insert itself into the crystal and change the color of the diamond. Nitrogen can replace carbon in parts of the crystal lattice, for instance, producing a yellow diamond. Blue diamonds are created when as little as one atom of the element boron inserts itself into the carbon crystal. Other diamond colors, such as pink and red, are the result of deformations to the crystal lattice. The shape of the crystal changes, and only certain wavelengths of light are absorbed.

How Are Diamonds Grown in a Lab?

Discoveries pertaining to the formation of the Earth, the movements of tectonic plates, the chemical composition of minerals, and the interaction between heat and pressure have led to a deeper understanding of the conditions under which diamonds grow. Even though that knowledge is far from complete, as we cannot physically access the depths at which this process takes place, we now know enough to replicate the conditions found in the upper mantle in a laboratory setting.

This article goes into more depth on this topic, but briefly, diamonds grown using the High Pressure, High Temperature (HPHT) method replicate the conditions described above. A diamond seed, or some other form of carbon such as graphite, is placed in a medium, which itself is placed in a machine that presses on the container from all sides. The grower must take care to maintain a constant temperature and pressure so that the carbon atoms can uniformly recrystallize as diamond. If all goes well, in a matter of weeks, a perfectly clear diamond is formed. If the grower wants to grow different color diamonds, they can introduce different elements to the solution in the same way these elements enter the crystal growing process in the upper mantle. But while labs have a great deal of control over the outcome of this process, it’s not an exact science, and every diamond grown is unique.

In both the lab and the upper mantle, the same process is taking place: in the right conditions of heat and pressure, carbon atoms rearrange themselves into a crystal lattice and form a diamond. As a result, lab-grown diamonds are chemically identical to mined diamonds, unlike diamond simulants such as moissanite and cubic zirconia.

What is a Diamond Simulant?

Simply put, a diamond simulant is any gemstone that looks like a diamond but is not a diamond. They might have similar gemological characteristics: their color and clarity is similar to that of diamond, and it can be cut like a diamond to create similar optical effects (brightness, fire, and scintillation). Most diamond simulants are also lab-grown, but they have a different chemical structure, and thus different (and to most eyes, inferior) optical qualities. To the untrained eye and at a distance, a diamond simulant can easily be mistaken for a diamond, but under closer inspection even that untrained eye will notice that many diamond simulants lack the energetic and dynamic sparkle of a diamond. There is another difference you might not notice for many years: the tiny scratches that accumulate on a stone less hard than diamond, which make it appear duller over time.

Common Diamond Simulants

White topaz is the alternative to the traditional April birthstone, diamond, for a reason, as this gemstone can be as clear as a diamond. But it lacks diamond’s unmistakable sparkle and fire.

Moissanite was first discovered by Henri Moissan in a meteorite in 1893, and for a long time it was believed to only exist in extraterrestrial sources. It has since been discovered in a few terrestrial sources, though it is exceedingly rare. As a result, all moissanite gemstones are lab-grown. It is almost as hard as diamond and is often used as a diamond substitute in industrial applications. It may have a similar appearance and similar uses to diamond, but moissanite is silicon carbide, whereas diamond, whether mined or lab-grown, is pure carbon. Moissanite probably comes closest to imitating diamond’s distinct brilliance, but these stones are often tinted yellow rather than the dazzling white of a colorless diamond.

Cubic Zirconia is a mineral that occurs in nature only under rare circumstances. Gemstone-quality cubic zirconia is synthesized by mixing zirconium oxide powder with magnesium and calcium at high temperature. When it cools, it forms cubic zirconia crystals, the “cubic” in its name referring to the shape of the crystal lattice.

All of these are fine diamond alternatives, not none of them are truly diamonds. They all lack the hardness of diamond (moissanite comes close, rated 9-9.5 on the Mohs scale), and even the untrained eye can see that there’s something lacking—or, at least, something different—in their optical effects. That is what makes diamonds so special: not their rarity, but their unique beauty. And the only thing that can match, and even surpass, a mined diamond in clarity, color, and brilliance is a lab-grown diamond.

There is a company called Aether Diamonds that is selling diamonds made entirely from carbon that’s captured from the air. They claim they are transforming atmospheric CO2 into gem-grade diamonds, potentially removing this harmful substance from the planet and offsetting the carbon  footprint related to the other power sources needed to run a manufacturing facility.

The diamond trade in general - including mined diamond operations - is estimated to produce at least 12 million tons of C02 emissions each year. Mining operations have only begun to implement initiatives to reduce their carbon footprint.

In the lab-grown sector of the diamond  business, a lot of electric power is required for production. Many lab-grown companies today are buying clean energy to power their manufacturing processes. But there are still carbon emissions related to manufacturing and shipping goods, and diamond growers who desire to be carbon-neutral have to set off those emissions in other ways.

Has Aether diamonds found a solution that could effectively make lab-grown diamonds carbon negative? 

Aether captures C02 using atmospheric collectors, and they pull the C02 into specialized filters. Next, the C02 is synthesized into a usable hydrocarbon that is ideal for  growing diamonds, and this hydrocarbon is placed into reactors that are used to generate new diamond material.

Right now Aether diamonds are only available through their own diamond jewelry collection on their website consisting of a few dozen styles, and at the time of this writing, there were only 15 loose diamonds available on their site for sale. This is consistent with small growing operations, which typically are using one or two growing machines and as a result have much smaller production  capabilities.

As far as we can tell, there has been no 3rd party verification of these claims, but scientifically what they are claiming is certainly possible. Even though Aether appears to be in its earliest growth phase, this is an exciting development on the lab-grown diamond front; one which we should all keep an eye on as lab-grown diamonds continue to develop as both a beautiful jewelry option and an exciting growth technology. 

At the end of the 1800s, two French scientists made independent discoveries that would, over the course of a century, revolutionize the gemstone trade. In 1883, Auguste Verneuil produced lab-grown corundum (the mineral form of ruby and sapphire) using a flame fusion technique now known as the Verneuil process, and ten years later, Henri Moissan grew the first lab-grown diamonds using an electric-arc furnace that could reach temperatures of 3500°C.

Though by the early 20th century the Verneuil process was yielding gemstone quality rubies and sapphires, the technology behind lab-grown diamonds was not yet advanced enough to create gemstone-quality diamonds. That is, the diamonds these early methods yielded were too small, too dark, and too opaque to use as gemstones. But research continued, only briefly halted by the outbreak of World War II.

A major breakthrough occurred in 1954, when a General Electric engineer named Tracy Hall invented the belt press. His invention allowed GE to grow diamonds by subjecting carbon to higher levels of heat and pressure than had been previously possible. These diamonds, however, were still not gemstone quality. But that doesn’t mean these diamonds were useless. Lab-grown diamonds found use in industrial applications, whether as an abrasive or as a coating for saw blades.

Today, there are primarily two methods for producing lab-grown diamonds: Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) and High Pressure, High Temperature (HPHT). Both of these methods were developed shortly after World War II, and by the 1990s, both methods were growing diamonds of the highest quality. At Primo Diamonds, we use the HPHT method, which mimics the way diamonds are grown inside the Earth. 

Chemical Vapor Deposition

The CVD method is used in a variety of manufacturing settings, from polymers to electronics. Growing a diamond using the CVD method involves placing a diamond substrate or “seed” inside a low-pressure chamber. The chamber is filled with hydrocarbon gas and flooded with heat in the form of microwave energy or electricity. The heat then breaks the hydrocarbon gas into atomic hydrogen and carbon. The hydrogen from the gas gives the diamond a stable environment in which to grow, while the carbon bonds with the diamond seed, adding layer after layer of pure carbon, growing a diamond crystal one atom at a time.

Success using this method was first reported in the 1950s, though the process was not replicated until the 1960s and was unable to grow gemstone quality diamonds until the 1980s. Until recently, results using the CVD method were inconsistent, but changes to the types of gasses and seed crystals used have vastly improved the quality of CVD lab-grown diamonds.

High Pressure, High Temperature

Once 18th and 19th century geologists discovered how heat and pressure formed minerals deep inside Earth’s crust, scientists such as Moissan set out to replicate those conditions in the laboratory. The HPHT method used today is a further development of the original method pioneered by Moissan. After Hall’s invention of the belt press, GE continued to research lab-grown diamonds, finally growing gemstone-quality diamonds using the HPHT method in 1970.

Over the years, different types of presses capable of producing higher temperature and pressure environments have been developed, but the concept behind them remains the same. Just as in nature, graphite (carbon) is subjected to extreme heat and pressure, which crystalizes as a diamond. The process takes millions of years in nature, but only a few weeks in the lab.

The acronym “HPHT” can be a source of confusion in the context of diamonds. There is also a treatment process called HPHT, in which a mined diamond is subjected to heat and pressure to enhance its color. This is entirely different from HPHT as a method for growing a diamond. Primo Diamonds sells only “as-grown” HPHT lab-grown diamonds. That means our diamonds undergo no post-growth treatment.

CVD, HPHT…Which One Grows Better Diamonds?

Though the above processes are based on vastly divergent principles, there’s nothing in their results that immediately suggests that one method is better than the other. Generally, the HPHT method can grow diamonds in a wider range of color, and HPHT typically produces a better "colorless" diamond, while CVD diamonds tend to have a more brown-to-dull pink color. It is for this reason that Primo Diamonds chooses to sell only HPHT diamonds that are "as-grown," which means there are no post-growth treatments. Both methods are capable of producing D color (almost colorless) diamonds of the highest clarity, identical in color, clarity, and hardness to the finest diamonds that can be mined.

Diamonds, like all gemstones, are judged on the 4 Cs: color, clarity, cut, and carat, and both methods produce diamonds that score high in all categories. No one can tell a CVD lab-grown diamond from an HPHT lab-grown diamond from a mined diamond with the naked eye. Even an experienced gemologist might not be able to tell the difference under magnification. The only way to tell a lab-grown diamond from a mined diamond is with an expensive procedure that tests the amount of nitrogen inside the diamond. Whatever the method, today’s lab-grown diamonds are consistently high in quality. When you buy a Primo lab-grown diamond, you can request an IGI grading report so you know exactly what you’re getting.

Lab-grown diamonds (LGD) have been widely available to consumers since about the mid-2010s, and for a number of reasons, they are becoming a popular alternative to mined diamonds. Their lower price is certainly one reason for the interest in LGD, but it may also lead consumers to believe that LGD are of lower quality than mined diamonds. You’ll often read that both mined and lab-grown diamonds have the same chemical composition and optical properties, but what exactly does that mean? Let’s talk about the differences and similarities between mined and lab-grown diamonds (and there are far more similarities!), and how one could go about telling one from the other.

What Is a Diamond?

The definition of “diamond,” according to the Federal Trade Commission, is “a mineral consisting essentially of pure carbon crystallized in the isometric system.” So while for commercial purposes anyone selling a diamond must clarify whether the diamond came out of the ground or a laboratory, the two types of diamond are essentially chemically identical. The two instances of “essentially” in this paragraph might seem like a weasel word concealing vast differences, but when the FTC says a diamond is ”essentially” pure carbon, they mean that a diamond is about 99.95% carbon. Trace elements and other compounds that get trapped inside the crystal during growth comprise the other 0.05%. This is true of both mined and lab-grown diamonds, and in many cases, lab-grown diamonds are more pure than mined diamonds.

Trace Elements and Inclusions

The trace elements found in diamonds are typically nitrogen and boron because of the ease with which these elements bond with carbon. Nitrogen can give a diamond a yellow tint, while boron turns a diamond blue. Mined diamonds contain more nitrogen than lab-grown diamonds, but since lab-grown diamonds can also be yellow (or any other color that diamonds can be), one cannot conclude that a diamond is a mined diamond just by looking at its color.

Both mined and lab-grown diamonds contain inclusions. An inclusion is any material trapped inside the mineral during growth, usually tiny pockets or bubbles of gas or liquid, though it’s not uncommon to find other minerals or crystals trapped within another mineral. Since lab-grown diamonds are grown in a molten metal solution, lab-grown diamonds tend to have more metallic inclusions, though the presence of metallic inclusions is not exclusive to lab-grown diamonds. Part of the art of growing diamonds involves reducing inclusions, as they can diminish the clarity of the diamond.

Fluorescence

When exposed to ultraviolet (UV light), about 35% of mined diamonds exhibit a phenomenon called fluorescence. Colorless lab-grown diamonds never exhibit fluorescence, but fancy-color LGD do. So while not all diamonds exhibit fluorescence, a colorless diamond that does exhibit fluorescence is most likely a mined diamond.

Is fluorescence a desirable characteristic? Whether fluorescence adds to or detracts from a diamond’s appearance is up for debate. While blue fluorescence can cancel out a diamond’s yellow tint and make it appear colorless, strong fluorescence can make a diamond appear hazy, lowering its desirable clarity.

Growth Morphology

Every crystal exhibits a particular growth morphology depending on the type of crystal and the solution in which it grows. Both mined diamonds and lab-grown diamonds grown using the HTHP method, grow in a molten solution mostly composed of iron. For CVD lab-grown diamonds, the solution is a hydrocarbon gas.

The different solutions these different types of diamonds are grown in results in different crystal shapes. Mined diamonds grow in an octahedral shape (an octahedron is an 8-sided polyhedron: picture two pyramids back to back). Diamonds grown using the HPHT method grow into a cuboctohedron, or a 14-sided polyhedron whose faces are a combination of hexagons and squares. Finally, diamonds grown using the CVD method grow into a cubic shape. If the diamond is already cut, of course, you won’t be able to tell what the shape of the rough diamond was, and lab-grown diamonds can be cut into any shape a mined diamond can.

Optical Properties

When we talk about the optical properties of gemstones, we are referring to the way light interacts with the stone. Optical properties are broken down into brightness, fire, and scintillation.

• Brightness: the reflection of white light
• Fire: the scattering of white light into other colors
• Scintillation: the sparkling pattern of light and shadow on a gem’s face.

These factors depend on the gemstone’s cut. A mined diamond and a lab-grown diamond of the same size, color, cut, and clarity will exhibit the same optical properties. Given this fact, there would be no way to tell if a cut and set diamond were a mined diamond or a lab-grown diamond.

Infrared Spectroscopy

It would be reasonable to conclude from all of this that most people probably couldn’t tell the difference between a mined diamond and a lab-grown diamond. They both have the same chemical composition, they both can contain inclusions, and they both exhibit the same optical properties, the presence or absence of fluorescence doesn’t tell us anything definitive, and though the rough crystals grow in different shapes, the cut and polished end products are the same. The average person looking at your ring won’t ever know—that is, if they’re even aware of the existence of lab-grown diamonds.

One of the only truly reliable ways to tell the difference between a mined and a lab-grown diamond is to have a gemologist conduct an infrared spectroscopy test. Different elements absorb different wavelengths of light. With a spectroscope, a gemologist can analyze the wavelengths of light that are absorbed by the gemstone to determine the presence of elements other than carbon. It can also determine the exact concentrations of these impurities, which will differ depending on both the type of diamond and the origin of the diamond.

The Differences? Not Many.

Aside from an expensive spectroscopy analysis performed by an experienced gemologist, you’d be hard-pressed to tell a mined diamond from a lab-grown diamond. The bottom line is that lab-grown diamonds have the same unmistakable character and the same durability as mined diamonds. Whether you buy mined or lab-grown diamonds comes down to personal preference and budget. But no matter what kind of diamond you buy, you should make sure to receive a grading report. All Primo Lab-Grown Diamonds come with an IGI grading report detailing the origins and quality of your diamond.

Gemstones are among nature’s most enchanting creations, but being buried deep below mountains and hidden inside rocks, their beauty has always been hard to reach. In the ancient world, from China to India to Greece, and during the Middle Ages in both Europe and the Muslim world, ambitious experimenters sought to circumvent this difficulty by attempting to transform “base” metals into precious metals. But as those pursuits proved fruitless, duplicitous merchants would simply substitute one gemstone for another, as reported by 17th century Flemish mineralogist Anselmus Boetius, who warned gemstone buyers that white topaz could easily be mistaken for diamond. Likewise, in the Victorian era, flint glass, a variety of glass that sparkles when faceted, was used to imitate a variety of gemstones. Even today, there are numerous diamond simulants on the market, such as moissanite and cubic zirconia.

But what if we didn’t have to imitate? What if we could grow the real thing, just like nature? By the middle of the 19th century, modern chemistry had the potential to make the dreams of classical and Medieval alchemists into reality. Yet the greatest prize of all, a lab-grown diamond, would remain elusive for some time. It would take a lot of research and a little luck to get from the small and dull lab-grown diamonds of the 1890s to the large and brilliant diamonds being grown over a hundred years later, diamonds that rival nature’s greatest creations.

Early Experiments with Gemstones

Before Auguste Verneuil pioneered the Verneuil process for producing lab-grown sapphires and rubies, before Henri Moissan grew the first diamonds in his electric arc furnace, European merchants were selling lab-grown or modified gemstones produced by various methods. One early method involved simply melting down two rubies and recrystallizing them as one large ruby.

These techniques were largely informed by previous discoveries in chemistry and geology. Before the late 18th century, most naturalists believed that geological formations were the result of a great flood. But a few naturalists, such as Georges-Louis Leclerc and James Hutton, argued that geological strata—layers of rock of different age and composition—were the result of heat working deep below the Earth’s surface. These new insights, taken with early 19th century discoveries concerning the ways heat and pressure interacted with gases, led to a more accurate understanding of the formation of rocks—and eventually, the first forays into lab-grown gemstones.

Verneuil’s process was relatively simple. Chemists of the day had discovered that corundum, the mineral form of ruby and sapphire, consists of aluminum and oxygen. In the Verneuil process, aluminum oxide (Al2O3) is crushed into a powder, funneled through a tube toward a flame, and melted. The droplets of melted Al2O3 then fall onto a spinning rod, where they crystalize into a cylinder of rough gemstone. Different elements could be added to the recipe to make different colors: chromium yields a red ruby, while titanium and iron are responsible for the deep blue of a sapphire.

These lab-grown rubies and sapphires found widespread application in watchmaking, not as decoration, but as internal parts. Watches require bearings that can withstand constant use while maintaining accuracy. Corundum is an extremely durable mineral that produces little friction and needs no lubrication, making it perfect for the job. The ability to reproduce these stones in the lab made watchmaking much more cost-effective.

The First Lab-Grown Diamonds

Just as these early lab-grown stones were not always gemstone-quality, early lab-grown diamonds were too small and dull to be of any value. The method used by Moissan could not generate the necessary heat and pressure to produce anything else. Moissan used an electric arc furnace, invented in 1888 by Scottish chemist James Burgess Readman. This furnace used, as its name suggests, an arc of electricity that could heat a furnace up to 3500°C. Moissan heated charcoal in molten iron in this furnace, and then cooled the iron quickly in water. The rapid cooling of the iron produced the pressure necessary to crystallize the charcoal, forming a diamond. The process works because both charcoal and diamond are forms of carbon. The difference is that the carbon atoms in charcoal are randomly arranged in curved sheets, while the carbon atoms in diamond take on a three-dimensional crystal lattice structure. (Experiments such as this, perhaps, may also be the source of the misunderstanding that diamonds come from coal.)

Other scientists would claim to have replicated Moissan’s experiment over the next three decades, but there were few verifiable examples of lab-grown diamonds, and the diamonds that could be verified were still of poor quality. It would take one crucial technological advance in the postwar era before lab-grown diamonds could truly become a viable industry: the belt press.

Continuing Advances

After being interrupted by World War II, research into lab-grown diamonds resumed around the world, mostly in secret. In 1953, a Swedish manufacturing company grew a small diamond in a precursor to the split-sphere press, but they did not publicize their achievement. They were under the impression that no one else in the world was conducting this type of research. A year later, General Electric engineer Tracy Hall invented the belt press, a machine capable of producing 1.5 million pounds per square inch of pressure and temperatures of over 1600°C. Though that temperature is far lower than that of Moissan’s electric arc furnace, the pressure is significantly higher—enough to crystallize carbon and grow diamonds. It was precisely the replicable, verifiable advance needed to kickstart the lab-grown diamond industry. According to a Los Angeles Times article from 2008, Hall was awarded a $10 savings bond for his efforts.

These diamonds—still not gemstone-quality!—found a home in industry. Being the hardest known substance, diamond dust makes for an excellent abrasive. Saw blades used for cutting metal are often coated with a layer of diamond, and diamond scalpels are used in eye surgery and other delicate medical operations that require a high degree of precision.

By the 1970s, GE had refined their High Pressure, High Temperature (HPHT) process to the point where they could finally grow gemstone-quality diamonds. At the same time, other researchers were experimenting with Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), a low-temperature method of growing diamonds. Today, HPHT and CVD remain the primary methods of growing diamonds from a seed. The challenges both methods faced involved removing impurities and creating a suitably stable environment for crystal growth. No matter the method, both temperatures and pressures had to remain constant. Further research into the formation of diamond helped in this regard. In the early 1980s, different geologists published papers on the precise depth, temperature, and pressure at which diamonds grew in nature. (You can read more about HPHT and CVD here.)

According to Marty Hurwitz, CEO of MVI Marketing LLC, “Critical mass of consumer interest is now converging with increasing acceptance of lab-grown diamonds by retailers. This unique moment in time will propel growth for many years to come.” MVI conducted a study in 2019 that indicated that 66% of millennials actively shopping for engagement rings would consider a lab-grown diamond, largely driven by the perception that they can get a larger, better-quality lab-grown diamond for the same or better price as a smaller diamond.

Lab-grown diamonds are not a new concept. They were first introduced in the 1950s. But these diamonds are a relatively new phenomenon in the diamond industry, because it took nearly 50 years to produce lab-grown diamonds with sufficient depth and quality to be used for jewelry purposes. They are made in laboratories using a process called chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or high-pressure-high-temperature (HPHT).

There has been a lot of debate about lab-grown diamonds and how they compare to natural diamonds. Lab-grown diamonds are the same chemical composition as natural diamonds, but they are created under controlled conditions in a production environment.

The reasons people choose lab-grown diamonds are fairly broad. Some consumers like the variety of colors they come in. Fancy pink and blue diamonds do happen in nature, but they are so rare that they are extremely expensive. Color production in the lab is more predictable and controllable, making colorful lab-grown diamonds an affordable choice.

Some people are completely enamored of the technical aspect of lab-grown diamonds. Just as they get excited about a new iPhone, smart watch, or smart home technology, they like the idea of buying a product that is precious and rare in nature, but which humans have figured out how to produce in a laboratory environment.

Some people prefer lab-grown diamonds because of their concerns about mining. Particularly during this time of increased awareness of the dangers of global warming, mining’s impact on deforestation and water pollution is something to be aware of. But it should also be noted that growing diamonds in a manufacturing environment demands a great deal of electricity. So unless the grower has committed to being carbon neutral (which some have), a lab-grown diamond isn’t inherently more responsible than a mining operation.

And finally, many prefer lab-grown diamonds for the price. While the number of companies that have the capacity to mine natural diamonds at scale is quite small and the barrier to entry is high, lab-grown diamonds are much easier to produce and there are far more producers of lab-grown diamonds. This means that the price of a lab-grown diamond is significantly lower than a mined diamond of the same specifications. Consumers have discovered that they can get a lab-grown diamond for between $800 - $1200 per carat, compared to natural diamonds which tend to be $3200 - $3600 per carat.

Lab-grown diamonds are not simply a replacement for a natural diamond. Natural diamonds have thousands of years of history as a symbol of wealth and preciousness, and the association between diamonds and romance has been strongly established. Don’t expect mined diamonds to go away! But research has indicated diamond consumers are interested in owning both natural and lab-grown diamonds for their diamond wardrobe. Part of the appeal may be that it’s completely impossible to tell with the naked eye if a diamond is mined or lab-grown. But part of the appeal is that a woman can expand her diamond wardrobe to include more diamond styles by including lab-grown in the mix.

Lab-grown diamonds also bring a new buyer to the diamond market … a person who did not consider diamonds interesting before due to reasons related to price or social or environmental impact. These buyers represent an entirely new market for jewelry stores that offer both types of diamonds.

The difference in consumer awareness about lab-grown diamonds has changed dramatically in just the past five years. When speaking to consumers about their jewelry needs, keep in mind the many reasons that a lab-grown diamond may be of interest to them, and offer lab-grown as an option when you suspect that it will fit with that consumer’s values and interests.