Lab-Grown Diamonds Are Real. The Origin Is Different.
Lab-grown diamonds are diamonds. What changes is not the material, but where and how it came to be.
Lab-grown diamonds possess essentially the same chemical composition, crystal structure, physical properties and optical characteristics as diamonds formed naturally within the earth. The difference is origin: one grows under controlled technological conditions; the other forms through geological processes.
What makes a diamond a diamond?
Diamond is a crystalline form of carbon with a distinctive crystal structure and physical properties. A lab-grown diamond meets that definition.
Lab-grown diamonds are not diamond simulants
A lab-grown diamond is diamond. Moissanite is silicon carbide. Cubic zirconia is a different manufactured material. Calling lab-grown diamonds “fake” confuses a different origin with a different substance.
Can you see the difference?
Comparable lab-grown and mined diamonds can look the same to the unaided eye. Gemological laboratories use specialized instruments and growth-related characteristics to establish origin.
Do lab-grown diamonds test as diamonds?
Basic diamond testers can confirm diamond-like thermal or electrical properties but are not always sufficient to establish natural versus laboratory-grown origin.
Are they graded the same way?
Lab-grown diamonds are evaluated using familiar quality concepts such as the 4Cs, while reports also identify laboratory-grown origin and may disclose growth method or post-growth treatment.
So what is the real difference?
Origin. The consumer decision is not “real versus fake”; it is a choice between two origins of diamond and the different economics, provenance and sourcing considerations that accompany them.
Frequently asked questions
Are lab diamonds fake?
No. They are diamonds.
Are they chemically the same?
They share essentially the same diamond chemistry and crystal structure.
Can experts distinguish them?
Yes, with appropriate gemological testing.