Are Lab-Grown Diamonds Real Diamonds? Every Question, Answered Straight
These are the questions people actually type into Google — and ask us by email — about lab-grown diamonds. Straight answers, no spin.
How do lab-grown diamonds compare with mined diamonds?
A lab-grown diamond is crystallised carbon — the same substance, hardness (10 on the Mohs scale), and optical behaviour as a mined diamond. The US Federal Trade Commission formally recognises them as diamonds, and independent laboratories such as IGI grade them on the same 4C scales as mined stones. "Lab-grown" describes where it was formed, not what it is.
Can a jeweller tell the difference?
Not by looking. Telling a lab-grown diamond from a mined one requires specialist laboratory equipment examining trace elements — a loupe won't do it, and neither will a standard diamond tester, which reads lab-grown stones as diamond (because they are). If someone claims they can spot one across a counter, they can't.
Will they cloud, fade or stop sparkling?
No. This myth belongs to cubic zirconia, which is a different, softer material that genuinely does dull with wear. A diamond — grown or mined — is the hardest known natural material and keeps its fire for a lifetime with basic care. (Our care guide covers the ten-second routine.)
Is lab-grown the same as moissanite or cubic zirconia?
No, and this matters. Moissanite is silicon carbide; cubic zirconia is zirconium dioxide. Different materials, different hardness, visibly different sparkle to a trained eye. Every stone we set is a lab-grown diamond, stated plainly on every product page.
Why do they cost less if they're identical?
Because the price of a mined diamond carries its journey — extraction, sorting, multiple traders, traditional retail — and a lab-grown stone skips most of it. Identical product, shorter supply chain. That's the entire trick, and it's in your favour: the same budget buys a larger stone, a finer cut, or purer gold (we start at 14kt — here's why that matters).
Do lab-grown diamonds hold their value?
Here's the honest answer the industry avoids: no diamond reliably resells near its retail price — mined stones included. The "diamonds are an investment" story has always been better marketing than maths. Buy a diamond to wear and love, not as an asset. We'd rather tell you that plainly than sell you a myth.
How are they sourced?
Grown, not mined. Each diamond is grown from a tiny diamond seed in a controlled laboratory — no mine and no digging, yet the same crystal you'd find in the ground. We then set it into a piece made to order for you, in your size and your metal, rather than one taken off a shelf. You'll see environmental percentages quoted elsewhere; we leave them out, because they depend on how each stone was grown and we only tell you what we can prove.
Are they graded and certified like mined diamonds?
Yes — independent laboratories such as IGI grade them on the same 4C scales as mined diamonds. Since October 2025, GIA rates lab-grown diamonds only as "Premium" or "Standard". Any piece with a centre stone of 1ct or over comes with an individual IGI grading report as standard, at no extra cost and with no extra time added to your order. Multi-stone designs like tennis bracelets aren't individually certified, because a grading report describes a single centre stone rather than a set of small ones.
Still curious? The full science is on our lab-grown diamonds page, real pieces start from £79 in the Silver & Lab-Grown Diamond edit, and we answer every email personally.