How are Lab Diamonds Made?

Lab grown diamonds are wildly popular nowadays. Several reasons make consumers gravitate to this stone and it’s pretty straightforward. At first, the beauty of lab-grown diamonds surpasses that of many natural earth-mined diamonds. When we buy earth mined diamonds, we are most often deciding which of the 4Cs are most important to us with our purchase. We all have a budget when shopping for diamonds, no matter how big it is. So, we may choose a lower color grade to stay within our price range. Maybe you found a diamond you like in your budget because its lower in clarity. All those traits impact the value of a diamond.

What if you didn’t have to settle for anything? What if you could get a spectacularly clean diamond and the color was close to D? Those cost in the 6-figures to be sure. But if you have a lab grown diamond, you can get extraordinarily clean diamonds, with high color. Plus, you will be able to get a much larger diamond than you ever dreamed possible. The final bonus, and it’s a big one, is that lab-grown diamonds are much more affordable than their natural earth mined counterparts.

With all those terrific benefits of a lab diamond, you may wonder how in the world do they create these attractive stones?

It might surprise you to learn that lab grown diamonds are not a new thing—even though they may seem new. Scientists began experimenting with creating diamonds in a laboratory way back in the 1950s for industrial application. When they were successful, they turned their attention to creating larger crystals for jewelry applications. And they did! Today, you can get large size lab diamonds in all the popular shapes –just the same as natural diamonds.

Now that they are widely available to retail consumers, this beauty is getting broad awareness to the public. But still, most people have no idea how lab diamonds are made. And to the point, they don’t know if lab diamonds are ‘real’ or if they are some sort of imitation or diamond simulant.

Let’s sort an important concern out. Are lab diamonds real diamonds? Yes, the simple answer is yes—but one must say they are synthetic diamonds or real created diamonds. The reason is that they have the same physical, optical, and chemical structure as earth-mined diamonds. It takes a professional to be able to tell the difference between a lab grown diamond and a natural stone.

Because they share the same, physical, optical, and chemical traits as a natural diamond, they have they handle light just like a natural diamond. Diamonds are also celebrated for their hardness. And both earth-mined diamonds and lab grown (or created) diamonds have the same hardness. What does that mean for the jewelry lover? The hardness of a gemstone is directly related to how it will maintain its beauty throughout time. The harder the stone, the more brilliant it will remain decade after decade. So, collectors of both natural and lab diamonds can rest assured their diamonds will look as gorgeous years from now—just like the moment they first laid eyes on it.

To create a lab diamond, the scientists had to replicate exactly what a diamond is composed of. They were not looking to make an imitation, or a stimulant, or just some colorless look alike.

Natural diamonds are composed of one element, carbon. This material which was located some 125 miles below the surface of the earth under conditions of both high pressure and extremely hot temperatures transformed the lowly carbon into the colorless transparent diamonds that have kept people hypnotized for thousands of years.

So, to create a real diamond, scientists had to duplicate its original creation. Using minuscule diamond ‘seeds’—which are nothing more than microscopic diamond particles, scientists enclose these seeds in containment vessels inside a specially created laboratory. These containers are then subjected to conditions of intense heat and pressure for about a month. In short, they are replicating in a lab what happened on the earth over several billion years. In the lab, however, a diamond can be created in the space of about a month.

This extraordinary technical feat has made the scientific community marvel. Through persistent research and development, technology has brought us lab grown diamonds today. They are high clarity, high color, and produced in large carat sizes, in all the popular shapes that diamond lovers ask for. With lab grown diamonds, it’s not an ‘either-or’ situation. Many natural diamond collectors also wear lab grown diamonds. Each has its own story and charm. So why not collect both? And with lab diamonds, beauty and budget are not mutually exclusive terms. Quality lab diamonds exhibit very high clarity grades plus are produced in high colors for an exceptionally brilliant gemstone. Their affordability makes them super attractive—there’s no reason to hold off buying a large carat size diamond when you’re shopping for lab-grown diamonds.

Their sustainability is important to many shoppers today. No mining had to occur to produce these—there’s never a concern about human rights infringement with lab grown diamonds. Because the earth is not disturbed, there is no negative impact to our planet in that way with lab grown diamonds. They are sustainable, affordable, and most of all gorgeous. Lab grown diamonds may be just what you’ve been looking for!