Lab Grown vs Natural Diamonds: What's Actually Different?
Short answer: chemically and optically, nothing. A lab grown diamond is the same carbon crystal as a mined one: same hardness, same sparkle, same way it passes a diamond tester. The real differences are how it was made (grown in a lab vs. dug from the earth), what it costs, and how it holds resale value. Here's the honest breakdown.
Are lab grown diamonds real diamonds?
Yes. A lab grown diamond is a diamond: pure crystallized carbon, graded on the same 4Cs (cut, color, clarity, carat) by the same labs. It is not a simulant. Cubic zirconia and moissanite are different materials that imitate the look of diamond; a lab grown diamond is diamond. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission requires sellers to disclose that a stone is lab grown, which is why you'll see "lab grown," "lab-created," or "laboratory-grown" on honest listings, including ours.
How they're made
| Natural diamond | Lab grown diamond | |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Formed over ~1–3 billion years, mined from the earth | Grown in weeks in a controlled facility (CVD or HPHT) |
| Material | Crystallized carbon | Crystallized carbon (identical) |
| Hardness | 10 on the Mohs scale | 10 on the Mohs scale |
| Graded by | IGI / GIA on the 4Cs | IGI / GIA on the 4Cs |
| Passes a diamond tester | Yes | Yes |
CVD (chemical vapor deposition) and HPHT (high pressure, high temperature) are the two ways labs grow diamonds. Both produce real diamond; the method is mostly relevant to gemologists, not to how the finished stone looks on your hand.
Price
This is where most buyers feel the difference. A lab grown diamond of a given size and quality costs substantially less than a mined diamond of the same specs, which is why the same budget buys a larger or higher-quality stone.
We'd rather you choose a lab grown diamond because you love the stone and the value makes sense, not because it's "cheap." A 2-carat, colorless, eye-clean diamond that fits an ordinary engagement-ring budget is a genuinely good thing, however it's framed.
Resale value: the honest part
Here's what a lot of sellers skip: lab grown diamonds hold little resale value. Lab grown supply is growing and prices have been falling, so the second-hand market pays far less than you paid. Natural diamonds resell better, though usually still well below their original retail price.
So is that a reason to buy natural? Only if you're treating the stone as a financial asset, and most people buying an engagement ring aren't. The value of a lab grown diamond is in wearing it: more size, more quality, more color for your money, on a stone that's real in every physical sense. If resale is genuinely your priority, a natural diamond (or a different asset entirely) is the more honest choice. We'd rather tell you that than oversell.
Which should you choose?
- Choose lab grown if you want the most diamond (size, clarity, or color) for your budget, and you're buying to wear, not to resell.
- Choose natural if the billion-year origin story matters to you personally, or if resale value is a real factor in your decision.
There's no wrong answer; there's just what you're optimizing for.
A note on sustainability
You'll see lab grown marketed as "eco-friendly" or "conflict-free." The honest version: lab grown diamonds are created in a controlled facility rather than mined, which avoids mining. Their environmental footprint depends on the energy used to grow them. We'd rather describe what's verifiable than make a blanket green claim.
FAQ
- Can a jeweler tell a lab grown diamond from a natural one? Not by eye. It takes specialized equipment, and the IGI/GIA report (and laser inscription on the girdle) identifies it.
- Do lab grown diamonds get cloudy or fade? No. They're as durable as mined diamonds and don't change over time.
- Are lab grown diamonds certified? Yes. At Caraluxa, lab grown diamonds 1 carat and above come with an IGI report you can verify online.