Lab Grown Diamonds — What You Need to Know
Lab Grown Diamonds · Oceanside, NY
A lab grown diamond has the same chemical composition, crystal structure, hardness and optical properties as a mined diamond. It is not a simulant like moissanite or cubic zirconia, which only resemble one. The difference is where it formed, and what it costs.
Below is how they are grown, how they are graded, and how to think about the choice. When you are ready, our GIA Graduate Gemologists will put a lab grown and a natural stone in front of you at the same grade so you can decide with both in hand.
|
IGI & GIA
Graded lab grown diamonds
|
2,500+
Five-star Google reviews
|
GIA
Graduate Gemologists on staff
|
Since 2003
Locally owned & locally loved
|
How They Are Grown and Graded
Two growing methods
High Pressure High Temperature, or HPHT, places a small diamond seed in a chamber replicating the heat and pressure found deep in the earth, and the crystal grows atom by atom. Chemical Vapor Deposition, or CVD, grows the stone from a carbon-rich gas in a controlled chamber. Both produce rough that is cut and polished using the same techniques as mined stones, yielding the same brilliance, fire and scintillation.
Diamond type, and what it says on your report
Diamond type describes the trace impurities in the crystal, mainly nitrogen. Type II stones have no nitrogen detectable by infrared spectroscopy, and all colorless lab grown diamonds are type II. CVD-grown stones are usually type IIa, a classification found in roughly two percent of natural gem diamonds. One thing worth knowing before you read your report: IGI writes Type IIa for CVD stones but Type II without the suffix for colorless HPHT stones, because separating IIa from IIb takes analysis beyond standard grading. A report reading Type II is not a lesser stone.
An actual IGI Laboratory Grown Diamond Report. The Comments section names the growth process and the diamond type. Report number redacted.
Grading reports, not certificates
Lab grown diamonds are graded by independent laboratories including IGI and GIA against the same 4C standards used for natural stones: cut, color, clarity and carat weight. Every report discloses lab grown origin. Worth knowing: there is no such thing as a diamond certificate. GIA and IGI issue grading reports, and anyone using the word certificate is being loose with the terminology. We will walk you through what each grade actually means for the stone in front of you.
Telling them apart
Not by eye, and not with standard gemological tools. Separating a lab grown stone from a natural one requires specialized equipment, which is exactly why the grading report matters. SVS is an American Gem Society Accredited Gem Lab, which means AGS has verified that we maintain a gem laboratory on the premises, supervised by a credentialed gemologist, equipped to a published standard that includes lab grown diamond screening and detection. Ours is a Yehuda Sherlock AI, and we use it to screen natural stones against CVD and HPHT lab grown, moissanite and cubic zirconia. We do not issue origin grading reports, that is what IGI and GIA are for, but bring in a stone and we can screen and evaluate it while you wait. At the same grade, side by side, the two look the same.
A darkfield binocular microscope is one of the instruments the American Gem Society requires of an Accredited Gem Lab.
Which Is Right For You
Lab grown diamonds typically offer more size and quality for the same budget as a natural stone. Natural diamonds have historically held their value differently over time. Neither is the wrong answer. It depends on whether you are optimizing for the stone on the hand today or for something else entirely, and that is a personal call.
One concrete difference worth knowing before you decide. Our Natural Diamond Upgrade Program lets you trade your center stone toward a larger natural diamond later on. As the name says, it applies to natural diamonds only, on engagement rings and studs, and it covers the center stone rather than the setting. Lab grown diamonds are not eligible. That is not an argument for one over the other, it is simply a real factor, and it is worth weighing before you choose.
Our GIA Graduate Gemologists have this conversation with couples every day and have no stake in which way you go. We carry both, we grade both, and we will tell you plainly what you gain and give up either way. For a longer read, see our lab grown diamonds guide on the blog.
Shop Lab Grown at SVS
|
Loose Lab Grown Diamonds
Search our loose stone inventory by shape, carat, color and clarity. Every stone carries an IGI or GIA grading report disclosing lab grown origin.
Search Loose Diamonds
|
Lab Grown Engagement Rings
Complete engagement rings set with lab grown center stones, ready to try on in our Oceanside showroom or ship the same week.
Shop Engagement Rings
|
|
Everlee Lab Grown Jewelry
Studs, tennis bracelets, pendants and hoops set with lab grown diamonds, at price points that make everyday diamond jewelry practical.
Shop Everlee
|
All Lab Grown Diamond Jewelry
Every piece in the showroom set with lab grown diamonds, across earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings.
Browse All Lab Grown
|
The best way to decide is to see both. Come to our Oceanside showroom and we will put a lab grown and a natural diamond side by side. Same grade, same light, no pressure.