Guide
Diamonds
Lab grown or natural. Both are real diamonds, both sit on our counter, and the right one depends on what you want from the stone. Here is the whole thing without the sales pitch.
Are lab grown diamonds real diamonds?
Yes. Chemically, structurally and optically the same as a stone pulled out of the ground. The only difference is where it was made. One took billions of years in the earth, the other took a few weeks in a laboratory. A lab diamond is not a fake diamond and it is not a simulant. It is diamond.
Measured side by side
Every property that matters is identical
- Chemical composition
- Carbon
- Mohs hardness
- 10
- Refractive index
- 2.42
- Crystal structure
- Cubic
- Dispersion
- 0.044
- Density
- 3.52
Telling them apart takes laboratory equipment. Specialists look for nitrogen: natural stones pick up traces of it as they form, lab stones contain none.
How a lab diamond is grown
Two methods, both a few weeks from seed to rough. Both produce stones that are chemically and optically identical to natural.
CVD
Chemical Vapour Deposition
Carbon rich gas is broken down in a chamber and the carbon settles onto a seed, building the crystal layer by layer.
HPHT
High Pressure, High Temperature
Carbon is dissolved under heat and pressure that copy the conditions in the earth's mantle, then crystallises around a seed.
What each one costs
A lab diamond runs 60% to 85% below a natural stone of the same carat and the same grades. Not because it is a lesser stone, but because it can be made to order and a mine cannot.
| Diamond | Cut | Colour | Clarity | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1ct Natural | Excellent | D | VVS2 | £5,500 to £7,000 |
| 1ct Lab | Excellent | D | VVS2 | £1,100 to £1,500 |
Guide prices for loose stones. Market rates move, so we quote on the day.
So which one should you pick?
We sell both and we are not going to push you either way. These are the facts. The rest is what you want from the stone.
Go lab if
- Two to three times the carat weight for the same budget.
- Same cut, colour and clarity grades as natural, at the top end.
- Ready in weeks, so a bespoke build is not waiting on a stone.
- No conflict stone question to ask.
- Far less land disturbed than mining.
Go natural if
- Holds its resale position. Lab stones have no track record yet.
- Finite supply, which is what the price has always reflected.
- Billions of years in the ground, if origin matters to you.
- Well run mines are the income of the communities around them.
FAQS
Roughly two to three times the carat weight for the same money, at the same cut, colour and clarity grades. That is the main reason people choose lab, and it is why a budget that buys a 1ct natural will often buy a 2.5ct lab.
Yes, and you should not buy one that is not. Look for GIA or IGI. Both laser inscribe a number on the girdle that matches the certificate, readable at 50x magnification, and IGI marks lab stones as lab grown alongside it.
Nobody knows yet. Lab stones are too new for a resale track record. Natural diamonds hold their position better because supply is finite. Worth saying plainly: any diamond, lab or natural, resells for less than you paid.
They remove the conflict stone question, but it depends on the producer. Some labs run on renewable energy and some do not. Natural mining uses far more land, though a well run mine supports the community around it. We will tell you where a stone came from before you buy it.
No. Moissanite and cubic zirconia are simulants. They are different materials that are made to look like diamond. A lab diamond is diamond. Simulants give themselves away on sparkle: cubic zirconia goes dull and can yellow with age, and moissanite throws rainbow flashes and looks hazy at larger sizes.
Yes, and we would rather you did. Come to the Hatton Garden counter and we will put the same design in front of you with a lab stone and a natural stone in it. Most people decide in about a minute once they are looking at both.
Still deciding?
What diamond shall I pick?
Tell us the budget and what it is for. We will come back with the two options, lab and natural, and what each gets you.