What Are Lab-Grown Diamonds? A Complete Guide

Ask anyone who walks into our Lajpat Nagar store what they want to know first, and most of them give the same answer. They want to know whether a lab grown diamond is a real diamond. It is a fair question, and it deserves a straight answer before anything else.

Yes, it is real. A lab grown diamond has the same chemistry, the same crystal structure, and the same sparkle as a diamond that came out of the ground. The only difference is where it grew. This guide explains what a lab grown diamond is, how technicians make one, where the technology came from, and what to check before you buy.

The Short Answer

A lab grown diamond is a diamond that grows inside a controlled machine instead of deep inside the earth. It consists of pure carbon arranged in the same cubic crystal lattice as a mined diamond. It rates 10 on the Mohs hardness scale, it has the same refractive index, and it throws the same fire and brilliance. People also call these stones man made diamonds, cultured diamonds, or engineered diamonds. All of those names describe the same thing.

Are Lab Grown Diamonds Real?

They are. Real describes what a material is, and a lab grown diamond is a diamond in every physical, chemical, and optical sense. A gemologist cannot separate the two by looking through a loupe, and a standard diamond tester will read both as diamond.

Regulators back this up. The US Federal Trade Commission removed the word natural from its definition of a diamond in 2018, which put lab grown stones inside the legal definition. Indian grading labs such as IGI and SGL issue full certificates for them, and they describe the stone as laboratory grown on the report.

Two things need clearing up here, because they cause most of the confusion.

Lab grown is not the same as a simulant. Cubic zirconia and moissanite look similar to diamond, but they are different minerals with different hardness, different sparkle, and different chemistry. Sellers call them diamond simulants. A lab grown diamond is an actual diamond.

Man made does not mean fake. A fake copies the look of something. A man made diamond copies of nothing. It is the real material, grown faster than nature grows it.

A Short History of Lab Grown Diamonds

People tried to make diamonds for well over a century before anyone succeeded. Scientists knew diamond was carbon, so they spent decades trying to squeeze carbon into diamond under heat and pressure.

1954. Researchers at General Electric made the first repeatable synthetic diamond using a high pressure, high temperature press. The stones were tiny and useful only for industry.

1960s to 1980s. Scientists in the Soviet Union, Japan, and the United States developed chemical vapour deposition, a second way to grow diamond from gas. Industry used the results for cutting tools, electronics, and optics.

1990s to 2000s. Growers learned to make larger, cleaner crystals. Gem quality lab grown stones began to appear, though they stayed rare and expensive.

2010s. Production scaled up fast. Prices dropped, jewellers started to stock the stones, and grading labs built reports specifically for lab grown diamonds.

2023. The Indian government announced a programme to support domestic lab grown diamond production, including research at an IIT. India already cuts and polishes most of the world's diamonds in Surat, so the country moved quickly into growing them too.

How Is a Lab Grown Diamond Made?

Every lab grown diamond starts with a seed, a very thin slice of existing diamond. Technicians place the seed in a growing environment and feed it carbon. The carbon attaches to the seed atom by atom and copies its crystal structure. Two methods dominate the industry.

HPHT: High Pressure, High Temperature

The HPHT method copies what happens underground. A large press squeezes a carbon source, usually graphite, together with a metal catalyst and a diamond seed. Pressure reaches around 5 to 6 gigapascals and temperature climbs to roughly 1,300 to 1,600 degrees Celsius. The metal melts, dissolves the carbon, and lets it settle onto the seed as a growing crystal. A stone can take from a few days to a few weeks to grow, depending on its size.

CVD: Chemical Vapour Deposition

The CVD method takes a gentler route. Technicians place a seed plate inside a sealed chamber and fill it with a carbon rich gas, usually methane mixed with hydrogen. Microwaves heat the gas into a plasma at around 800 to 1,000 degrees Celsius, and the pressure stays low. Carbon atoms separate from the gas and build up on the seed layer by layer. A gem sized crystal usually needs a few weeks.

After Growing: Cutting, Polishing, and Grading

A rough crystal from either method goes to a cutter, who shapes and polishes it much as they would a mined stone. Surat handles a large share of this work. Some CVD crystals come out with a brownish tint, so growers often apply an HPHT anneal to improve the colour. Reputable labs record any post growth treatment on the report, which is one more reason to buy only certified stones.

Finally, a grading lab examines the finished diamond, scores it on the 4Cs (cut, colour, clarity, and carat), and lasers a tiny inscription onto the girdle. The inscription carries the report number and a mark that says the diamond is laboratory grown.

Lab Grown Diamond Types

People use the phrase lab grown diamond types in a few different ways, so it helps to split them up.

By Growing Method

• HPHT diamonds grow under intense pressure and heat inside a press.

• CVD diamonds grow from gas inside a vacuum chamber.

Both methods produce excellent gem quality stones. A good stone from either one can grade the same as the other, so the method matters far less than the quality of the individual diamond and its certificate.

By Colour

• Colourless and near colourless diamonds are the most popular choice for engagement rings and everyday jewellery.

• Fancy colour diamonds come in pink, blue, yellow, green, and more. Natural fancy colours are extremely rare and priced accordingly. Growers can make them with controlled chemistry, so lab grown fancy colours cost far less.

By Physical Type

Gemologists sort diamonds by the impurities inside the crystal.

• Type IIa diamonds contain almost no nitrogen. They are the clearest and most transparent. Most colourless lab grown stones fall into this group. Only a small share of mined diamonds do.

• Type IIb diamonds contain boron, which gives them a blue tone.

• Type I diamonds contain nitrogen. Most mined diamonds belong here.

By Shape

Lab grown diamonds come in every cut that mined diamonds do. Round, princess, cushion, oval, emerald, pear, marquise, asscher, radiant, and heart shapes are all available. You can browse them across our shape collections.

Can You Tell a Lab Grown Diamond from a Natural One?

Not by eye, and not with a basic tester. Both materials conduct heat in the same way, so a standard diamond tester treats them alike.

Laboratories separate them with specialised equipment. Spectroscopy reads the impurities inside the crystal. Imaging tools reveal the growth patterns, which differ between a stone that grew in the earth and a stone that grew in a reactor. Those tests are why every lab grown diamond we sell comes with a certificate and a laser inscription. The paperwork tells you exactly what you own.

Why People Choose Lab Grown Diamonds

Price. A lab grown diamond typically costs 60 to 80 percent less than a mined diamond of the same size and quality. That gap lets buyers choose a bigger stone, a higher grade, or a more detailed setting for the same budget.

Origin. The stone comes from a known place and a traceable process. Nobody dug up land to get it. Buyers who care about how their jewellery reaches them find that reassuring.

Quality. Growers can control the conditions inside the reactor, so lab grown diamonds often show excellent clarity and colour.

Choice. Because the price sits lower, more people can buy the shape, size, and colour they actually want.

We cover the comparison in more detail in our guide to lab grown vs natural diamonds.

What to Check Before You Buy

Follow this short list with any jeweller, including us.

1. Ask for an IGI, SGL, or GIA certificate. The report should match the stone and the inscription on the girdle.

2. Confirm the gold is BIS hallmarked. The diamond is only half of the piece.

3. Read the exchange and return policy first. Know your options before you pay.

4. Compare on the 4Cs, not on carat alone. A well cut 1 carat stone can outperform a poorly cut 1.2 carat stone.

5. Look at the price without the discount. A fair price makes sense on its own.

How We Work at Nodes of Destiny

We sell IGI and SGL certified lab grown diamonds set in hallmarked gold. Every listing on our site shows the certification and the price, so you never have to guess. Our co-founder Abhishek Dhandia comes from a sixth generation jewellery family and holds GIA certification as an AJP, and he leads how we choose and check our stones.

You can shop online, or you can visit our flagship store in Lajpat Nagar II, Delhi, to see diamonds in person and get properly sized. If you want a piece built around your own idea, our ring designer lets you pick a diamond and shape the setting yourself. You can also book an appointment with our team for one to one guidance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a lab grown diamond? A lab grown diamond is a real diamond that grows inside a machine. It has the same carbon crystal structure, hardness, and sparkle as a mined diamond.

Are lab grown diamonds real? Yes. They match mined diamonds in every physical, chemical, and optical test. Grading labs certify them as diamonds and mark them as laboratory grown.

Are man made diamonds the same as fake diamonds? No. A fake diamond, such as cubic zirconia, is a different material that imitates the look of diamond. A man made diamond is a real diamond that people grew in a lab.

How long does it take to grow a diamond? It depends on the method and the size. Most gem quality stones need somewhere between a few days and a few weeks.

Do lab grown diamonds pass a diamond tester? Yes. Standard testers measure heat conduction, and both types of diamond conduct heat the same way. Only advanced lab equipment can tell them apart.

Do lab grown diamonds last as long as mined diamonds? They do. Both score 10 on the Mohs scale, so they resist scratching equally well and can last for generations with normal care.

Which is better, HPHT or CVD? Neither method wins outright. Judge each diamond on its own certificate, cut, colour, and clarity.

Final Thought

A lab grown diamond gives you the same material, the same beauty, and the same durability as a mined stone, grown in weeks instead of billions of years. Once you understand how it forms and what a certificate tells you, buying one gets simple. Check the report, check the hallmark, and choose the piece that fits your story. If you would like help, our team is happy to walk you through it, online or in store.