The Journal
Laboratory-grown or mined diamond: what is actually different
Every stone on this website is a laboratory-grown diamond or a moissanite. Mined diamonds are available on enquiry. So we sell both kinds of diamond, and we have no reason to talk you out of either. Here are the differences that matter, and the ones that don't.
In short
A laboratory-grown diamond and a mined diamond are the same material, equally hard, and look identical to the eye. What differs: how each was made, which a gem laboratory can detect; the price, far lower for laboratory-grown; resale value; and the name, since Indian law reserves plain "diamond" for the mined stone.
The same material
A laboratory-grown diamond is not an imitation. It is carbon arranged in the same crystal structure as a mined diamond, so it has the same hardness (10 on the Mohs scale, the hardest material used in jewellery), bends light the same way, and is graded on the same colour, clarity and cut scales.
That is the difference from moissanite or cubic zirconia, which are other materials that look similar. Our moissanite comparison covers that choice.
How each is made
A mined diamond formed deep inside the earth over a very long time, under great heat and pressure, and was carried up by volcanic rock. It is found, cut and polished.
A laboratory-grown diamond is grown in weeks, in one of two ways:
- CVD (chemical vapour deposition): carbon from a gas settles onto a thin diamond seed, layer by layer.
- HPHT (high pressure, high temperature): carbon is pressed and heated to recreate the conditions deep in the earth.
Both methods produce diamond. After growing, the stone is cut and polished by the same craft as a mined one.
Can anyone tell them apart?
Not by looking. A jeweller with a magnifying loupe cannot reliably tell a laboratory-grown diamond from a mined one, and many simple diamond testers report both as diamond.
A gem laboratory can. Its instruments read the traces each way of forming leaves inside the stone: growth patterns, the small amounts of nitrogen most mined diamonds contain, and how the stone glows under special light. This is why an independent report matters. An IGI report for a laboratory-grown diamond says so plainly, names the growth method, and carries a report number beginning "LG".
Our report on one centre stone, for example, reads: 8.07 carat oval, colour E, clarity VVS2, CVD grown, Type IIa. See what an IGI report shows for how to read one line by line.
What each costs
At the same size, colour and clarity, a laboratory-grown diamond costs a fraction of a mined one, and the gap grows with the size of the stone. It is the main reason people choose laboratory-grown: the same budget buys a larger or finer stone.
Our ring prices are on the page, and they change with the day's gold rate. See today's ring prices, or open any design and switch the stone.
What each is worth later
Be honest with yourself about resale. No diamond is bought back at the price paid in a shop. Mined diamonds have an established resale and exchange trade in India, though at well below retail. Laboratory-grown diamonds have little resale value, and their prices have been falling as growing becomes cheaper.
So buy a laboratory-grown diamond because you want to wear it, not as a store of money. If a piece is partly an investment, a mined diamond or the gold itself holds value better.
What Indian law says about the name
Under IS 19469:2025 from the Bureau of Indian Standards, the word "diamond" on its own means a mined diamond. A stone grown in a laboratory must be called a laboratory-grown diamond, in full, and may not be described as "real" or "natural", or in other words that suggest a mined stone.
That is why we write the full term everywhere on this site. It isn't a lesser name. It is the precise one.
Which should you choose?
Choose a laboratory-grown diamond if you want the most stone for your budget, you want an independent report with a larger stone, and the piece is for wearing.
Choose a mined diamond if its origin deep in the earth matters to you, or you want the stronger resale market. Ask us through an enquiry and we will source one; mined stones aren't priced on the site.
Either way, the setting, the gold and the making are the same.
How we grade our laboratory-grown diamonds
Every laboratory-grown diamond we set is E–F in colour and VVS–VS in clarity, main stones and small stones alike. Laboratory-grown main stones above 1 carat come with an IGI report in the box. Each piece is made to order in Surat in about 15 days and delivered free across India, insured and signed for. See the rings.
Quick answers
- Is a laboratory-grown diamond a real diamond?
- It is diamond: the same material, hardness and sparkle. By law in India it must be called a laboratory-grown diamond, never "real" or "natural".
- Can a jeweller tell the difference?
- Not by eye or with a loupe. A gem laboratory can, with instruments, and an IGI report states which kind a stone is.
- Does a laboratory-grown diamond change colour or go cloudy?
- No. Being diamond, it is as stable as a mined one.
- Which costs less?
- The laboratory-grown diamond, by a wide margin at the same size and grade.
- Which holds its value?
- A mined diamond resells better, though below its shop price. A laboratory-grown diamond has little resale value.
- Do you sell mined diamonds?
- On enquiry. Every stone on the website is a laboratory-grown diamond or a moissanite.