Lab-grown or natural diamonds: which should you buy?
Lab-grown and natural diamonds are the same stone physically - identical structure, hardness, and sparkle, graded on the same scales. Lab-grown costs less per carat, so the same budget buys more stone; natural carries the rarity and story some buyers want. Neither choice is wrong - they answer different priorities.
Both kinds are real diamonds. A laboratory grows one in weeks under the heat and pressure the earth takes millions of years to apply; the result is chemically and optically identical, and gemological labs grade both on the same scales.
The table below is measured from our own catalog: how many pieces we carry of each, what they cost, and what they are typically set in.
| Lab-grown | Natural | |
|---|---|---|
| Pieces in the store | 349 | 3313 |
| Price range | $120 to $25,447 | $99 to $187,234 |
| Metal | Gold (73%) | Gold (51%) |
| Metal Karat | 14 (67%) | .925 (50%) |
| Diamond 1 Clarity | VS1-VS2 (57%) | I1-I2 (30%) |
| Diamond 1 Color | F-G (71%) | I-J (41%) |