There are two methods, and both produce real diamond rather than an imitation. This is the distinction that matters most, and the one most often blurred in advertising.

• CVD, chemical vapour deposition: a thin diamond seed is placed in a chamber filled with carbon-rich gas. The gas is broken down and carbon settles onto the seed, layer by layer, growing the crystal upward over several weeks. This is the method behind the stones in our Solar Grown collection.
• HPHT, high pressure high temperature: carbon is subjected to roughly the same pressure and heat found deep in the earth, forcing it to crystallise. It is the older of the two methods and reproduces the geological conditions directly.

What it is not

A lab-grown diamond is not cubic zirconia, moissanite or any other simulant. Those are different materials that resemble diamond to the eye. A lab-grown diamond is chemically, physically and optically the same substance as a mined one. It measures 10 on the Mohs scale, it disperses light the same way, and it will not cloud, dull or change with age.

No jeweller can tell the difference by eye, and neither can a loupe. Identification requires laboratory instruments that read the stone's growth pattern, which is why certification matters more here than anywhere else.

Grading and certification

Lab-grown diamonds are graded on the same four Cs as mined stones, by the same laboratories. Our lab-grown stones are certified by IGI, which grades both origins and is the most widely used laboratory for this material. Every report states the origin plainly, and most stones carry a laser inscription on the girdle recording it.

Price, and being honest about it

A lab-grown diamond costs considerably less than a mined diamond of the same specification. That gap is real and we are not going to pretend otherwise. What it buys you is size or quality you could not otherwise reach: the same budget takes you to a larger stone, a better colour grade, or a cleaner clarity.

What it does not buy is the scarcity of a mined stone, and resale markets treat the two differently. If a piece is being bought partly as a store of value, that is worth knowing before you choose rather than after.

Which should you choose

Neither is better. They are different purchases. A mined diamond is a geological object that took a billion years to make and cannot be made again. A lab-grown diamond is the same material, made deliberately, for less. We sell both, we grade both to the same standard, and we will tell you which is which every time you ask.