Lab grown Diamonds
Synthetic diamonds are created in one of two ways. One mimics the way that natural diamonds
are formed geologically: by applying extreme pressure and temperature to a vacuum chamber
containing carbon, this dissolves to form diamond ‘seeds’. Rather than taking a billion
years, this process takes 4 weeks, after which the stones are ready to be cut and polished.
Another method is not dissimilar to 3D printing, whereby pieces of carbon are layered on a
diamond seed in a vacuum chamber.
Cultured diamonds should not be confused with cubic zirconia and moissanite, which look
similar to diamonds but are known as simulants. Simulants fetch much lower prices than
man-made diamonds because they are not true carbon crystals and therefore do not possess the
same physical or chemical properties as diamonds.
The benefits of buying a man-made diamond
The methods used to bring a stone to life are kinder to the planet than the scale of the
mining involved to source a natural diamond, which incurs masses of air pollution and
carbon dioxide emissions.
Then there is the traceability of a stone. At Steven Stone we only ever deal with
natural diamonds that have a conflict-free guarantee. But with lab-grown stones there is
never any need to question this, as their production involves a workforce of technicians
as opposed to miners, meaning much greater transparency around working practices and
conditions.
The differences between lab grown diamonds and natural diamonds?
Mined diamonds and lab-grown diamonds possess the same physical properties. Any
differences are only visible under the scrutiny of a gemmologist using specialist
equipment. The main point of difference is their provenance, in that natural diamonds
are mined from the ground, and synthetic are produced in laboratories.