Natural diamonds take thousands of years to acquire their properties through a Natural process. Lab diamonds -also called synthetic diamonds- are produced in a factory or Laboratory in just a few weeks. Meanwhile, Lab grown diamonds are mass-produced which explains the downward price spiral of Lab grown stones.

Lab diamond production was introduced in the mid-1950s and at the time was used exclusively for industrial applications. Only since the 1990s did it manage to produce Lab grown diamonds in a larger size. This allowed these larger Lab grown stones to also be used as jewellery. 

Especially in the last decade, Lab diamonds, because of their identical and unique properties -similar to Natural diamonds- have also made their entry into the world of jewellery.

Two types of Lab Grown diamond

Two similar production methods are used to produce Lab Grown. These are CVD and HPHT.

• In Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD), a high-quality diamond (or other heat-resistant material) is put into a vacuum chamber containing various gases or carbon (carbon). When heated to extreme temperatures of 900 to 1200°C, diamond crystals form on the original seed diamond due to the rain of fine carbon particles. Because of the aforementioned chemical process, Lab Diamond is also called Chemical Diamond. Most Lab grown stones entering the market are made using the CVD method. The newer production method of CVD requires both lower temperature and less pressure than HPHT production.
• In High-Pressure, High Temperature (HPHT), a similar process to CVD (with higher temperatures of 1300 to 1600°C) releases heat under very high pressure. This allows the diamond seed to grow quite rapidly and grow into a full-fledged stone through absorption of the diamond crystals. The HPHT production method is mostly used for larger stones of 2 Ct and above.