Natural or lab-grown: how to decide

The question comes up in almost every consultation, usually about ten minutes in, and it is almost always asked apologetically. There is no wrong answer, and the distinction is narrower than the marketing on either side suggests.

A lab-grown diamond is a diamond. It has the same crystal structure, the same hardness, the same refractive index, and it is graded by the same laboratories against the same scales. Under a loupe, a trained grader cannot tell the difference; identification requires equipment that reads growth patterns.

What differs is rarity, and therefore price. At the same cut, colour and clarity, a lab-grown stone typically costs 60 to 80 percent less than its mined equivalent. Most clients use that difference in one of two ways: they buy a noticeably larger stone, or they buy the same size and spend the remainder on the setting.

Resale is the honest caveat. Mined diamonds hold a secondary market; lab-grown stones largely do not, and prices have fallen steadily as capacity has grown. If you think of a ring as an object rather than an asset, this matters less than it sounds.

Our own position is simple. We sell both, we price both transparently, and we will tell you which we would choose for the piece you are describing if you ask.