Lab grown diamonds are diamonds, just diamonds that are made by man not mined from the earth. They have all the same optical, chemical and physical properties as mined diamonds. Is ice that forms in a freezer less real than ice that forms on a lake? There are subtle differences, but they are both frozen water.

Lab grown diamonds aren’t an imitation of a diamond that mimics the way diamond looks. They are actual diamonds that are produced in a lab. They are very different from simulated stones like CZ and moissanite, which are lab grown minerals that might look similar to diamonds but aren’t diamonds.

You can’t. There is no way for consumers to easily identify lab grown diamonds or tell them apart from natural diamonds on their own. You can look for the “lab grown” inscription on a diamond’s girdle which references its grading report number. But if there is no inscription, you will need advanced gemological testing at a professional gemological laboratory to tell the difference. Because laboratory-grown diamonds are chemically, physically and optically the same as natural diamonds, traditional gemological testing and diamond detectors can’t see any difference. Advanced detectors can identify Type IIa diamonds, which include all lab-grown diamonds and about 5% of natural diamonds. Type IIa diamonds can be sent to a lab for further testing. That’s why you should always request a grading report from an independent gemological laboratory when you buy diamonds.

Lab grown diamonds are more affordable than natural diamonds so consumers can afford a larger carat weight and a better quality for the same budget. Some consumers choose lab grown diamonds because they think that diamonds produced in a lab are more ethical, less likely to have funded conflict and more sustainable than natural diamonds. That is often, but not always, the case. If the ethics of your diamonds are important to you, you need to ask exactly how and where they were produced, no matter whether they are mined or laboratory grown.