The difference in appearance between lab-grown diamond and natural diamond

Lab-grown diamond and natural diamond has the comparable physical and chemical component. If you simply observe the two with naked eyes, you will not find the difference. Nevertheless, since they have different formation and production process, they could still be distinguished from each other with the help of professional equipment or under specific environments. In this article, we will be analyzing the two kinds of diamond in terms of their appearance, and providing different advises so that consumers could look for diamonds which suit them the most.

Pic: The laser inscription on a lab-grown diamond’s girdle, with the text “LABGROWN”

Different laser code on diamond’s girdle

When differentiating lab-grown diamond and natural diamond, the first thing you can look for would be the diamond’s “identity card” – the laser code on the diamond’s girdle.

Since it is difficult to distinguish lab-grown diamond from natural diamond with naked eyes, to protect the consumers and the natural diamond industry, the laser code on a lab-grown diamond’s girdle is marked with “LABGROWN”.

As the code could only been seen with magnifier, but not with naked eyes, it will not affect the diamond’s appearance.

Flaws resulted from artificial creation

Another difference you could notice under the magnifier is the difference between their inclusions. The growth of both lab-grown diamond and natural diamond involves a certain degree of randomness. Therefore, most diamonds, except for that very few which could be graded flawless, contain impurities.

When being compared with that of natural diamond, the inclusions of lab-grown diamond would look neater. For example, there would be perfectly round spots, tidy cracks, and evenly dispersed impurities. So, if you are looking for a diamond with a relatively low clarity (below SI1, for example), you could check if the inclusions are too neat, or have the diamond examined by our diamond professionals.

As for diamond with clarity of or above VS1, since it only contains some trivial flaws, its appearance would be barely affected, regardless of it being lab-grown or natural.

Pic: H grade color HPHT lab-grown diamond with blue tone (IGI)

Pic: H grade color HPHT lab-grown diamond without blue tone (IGI)

Unnatural blue tinge

Lab-grown diamond created through HPHT method may contain a slight blue tone (also called blue tinge) because of the chemical boron used during its production. On the contrary, natural diamond would usually contain a yellow tone because of nitrogen.

The blue tone of lab-grown diamond can be spotted with naked eyes; and since it is rare for natural diamond to contain blue tone, this can be used as a characteristic to differentiate the two.

However, some consumers prefer this blue tone as it looks lighter than the yellow tone and the cold color hue could enhance the uniqueness of the stone.
One thing to note though, is the said blue tone only appear on a small amount of HPHT lab-grown diamonds. If diamond of or below G color comes with blue tone, its certificate would be labelled with “Blue nuance” or “Faint Blue”; but for diamond of or above F color, no such indication would be shown on the certificate even if the blue tone is present.

If one wants to avoid lab-grown diamond with blue tone, the safest way would be to avoid HPHT lab-grown of E to F color (D color is completely colorless, so no blue tone could be seen), or to consult our diamond professionals before purchase.

Pic: Fancy color lab-grown diamond with vivid color

Fancy color diamond with unnaturally vivid color

Other than white, lab-grown diamond also come with fancy color. But when compared with natural fancy color diamond, the color of lab-grown fancy color diamond would be more vivid.

If one plans to buy lab-grown fancy color diamond, it is advisable for them to search for the color of natural fancy color diamond online first. One could then pick the according color which appears more like the natural stones.

Pic: Natural fancy color diamond

Low-quality jewellery production

Lastly, whether a diamond could present its beauty depends largely on the craftsman’s knowledge and skill. Metal quality of the mount, brightness, weight… all these factors could greatly affect the mood and charm of a lab-grown diamond.

In order to elevate the value of natural diamond, some foreign diamond brands would use metal of inferior quality (like pure silver plated with gold) for lab-grown diamond mount, or to complement lab-grown diamond with low-quality side stones. However, poor-quality metal could oxidize and turn dark as time passes, and this would harm the overall beauty of the diamond.

To emphasize the clarity of lab-grown diamond and its appeal which could compete with the natural one, we would advise purchase from jewellers specialize in yellow gold and platinum. Only quality jewellery could highlight a lab-grown’s natural diamond-like texture.