Laboratory-grown diamonds,
understood.

01 · Origin

How they are made

Two methods produce gem-quality laboratory diamonds. In High Pressure, High Temperature (HPHT) growth, a small diamond seed is placed in a chamber that recreates the pressure and heat of the earth’s mantle — roughly 1,500 °C and 60,000 atmospheres. In Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), a seed is placed in a vacuum chamber filled with carbon-rich gas; the gas is ionized into plasma, and carbon atoms rain down and crystallize on the seed, atom by atom.

Both processes take weeks rather than the billions of years mined diamonds require — but the resulting crystal is chemically and optically indistinguishable from a mined one. Only advanced spectroscopic equipment, of the kind used by gemological laboratories, can tell them apart.

02 · Composition

A diamond is a diamond

Laboratory-grown diamonds are not simulants. Cubic zirconia and moissanite are simulants — different materials that look like diamonds. A laboratory diamond is pure crystalline carbon, rated 10 on the Mohs hardness scale, with the same 2.42 refractive index and the same dispersion that gives diamonds their signature fire.

The Federal Trade Commission formalized this in 2018, removing the word “natural” from its definition of a diamond. A laboratory-grown stone may be called, simply, a diamond.

03 · The 4Cs, unchanged

Cut, color, clarity, carat

Laboratory diamonds are graded on the same 4Cs as mined stones. Cut governs brilliance and remains the single most important factor in how a diamond performs in light. Color is graded D (colorless) through Z. Clarity ranges from Flawless to Included, evaluated at 10× magnification. Carat weight is measured identically.

Every UDE Collection diamond is certified by the International Gemological Institute (IGI) or the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), and each certificate is accompanied by the stone’s unique laser-inscribed report number.

04 · Provenance

Traceable, without exception

A laboratory-grown diamond has a documented origin. It was grown in a specific reactor, on a specific day, and its journey to the setter’s bench can be accounted for at every step. There is no ambiguity of source, no unresolved chain of custody. For clients who care about the human and environmental history of what they wear, this transparency is a meaningful part of the object’s value.

05 · Environment

A lighter footprint

Growing a diamond consumes energy, but it does not disturb ecosystems, displace earth, or require the mining infrastructure of a traditional operation. Producers increasingly source that energy from renewables, and the industry’s environmental profile continues to improve. For most clients, the calculus is straightforward: a laboratory diamond delivers the same beauty with a smaller and better-understood impact.

06 · Value

More stone, more design

At equivalent quality, laboratory-grown diamonds cost meaningfully less than mined stones — often 60 to 80 percent less at the same cut, color and clarity. For our clients, that difference is rarely spent chasing sheer size. It is spent on a finer cut, a better setting, a piece designed and finished by hand rather than assembled from stock components.

07 · Choosing yours

What we look for

We select for cut quality first — proportion, symmetry, and polish — because a well-cut stone is what your eye actually sees. Then color, then clarity, then carat. For colorless diamonds we generally favor D–F color and VS clarity or better, though we choose each stone in conversation with its wearer, its setting, and the light it will live in.