The 7 Best Places to Buy Lab Grown Diamond Rings – Get More for Less!
So you’ve decided to purchase a lab grown diamond for your forever ring. Congratulations!
Maybe you chose laboratory grown diamonds because they’re a more ethical choice and kinder to the environment. Maybe you chose them because they’re more budget-friendly, and you know that you can put the money saved towards getting a higher quality stone than you would have been able to with a natural diamond.
Or maybe you just like the idea of owning a diamond that was grown from a tiny carbon seed, using extraordinary technology that no one could have dreamed of in our grandparents’ time.
Now that you know the kind of diamond you want, where do you start looking? Are all lab-created diamonds equal? Where can you get the best value?
Let’s explore the best place to buy a lab-grown diamond ring for your style and budget.
What Is a Lab Created Diamond?
If you haven’t heard of lab created diamonds before, you’re in for a treat. Lab grown diamonds are very real diamonds that are genetically, geographically, visually, and optically the same as natural diamonds — only they’re sold at a significant discount of up to 40%.
Sound too good to be true? It’s not — the only difference is that these diamonds have been formed in carefully controlled laboratory conditions instead of miles and miles under the surface of the earth. They’re impossible to tell apart with the naked eye – even trained gemologists need to look under a microscope to identify the minute variations in growth patterns that set man made and natural diamonds apart.
Lab diamonds have been around since the 1950s, though methods to grow them are improving all the time. Currently, there are a couple of different processes laboratory gemologists can use to create diamonds. These are HPHT, which stands for “High-Pressure High Temperature”, and CVD, which stands for “Chemical Vapor Deposition”.
Both begin with a tiny carbon seed from which diamond particles grow over several days or weeks (certainly more time effective than natural diamonds, which take billions of years to form!).
You can read more about these processes and the story behind lab created diamonds in our lab diamonds vs. natural diamonds article.
Tips to Buy a Lab Created Diamond Ring
Buying a lab created diamond ring isn’t so different from buying one with a natural diamond, but you need to know what to look for. Just like naturally grown diamonds, not all lab diamonds are created equal. Lab diamonds are evaluated in the same grading range of cut, color, clarity, and carat weight as natural diamonds.
Here’s the best part: since lab diamonds are so gloriously affordable, most people can afford to buy a higher grade diamond in all of these quality factors than they would be able to otherwise.
Some of you jewelry fans might know that here at L&L, we’re big advocates of diamond cut. Cut grading is the single most important consideration in a diamond’s beauty – even the brightest, most flawless diamond will look dull and lifeless if it’s been cut poorly. Diamond cut is the only grading factor that isn’t already naturally inherent in the stone — it’s where the craftsmanship of the diamond cutter comes into play to bring out the best in the raw material. When buying lab-grown diamonds, always look for a cut grade of Excellent or Very Good.
Lab-grown diamonds can vary in color, clarity, and carat weight just like natural diamonds. The best value can be found in diamonds that are near colorless — G-I on the diamond color grading scale — and between VVS1 and SI1 on the clarity scale, or “eye clean”. These diamonds will look clear, bright, and colorless when viewed in a jewelry setting.
Want to dig deeper into the value of lab-grown diamonds? Check out our buying guide.
Where to Buy Lab Created Diamonds
Now that you know what to look for in a man made diamond, you get to explore the range of retailers that offer these sustainable wonders. Due to a combination of rising demand and a better understanding of ethical, transparent practices, more and more jewelry brands are beginning to offer lab diamonds.
Some of these companies offer lab grown alternatives alongside their natural diamond offerings, and some specialize in championing lab grown diamonds alone. Let’s have a look at the different places you can find lab grown diamonds.
1. Blue Nile
Blue Nile exclusively sells lab created diamonds from the Lightbox brand, a subsidy of diamond giant De Beers. They’re manufactured in a top-of-the-line diamond laboratory in Oregon, employing sixty diamond technicians, engineers, and administrators. Every step of the diamond creation process is traceable and transparent.
Lightbox produces diamonds in standard colorless varieties as well as pink and blue fancy colors, all for the standardized price of $800 per carat. This is infinitely more affordable than natural diamonds of comparable quality, and a world away from the record-breaking sales tags of natural fancy colored diamonds.
Blue Nile offers lab grown diamond jewelry at an excellent value. However, it’s worth noting that they sell only finished jewelry pieces — no loose stones. This means that you need to choose one of the designs that they feature, which are much more limited than the options for natural diamonds. For lab diamonds, they offer round, baguette, and princess cuts.
2. James Allen
Unlike Blue Nile, James Allen sells a range of loose man made diamonds in varying qualities and prices. Their lab diamonds go from $400 to about $70,000, with one carat stones ranging from $1500 to $3500.
You can click on each stone to see more about its individual specifications, including detailed photos and videos, and are then given the option to add a custom setting to the gem. James Allen offers lab created diamonds in the standard colorless D-H range as well as a limited selection of fancy colored diamonds.
Although a little bit pricier than some of the other options, James Allen has a huge selection and the option to pair the perfect stone with the perfect jewelry setting, or to purchase the loose stone on its own. Their stones are all of excellent quality. They offer all diamond shapes including round, cushion cut, heart cut, and marquise cut, among others.
3. Brilliant Earth
Brilliant Earth offers a wide selection of lab grown diamonds in all shapes alongside their standard line of natural diamonds. They range from $300 for a petite thirty-point lab diamond up to $95,000 for a flawless 5.80 carat stone.
Many — though not all — of Brilliant Earth’s diamonds are accompanied by videos and detailed photos. Their search page is simple and user-friendly, making it easy to compare different diamonds to find the one that’s right for you.
They also give you the option to choose an engagement ring setting to accompany your stone (rings only, though — there’s no option for pendants or other jewelry pieces).
Brilliant Earth offers lab created diamonds in all shapes and sizes, in colorless as well as fancy colored ranges.
4. Clean Origin
Unlike other jewelers, Clean Origin specializes in man made diamonds alone. They proudly champion the rise of lab grown diamonds over natural diamonds, which they believe are too damaging to the earth to justify the prevalence of the industry.
They offer a wide range of colorless diamonds, including their curated “rare finds”, and a substantial collection of lab grown fancy color diamonds. Their round colorless diamonds range from $200 to $65,000, with one carat diamonds costing between $800 and $3000.
In addition to engagement rings, Clean Origin also stocks pendants, wedding bands, earrings, and bracelets, all made from conflict-free lab created diamonds.
5. Ritani
This jewelry retailer prides themselves on full transparency. Each diamond description is accompanied by a breakdown of the cost and markup of the stone. They offer a range of shapes, qualities, and sizes, and their stones are very affordable: one carat gems start at around $600 and go to near $10,000 for a D color Internally Flawless diamond — a fraction of what you would pay for a comparable diamond of natural origin.
One of the great features about shopping on this site is the comparative recommendations for stones of better value. Ritani helps you find the best possible stone from their selection for the best price. However, they do not sell lab grown colored diamonds — only standard colorless.
6. Gemvara
This online shop offers a range of rings, pendants, and earrings made from lab grown gemstones — lab created diamonds as well as man-made sapphires, rubies, and emeralds. They feature a range of cute, contemporary jewelry starting at around $250 and going up depending on carat weight, quality, and complexity.
Gemvara is a great option for integrating a bit of sustainably sourced color into your lab diamond engagement ring. However, they’re not as user-friendly as some of the other online shops shown here. Only after you’ve chosen your setting can you narrow down the quality range for your ideal stone, and then only with certain designs.
Their one-carat stones range between $1000 and $3000, in addition to the chosen setting.
7. Pandora
Jewelry giant Pandora has recently joined the shift towards conflict-free lab grown diamonds. Their Pandora Brilliance line is a range of classically inspired diamond jewelry made from ethically sourced man-made diamonds. Their styles are beautiful and timeless, but very limited in selection as their lab-created line is very new and is currently only available in the United Kingdom. We expect they will add more styles in the coming years.
While they don’t offer the same level of customization and choice as other retailers, they do have a really cool “try on” option that allows you to interact with photo technology on their website and see what the jewelry item would look like. They also supply a detailed public report on the sustainability practices behind the Pandora Brilliance line, making them one of the the best options for transparency.
Peace, Love, and Lab Grown Diamonds
The man-made diamond trend is a shift towards ethical, sustainable, socially conscious shopping that shows no sign of slowing down. Originally a misunderstood underground movement, lab-grown diamonds are now being embraced by more and more major fine jewelry brands in response to a new generation of diamond buyers.
Lab created diamonds give us a way to lower our impact on the land and the people on it. They’re also much more affordable and give buyers the opportunity to get a large, high-quality diamond — or even a rare fancy colored diamond ring — for a much more approachable price.
Man-made diamonds are a win for your wallet and for the earth.
Further Reading:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200207-the-sparkling-rise-of-the-lab-grown-diamond
https://abc-7.com/news/cover-story/2021/09/15/lab-grown-diamonds-gain-traction-in-jewelry-industry/
https://abc-7.com/news/cover-story/2021/09/15/lab-grown-diamonds-gain-traction-in-jewelry-industry/
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