Education

THE 4CS OF DIAMONDS

Laboratory Grown

Lab-grown diamonds are grown within sophisticated laboratories with controlled environmental parameters that replicate the growth process of a natural diamond inside the Earth’s crust. The only difference is the time it takes for the diamond to grow. Lab-grown diamonds are also known as engineered, cultured, or lab-created diamonds. All our lab-grown diamonds are of flawless Type IIA quality and are grown from seeds of the finest Type IIA diamonds. Pure carbon layers are deposited by advanced technological processes, resulting in 100% carbon diamonds with no trace elements of nitrogen or boron.

Cut

A diamond’s symmetry, proportion, and polish make up what is known as the cut of the diamond, with the quality of the cut directly corresponding to a diamond’s brilliance. Our Diamond Foundry cuts are graded on a scale from Signature Ideal—the highest grade (that’s “Excellent” by GIA standards)—to Poor—the lowest grade. Whereas a good cut leads to maximum light return (a.k.a. what makes your stone reflect and shine), in a poorly cut diamond, light tends to go out through the bottom of the stone, leading to a duller appearance. While not one of the 4C’s, the diamond shape will impact the cut’s brilliance, so we recommend keeping the shape in mind when considering the cut.

Color

Graded on the absence of color, a diamond’s value is based on a scale ranging from D (perfectly transparent) to Z (pale yellow). To a naked or untrained eye, colorless to near colorless diamonds will appear clear, or D-J on the color scale. The D-F stones, however, are extremely rare, with nearly all diamonds on the market ranging from G-I. As such, our selection features only colorless and near-colorless diamonds that are I and above.

Carat

The most well-known “C” is slightly misunderstood—carat refers to a diamond’s weight, not size. The term comes from the word “carob”, the type of seeds historically used by diamond traders to measure diamond weight. For reference, one carat is about 0.2 grams or the weight of a paper clip.

Clarity

Clarity is determined by the number of inclusions or unique imperfections in the stone. Clarity is harder to notice without the help of a magnifier. Flawless diamonds without any inclusions are extremely rare. We suggest selecting diamonds graded SI1 or above with a higher clarity grade to maximize the brilliance of the stone; internal spots and lines can affect how light passes through the stone.

Federally Recognized

  • The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rewrote its guidelines and changed the definition of what constitutes a diamond. They ruled that lab-grown are not synthetic and are physically, chemically, and visually identical to mined diamonds. Mined diamonds are made from the element carbon, and a diamond forms when the carbon starts to crystallize. Thus, the definition of a diamond is crystallized carbon, and that’s exactly what we do when making lab-grown diamonds—crystalize carbon.

    • Process of making a lab-grown diamond

  • A lab-grown diamond starts with carbon the way it would start with carbon underneath the surface of the Earth. First, the carbon element, also known as a baby diamond seed, is put in a highly controlled environment in a greenhouse lab that replicates that of the Earth's crust. A diamond grown from a "baby diamond seed" is like a tomato that grows from a seed in a greenhouse rather than a seed that naturally fell on the ground. Next, the carbon undergoes the same pressure and temperature conditions and begins to crystallize when identical chemicals are added. The more the carbon crystallizes, the bigger the diamond grows.

    • Can you visually tell the difference between lab-grown and mined diamonds?

  • The technology in lab-grown diamonds gets better every day, and there is no way to tell the difference. In different parts of the world, different carbon is exposed to different chemical reactions. No one place is the same, so no one mined diamond has the same lattice.