How to tell a lab-grown diamond from a natural one

Somebody hands you a bright, clean, one carat round. Natural or grown in a lab? You cannot tell by looking. Neither can we. That is not a scandal. It is physics.

Two ways a diamond is grown

High pressure, high temperature growth copies the conditions deep in the earth. Chemical vapour deposition builds a crystal layer by layer from carbon gas, a bit like frost forming on a window.

Both make real diamond. Both are sold openly around the world, including here in the UAE.

What the lab looks for

• Growth patterns that differ from natural crystals.
• Tiny metallic traces left behind by high pressure growth.
• Fluorescence plus phosphorescence behaviour under specialised light.
• Laser inscriptions on the girdle that name the stone as laboratory-grown.

This is instrument work, not loupe work. So the paperwork matters more than your eyesight ever will.

Disclosure, in plain words

A lab-grown diamond must be described as laboratory-grown. Not simply cultured. Not simply created with a wink. The invoice should say it, the report should say it plus the seller should say it out loud.

"Full disclosure of treatments plus laboratory-grown origin builds trust with every customer."

— GIA, Colored Stone Essentials

What we do before a stone reaches you

Every centre stone we set arrives with a report from a respected laboratory. We check the inscription with a loupe, then we match it to the report number. Two minutes of care, years of peace of mind.

Have a stone you want checked before you set it? Bring it in. We will read the report with you at the Dubai atelier, plus explain every line.