Can you tell the difference between Man Made, and Earth mined diamonds?

[Rockdiamond]

Hi all!!
I'm curious to know if you
1) have seen them and made your own mind
and
2) what you've read, been told, or believe to be the case

 

[Gemma10]

Hi all!!
I'm curious to know if you
1) have seen them and made your own mind
and
2) what you've read, been told, or believe to be the case

I have a gorgeous man made and it is D/ideal/vs1 and 4.76 so it is large.... nobody can notice including other jewellers, it weighs the same and actually it looks better because it almost is so perfect, I mean this in a way that natural stones to get these specs it takes a lot of money so majority of natural stones have color or imperfections, man made stones are built for more perfection so you actually do get this perfect Diamond look, I would not have minded going slightly more in color so it wasn’t so ‘perfect’ if that makes sense?

man made draw attention because of the specifications that many of them come with not because they look any different or feel different they just really sparkle, which natural stones do as well, again many lab diamonds are engineered to be ideal, colorless etc

hope this helps
Best decision I have made,

 

[Diamond Girl 21]

I've only seen small stones, and they definitely looked just like earth mined. I would love to see a large one in person.

Edited to add that my GIA instructor (2017) said it was becoming more important to find ways to prove that diamonds were earth mined. She said the lab diamonds were amazing.

 

[jaysonsmom]

I personally can't see a difference, except for the extra $$$$ in my pocket, and more diamond pieces for me to enjoy.

I took my lab grown 2.80 ct OEC to a local jeweler to get sizing beads added in so that it doesn't spin, and the jeweler was amazed that I was able to get such an amazing OEC in a G-color! She never questioned that it was an OEC cut from lab grown material. She raved about it forever!

I also took my mined 1.81ct mrb to be reset into a 3-stone with 2 lab grown studs, and once again, the jeweler and bench never ever saw a difference, and they are professionals in their field.

 

[jaysonsmom]

In the picture above, my 7-stone is mined, my OEC is Lab grown, my 3-stone is mined and lab grown. Also my daily solitaire pendant is mined and my earrings are lab grown. I wear them all mixed together all the time!

 

[kgizo]

In the sizes I’ve seen no one can tell. TBH, with different cuts and in settings it is hard to tell CZ or moissys for most people. I do wonder in larger sizes if you would be able to tell.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

Since the 'material' has the exact same composition there would be no visual difference. The only possible tell would be cut quality/strange tints/pronounced stria in some earlier lab runs. If a lab grown has great cut/no strange tint it will be indistinguishable.

 

[FL_runner]

Since the 'material' has the exact same composition there would be no visual difference. The only possible tell would be cut quality/strange tints/pronounced stria in some earlier lab runs. If a lab grown has great cut/no strange tint it will be indistinguishable.

Well stated- I agree 100%. To the naked eye and for most inspection purposes (exception of the striae from certain growth processes as you mentioned) a lab and mined diamond of the same color/clarity/cut/size should not be distinguishable from one another.

I wear my mined and lab together and they all look good to me!

 

[Rockdiamond]

I'll preface by saying, I agree that visually, Lab Grown Diamonds can be identical to Earth Mined.
But I can also say that having looked at many of them at this point- the nature of the imperfections in Lab Grown Diamonds tend to look different than those in Earth Mined.
So, when viewing them without a loupe, eye clean LG and EM diamonds are identical.
I have found many LG's that I really love. And from a practical standpoint, I agree, they are identical.
And I've also found that there are certain sorts of imperfections found in Earth Mined Diamonds that are never found in Lab Grown stones.

Thinking out loud- the material is identical- the imperfections are not.
TO be clear- Im not suggesting the sort of imperfectons in LG's are worse ( or better) than those in EMs..just different.

 

[monipod]

I boldly said 'Yes' but under certain conditions: With two IF graded stones, no way. With two SI1 stones and under, probably yes with a loupe.

Prior to understanding lab stones, I would have thought there'd be some markers but now that I have some lab beauties at home, nope. My lab studs look amazing and under a loupe I couldn't work out if the inclusions were definitely lab stone related or not. My Asscher is just about perfect.

 

[monipod]

And I've also found that there are certain sorts of imperfections found in Earth Mined Diamonds that are never found in Lab Grown stones.

You're never going to get a baby Spessartite Garnet growing inside a lab stone as I imagine the seed diamond is the only thing that is used to grow a lab rough. Also would twinning wisps be exclusive to mined stones? I can't imagine that the consistent growth process of lab stones would give a rough time to develop them?

 

[Rockdiamond]

With two IF graded stones, no way. With two SI1 stones and under, probably yes with a loupe.

Has anyone seen an LG internally Flawless?

You're never going to get a baby Spessartite Garnet growing inside a lab stone

Exactly. Also you won’t see a fluorescent colorless LG ( I don’t believe )

 

[Lauralei101]

I personally can't see a difference, except for the extra $$$$ in my pocket, and more diamond pieces for me to enjoy.

I took my lab grown 2.80 ct OEC to a local jeweler to get sizing beads added in so that it doesn't spin, and the jeweler was amazed that I was able to get such an amazing OEC in a G-color! She never questioned that it was an OEC cut from lab grown material. She raved about it forever!

I also took my mined 1.81ct mrb to be reset into a 3-stone with 2 lab grown studs, and once again, the jeweler and bench never ever saw a difference, and they are professionals in their field.

Your OEC is AMAZING !!!!!!

 

[AprilBaby]

Mine is 2.10 I and I can’t see anything different than my mined diamond.

 

[sprinklesparkles]

I own both. I think they're pretty identical.

Realistically most of them you can't tell the difference. I even brought my lab diamond to a jeweler who didn't realize it was man made until I told him (he was cleaning my ring on a random visit).

Striae is a thing in some MMD. But from what I understand it's not visible in most instances without a loupe, and can happen in mined diamonds as well, so meh.

For context, I can easily spot moissy and CZs in the wild. Different strokes.

 

[sprinklesparkles]

I own both. I think they're pretty identical.

Realistically most of them you can't tell the difference. I even brought my lab diamond to a jeweler who didn't realize it was man made until I told him (he was cleaning my ring on a random visit).

Straia is a thing in some MMD. But from what I understand it's not visible in most instances without a loupe, and can happen in mined diamonds as well, so meh.

For context, I can easily spot moissy and CZs in the wild. Different strokes.

You're never going to get a baby Spessartite Garnet growing inside a lab stone as I imagine the seed diamond is the only thing that is used to grow a lab rough. Also would twinning wisps be exclusive to mined stones? I can't imagine that the consistent growth process of lab stones would give a rough time to develop them?

This is such a good point, wonder if inclusions specific to mined stones will become higher value over time?

Odd thing to consider.

 

[acebruin]

I can definitely tell the difference brother. In my checking account! LOL

Seriously though... I don't really look at colorless so I can't speak to those. But as far as fancy colored goes, I can tell for most stones. But recently I've been proven wrong. Some of these CVD grown fancy colored are incredibly close to natural fancy colored. It's amazing! I'm excited to find out what the next 5 years would do to lab grown fancy colored diamonds...

 

[monipod]

This is such a good point, wonder if inclusions specific to mined stones will become higher value over time?

Odd thing to consider.

I wondered that myself if at some point people will want to buy included mined stones as some proof that it's not a lab stone. I mean, surely IF stones would be just about impossible to discern as mined or lab?

 

[monipod]

Has anyone seen an LG internally Flawless?

I was just about to have a search myself! Do they exist? Or is the market chasing IF likely to only want mined IFs? Curious...

Exactly. Also you won’t see a fluorescent colorless LG ( I don’t believe )

I didn't think so but I was proved wrong. Quite a few of the coloured stones over at New World Diamonds have orange fluorescence which I guess comes down to what seed was the starter?

 

[Rockdiamond]

I was just about to have a search myself! Do they exist? Or is the market chasing IF likely to only want mined IFs? Curious...




I didn't think so but I was proved wrong. Quite a few of the coloured stones over at New World Diamonds have orange fluorescence which I guess comes down to what seed was the starter?

Are any of the stones colorless? The pink LabGrown pretty much all have orange fluorescence

 

[MMtwo]

I have a lab-grown .75 necklace and I was surprised at how much it just looks like a diamond.
Sometimes we expect a "less than" outcome and this was a complete non-event. I am not sure what I expected to see, but the diamond is beautiful, behaves like a "normal" diamond and I enjoy it very much. It has grown to feel "real" if this makes sense. I think because it throws the same beautiful reflections as my mined diamonds. Any issues would be in my mind, not in the stone. Sparkles are sparkles.

The pictures below...can you tell the mined vs man-made?

 

[missy]

I haven’t seen any lab diamonds in person so can’t share my thoughts. I’m not adverse to them. I just have to get over my mind clean thing. My issue only.

 

[Rockdiamond]

To clarify my point..... in my experience, colorless MMD's are visually identical ( in practical terms) to Earth Mined diamonds. But what I have been learning is that there are definitely less developed streams of education on MMD's.
The aspects of fluorescence and clarity aspects are generally not discussed on sites selling MMD's.
I'm finding some remarkable similarities between LG and EM diamonds...yet some stark differences.

 

[La2020]

Normal eyes ...nope can't tell.

But I have read that there are different types of inclusions and the mined and MMD fluorescence differently...although chemically they are the same.

Nevertheless, I chose a fancy color MMD since I wasn't able to find one I like without a huge dent in my bank.

 

[oncrutchesrightnow]

I wonder if the rising popularity of old cuts is in response to the newly available supply of low-cost, high quality LG stones. A 2 cts. MRB is not a status symbol anymore if no one can spot the difference between LG and mined.

 

[MMtwo]

I wonder if the rising popularity of old cuts is in response to the newly available supply of low-cost, high quality LG stones. A 2 cts. MRB is not a status symbol anymore if no one can spot the difference between LG and mined.

I wonder the same with fluorescence. A lab white diamond does not have any if I understand this correctly.

 

[_dracarys_]

I wonder if the rising popularity of old cuts is in response to the newly available supply of low-cost, high quality LG stones. A 2 cts. MRB is not a status symbol anymore if no one can spot the difference between LG and mined.

The rising popularity of old cuts has been going on long before the explosion of LG diamonds.

 

[suredoshine]

There is such a huge spread in price in lab grown diamonds. DeBeers has their Lightbox brand of LGD that are $800 per carat. But I don't see where you can see what the specs are for their diamonds? Otherwise, the prices I see are much much higher. Does anyone know where a good source is that is lesser priced than others? Is there a type of Rapaport price list for LG?

 

[Rockdiamond]

One aspect of all this that's so interesting ( to me) is the disruption aspect.
Old timers that I know have no ability to grasp the impacts. Not that anyone else really knows how this will all shake out...
There's no "Rap List" for LG ( yet)
Debeers...ah good old Debeers......who, for so many years controlled the market they now are disrupting.
$800 per carat.....to me this is the ultimate "F.U." to the trade. I don't believe it's a model built with profit as the prime motivations...as much as to shake things up.
Of course, there's no selection- no sizes above 1ct.....all the jewelry is 10kt....so in a way, they are leaving room for the rest of us.....

Like many other businesses, there's "bottom feeders" selling at lowball prices, offering less than stellar service.....
But like the earth Mined Diamond business- the wide spread in prices also denotes a wide spread in quality.....making dealers essential in the equation ( thank goodness for me, I'd hate to go back to mowing lawns)

 

[La2020]

There is such a huge spread in price in lab grown diamonds. DeBeers has their Lightbox brand of LGD that are $800 per carat. But I don't see where you can see what the specs are for their diamonds? Otherwise, the prices I see are much much higher. Does anyone know where a good source is that is lesser priced than others? Is there a type of Rapaport price list for LG?

What about New World Diamonds?
Extracted from their website.