A Guide to Understanding the Price of Lab Diamonds
Compared to mined diamonds, lab diamonds are a steal. By some industry estimates, they can cost shoppers up to 80% less than mined diamonds of the same carat weight; however, the price of lab diamonds is still often misunderstood.
It’s important to remember the price of diamond jewelry (including lab-grown or mined diamonds) is determined by the piece’s quality and craftsmanship, not just the size or carat weight of the stones included in the jewelry. Moreover, not all diamonds are created equal, including lab diamonds. Like mined diamonds, a lab diamond’s price tag reflects its quality. For lab diamonds, part of the quality includes the technology used in the growth method. Lab diamond prices fluctuate with their quality, in addition to the demand in the market.
Featuring the top 1% of lab diamonds hand selected by our expert team for their beauty and make, our jewelry at Jean Dousset embodies the quality, technology, and craftsmanship that defines the next evolution of diamonds. Here we break down the factors that affect lab diamond prices.
Jean Dousset selects the top 1% of lab diamonds available on the market.
Lab Diamond Technology
What do lab diamonds represent just as much as luxury, love, or status? Over 70 years of innovation. The first lab-grown diamond was created in 1954. Since then, remarkable improvements in science and technology have allowed today’s chemists to grow lab diamonds that possess the same optical and chemical properties as mined diamonds but are also unsurpassed for their flawless quality and detail.
Such improvements come with caveats. While lab diamonds are grown in controlled laboratory environments that mimic the growing conditions of mined diamonds, growing methods differ from lab to lab—meaning some lab diamonds are created using older processes, while others use newer, more state-of-the-art technology. For instance, a diamond grown using a process called High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) might cost lower than a diamond created via a method called Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), as the latter is a newer, more preferred technology that produces a higher-quality diamond. (At Jean Dousset, we exclusively work with lab diamond center stones grown using the CVD method).
Another factor playing an important role in the price of lab diamonds: time. Under even the most advanced method, lab diamonds take quite some time to grow. It takes approximately one month to grow a 1.0 carat lab diamond. For larger stones, that time lengthens as the growth process becomes more intricate, with more variables to monitor and control.
Explore designer lab diamond jewelry and engagement rings.
Lab Diamond Quality
One significant reason lab diamonds aren’t as cheap as consumers may expect is that—as with any other big-ticket investment—lab diamonds vary greatly in quality. Some are virtually flawless, while others are totally unremarkable; some are GIA-certified (like all of our engagement ring center lab diamonds at Jean Dousset).
At Jean Dousset, we work with the best diamond cutters and polishers in the world who have honed their craft over decades in the mined diamond industry. Now they apply their skills to our lab diamonds. There are many diamond cutters and polishers in the industry who do not have this expertise, and therefore the lab diamonds they work with are not nearly as beautiful.
Curating a world-class selection of lab diamonds calls for an expert’s impeccable taste and eye. Finding and supplying world-class, high-quality lab diamonds is an intense process. Like many other modern luxuries, there’s a tremendous consumer demand for beautiful lab diamonds, which raises the price of the highest quality stones.
The price of lab diamond jewelry is influenced by the quality of craftsmanship.
Lab Diamond Jewelry Craftsmanship
Lab diamonds of the highest quality deserve designer treatment, not a standard mass-market approach. While shoppers can purchase loose lab diamonds, usually the diamond is set by a jeweler to enjoy as a wearable piece. Finding the most optimal stone requires an expert’s deep understanding of diamonds, and turning them into quality jewelry requires expertise and taste.
At Jean Dousset, we merge our indelible legacy of luxury and craftsmanship with the forward motion of innovative lab diamonds. Designed by the great-great-grandson of Louis Cartier, every Jean Dousset silhouette, from our engagement rings and wedding bands to our array of everyday fine jewelry, is executed by the finest setters, polishers, and craftspeople in the world, individually handcrafted to maximize the brilliance, beauty, and singularity of the lab diamonds you’ve selected, set in 18k golds or platinum. Each piece of jewelry is custom-crafted to the unique measurements of the diamond(s) featured in your design.
We also believe the chemistry is in the details: from our subtly iconic Signature Stone ® (underlying the center stone on all Jean Dousset diamond rings) and the “prongless” setting of our matchless Seamless Halo® designs, to our signature, brilliance-boosting “D” cutout on our eternity silhouettes and other hallmarks, like our claw prongs, tapered bands, and concealed clasps, we proudly celebrate the finer, often overlooked particulars—so the jewelry we design is as exquisite as the person wearing it.
Never “mined” traditions of the past. Embrace the lab diamond revolution, and shop designer lab diamond jewelry and engagement rings.