Are Lab-Grown Diamonds Real Diamonds? What the FTC and GIA Say
A lab-grown diamond is a diamond: the same carbon crystal as a mined one. What it is not is mined, and federal guidance says it has to be sold that way.
The Journal
Straight answers before you buy: how lab-grown diamonds compare, what the 4Cs mean, how to choose a setting, size a ring, care for your jewelry and sell gold. Written at our showroom in Paramus.
Diamond Education
11 articles
How to Tell If a Diamond Is Lab-Grown: What Actually Works
You usually cannot tell by looking. Here is what separates lab-grown from mined diamonds, and the checks a buyer can actually use: the report, the inscription and the name.
Lab-Grown Diamond Stud Earrings: Size, Settings and Backs
How big diamond studs should be, what 1, 2 and 3 carat really mean on a pair, which settings and backs to choose, with prices for our lab-grown studs.
Emerald Cut Diamonds: Clarity, Ratio, and Emerald vs Radiant or Oval
What makes an emerald cut different, the clarity and color GIA recommends, emerald vs radiant and oval, ratios and settings, and the emerald-cut lab-grown pieces we carry.
Diamond Fluorescence: Good or Bad? (And Do Lab-Grown Diamonds Have It?)
What diamond fluorescence is, how often it affects appearance according to GIA, faint vs strong blue fluorescence, and how lab-grown diamonds fluoresce differently.
Diamond Clarity Chart: VS1 vs VS2, Eye-Clean and Lab-Grown Clarity
GIA's 11 clarity grades explained, VS1 vs VS2, what eye-clean really means, which shapes need higher clarity, and how GIA now describes lab-grown clarity.
The 4Cs of Diamonds Explained: Which C Matters Most?
Cut, color, clarity and carat weight in plain terms: what each measures, cut vs. shape, color vs. clarity, and how GIA now grades lab-grown diamonds.
Lab-Grown vs. Natural Diamonds: Price, Value and Resale in 2026
Same material, different origin and price: what couples actually spend on lab-grown vs. natural rings, what resale looks like, how grading reports differ and how each must be labeled.
Diamond Shapes Guide: Oval vs. Round and the Best Shape for Your Hand
The most popular diamond shapes in 2026, oval vs. round compared, shapes for short or long fingers, and what to watch with pointed and step-cut stones.
Colored Diamonds Explained: Natural, Treated or Lab-Grown?
A colored diamond is natural-color, color-treated or lab-grown, and the seller has to tell you which. What each means and what to ask before you buy.
GIA vs. IGI, and What Happened to AGS: Diamond Reports Explained
GIA stopped giving lab-grown diamonds color and clarity grades in 2025, IGI kept the 4Cs, and AGS Laboratories closed in 2022. What that means for the report on your diamond.