Lab-grown diamonds, what they really are
The word still gives people pause, and that is fair: “laboratory-grown diamond” sounds like two ideas at odds. It is not. Here is what it is, what it is not, and why the house chose it.
Is a laboratory-grown diamond a real diamond?
Yes, in the strictest sense: same carbon, same crystal structure, same hardness, same fire. A gemmological laboratory only tells it apart from a mined diamond with specialised equipment, precisely because the material is the same. What changes is its origin: it grew in a laboratory, in a matter of weeks, instead of growing in the earth over geological time. These stones are laboratory-grown, sometimes called synthetic diamonds: two names for one same stone.
How does it differ from a mined diamond?
In four ways: origin, traceability, impact and price. Origin, as we have said. Traceability: a laboratory-grown diamond is born in a known place, without the opacity of mining supply chains. Impact: no mine, no dug-up ground or displaced landscapes; its footprint comes mostly down to the energy that grows it. Price: at equal quality, it puts sizes within reach that mining reserved for the few. What it does not change: the stone itself, its light and how it holds over time.
How is it certified?
Like a mined diamond: by the independent gemmological laboratories, which grade colour, clarity, cut and carat, and state the stone’s nature on the certificate. That last point is what matters: the certificate states in black and white that the stone was born in a laboratory. We state it too, everywhere: at LAB IMAGINE, the nature of every stone is written on every page and every piece. Our reference quality for white stones: colour D, clarity VS1.
And the coloured stones?
The same truth holds for them: our sapphires, rubies and emeralds are created in a laboratory, and we always say so. They come from Chatham, the American house that opened the way for laboratory-grown stones in the 1930s, long before jewellery had a word for them. Real stones, of a stated origin, chosen for their quality.
Why did the house choose laboratory-grown diamonds?
Out of coherence. ORIGINE PARIS was born of a conviction: ecology is not an option. The gold of our rings is recycled; it would have been strange to set mined stones in it. A laboratory-grown diamond asks for no mine and no dug earth: its story begins in a known place, and its footprint can be told plainly. Laboratory-grown stones allow the two things that matter to us: a stone whose story and impact are known, and an accessible creation with no compromise on the material.
How do you choose your stone, then?
As always: by looking. The shape first, which makes the ring’s character; the size next, which makes its presence; the quality last, which the certificate states. The configurator shows the price as you create: you see the effect of every choice before deciding.