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Toner Jewelers Overland Park, KS Toner Jewelers Overland Park, KS

Lab Grown Diamonds:
What You Should Know

At Toner Jewelers, we want to have every possible option available for anyone who walks through our door. In today’s market, that means we cannot ignore the attraction of lab grown diamonds. We hand-select every lab grown diamond we present to ensure we are offering the best possible quality at a fair market price.
Toner Jewelers Overland Park, KS
Toner Jewelers Overland Park, KS

What are the benefits of lab grown diamonds?

A diamond that is grown in a lab is just as real as an earth-mined diamond. They have the same physical and chemical properties and are grown under similar temperature and pressure conditions. In fact, lab-grown diamonds are often of better quality due to the highly controlled environment and fully monitored process. Some of the biggest advantages of a lab-grown diamond include:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Toner Jewelers Overland Park, KS

Environmentally friendly green option

Higher quality and larger carat weight diamonds at more affordable prices compared to the same quality earth mined diamonds Ton

Higher quality and larger carat weight diamonds at more affordable prices compared to the same quality earth mined diamonds

Third Party certification from IGI and GIA laboratories Toner Jewelers Overland Park, KS

Third Party certification from IGI and GIA laboratories

View Certified Lab Grown Diamonds

How are lab grown diamonds grown?

If you own a lab grown diamond or are simply searching for a lab grown diamond engagement ring, you may be wondering how they are made. What is important to understand is that replicating what nature does over millions of years is incredibly difficult. There are two methods used to grow diamonds: HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature) method or the CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) method.
Toner Jewelers Overland Park, KS
Toner Jewelers Overland Park, KS

The CVD Method

The CVD method was created in the 1980s, making it newer than the HPHT method. The CVD method imitates how diamonds form in interstellar gas clouds. The CVD method uses less pressure than the HPHT method as well as smaller machines.

The CVD method places a diamond seed in a vacuum chamber. This chamber becomes filled with carbon rich gases and is heated to nearly 1500 degrees fahrenheit. The gas turns into plasma from these extremely high temperatures, causing the release of carbon pieces. These carbon pieces become layered onto the diamond seed, which grows the diamond.

The HPHT Method

The HPHT growth method is the original method of creating lab-grown diamonds. Gem quality HPHT diamonds were introduced in the 1950s. Outside of growing diamonds, post-HPHT treatment can also be used to enhance the color of diamonds (whether natural or lab-grown) to make them colorless, pink, green, blue, or yellow.

To grow an HPHT diamond, a small diamond seed is placed in carbon, the element that diamonds are made of. The diamond seed is exposed to extreme heat and pressure, replicating the way diamonds are naturally grown underground by the earth. The diamond seed is exposed to temperatures of over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit and pressure of about 1.5 million PSI (pounds per square inch). The carbon melts and forms a diamond around the seed. It is then cooled and the diamond is formed.
Toner Jewelers Overland Park, KS
Growth
Process		 Typical Growth
Morphology		 Photo Example
of Rough
Natural Shape:
Octahedron Growth:
8 directions
High Pressure, High Temperature (HPHT) Shape:
Cuboctohedron Growth:
14 directions
Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) Shape:
Cube Growth:
1 direction
Toner Jewelers Overland Park, KS

Post-HPHT Treatment:

Due to exposure to trace amounts of boron or nitrogen gases, as well as impure lab conditions, lab-grown diamonds may grow with a pinkish, greenish or blueish cast/color. This is more often associated with HPHT growth method, but it has also been seen with diamonds grown through the CVD method. As a result they may undergo post-HPHT treatment to correct these color irregularities. In fact, larger lab grown diamonds (2ct or larger) frequently undergo this treatment due to the extreme difficulty of growing perfect diamonds of this size. These diamonds are not any less desirable. Some laboratories do not disclose whether this treatment is present. However, at Toner Jewelers we choose not to carry diamonds that do not indicate whether post-HPHT treatment has been detected on their certificate.

Lab Grown Diamonds vs. Diamond Simulants

It is important to note the major distinction between lab grown diamonds and diamond simulants. Diamond simulants, such as cubic zirconia and moissanite, appear similar to diamonds but are not true carbon crystals. Simulants do not have the same chemical and physical properties as natural diamonds and therefore sell at much lower prices than lab-grown diamonds. Simulants can be distinguished from natural or lab grown diamonds using only the naked eye because they reflect light differently, and are less durable because they are softer than natural and lab grown diamonds.
Toner Jewelers Overland Park, KS
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Lab Grown Diamond Trade Policy

Unlike earth mined diamonds which have a proven market value based on appreciation that has accumulated over hundreds of years, lab grown diamonds are so new to the market that their market value continues to be unpredictable. As a result, we are unable to promise that we will be able to give you a full trade value towards an upgrade in the future as we would with an earth mined diamond. We will always be able to offer an amount, but that amount will be based on whatever the current market value for your lab grown diamond at the time of trade.

*Pictures provided by Green Rocks Created Diamonds