Want to learn about lab grown pink diamonds?
You're in the right place. In this Learning Guide, I'll answer the top questions asked about lab created diamond diamonds like:
- Are lab-grown pink diamonds expensive?
- Is a lab-grown pink diamond a real diamond?
- Are there different pink diamond types?
What is a Lab Grown Pink Diamond?
Unlike a natural diamond, a lab grown diamond has been formed in an isolated chamber instead of deep within the earth. A natural pink diamond is extremely rare and can cost tens of thousands dollars, even for a light pink hue. Darker pinks can go for hundreds of thousands per carat.
A lab grown pink diamond is not as rare or expensive as a natural pink one, but it has all the same properties as natural pink diamonds. Lab grown pink diamonds are real diamonds and can't be distinguished from their mined diamond counterparts. They are graded, certified, and have the same durability as mined diamonds. Though a lab diamond may be called synthetic diamond, it is still a real diamond.
Most fancy colors in diamonds come from trace elements and impurities entering the diamond crystal as its forming. Yellow diamonds are created when nitrogen is present. Blue diamonds form when boron is present. Green diamonds get their color from radiation exposure.
Read also: Best Place to Buy Lab Yellow Diamonds
A natural pink diamond is said to get its color due to the stress on the crystal as its forming under immense heat and pressure. The stress causes a disfigurement in the crystal lattice. The same process can create brown diamonds and red diamonds in the Argyle mines, which produced around 90% of the world's pink diamonds until it closed in 2020.
Other notable sources of natural pink diamonds include Brazil, Russia, Canada, South Africa, India, and Canada.
Best Places to Buy Pink Lab Grown Diamonds
Not every retailer that carries lab grown pink diamonds will carry the pink diamond you're looking for. Some may only have a few fancy vivid pink diamonds while others may have more fancy intense pink diamonds in their online catalog.
#1 James Allen
James Allen has one of the larger collections of lab created pink diamonds. The pinks in this collection vary from light pink to fancy deep pink with reddish pink color hues. Some of them go as far to a deep purplish pink color, which you won't see in any of the other lab created pink diamond inventories.
Most of their pink diamond collection is certified by the IGI, which is still acceptable for fancy colored diamonds. You can use their 360 viewer to view pink diamonds at every angle, making sure its saturated enough.
James Allen offers all of its customers a free lifetime warranty on the ring setting of their choice. It will cover all routine maintenance like rhodium plating white gold and retipping prongs.
Brilliant Earth is one of the most popular names in ethical diamonds, both lab grown and natural diamonds. They also offer a medium sized collection of around 100 loose lab grown pink diamonds of various intensity and hues.
Like Clean Origin, you'll find the highly desired papadarsha orangey pink colors at this retailer. Personally though, I think Clean Origin has better saturation, whereas Brilliant Earth has options for various shapes.
My biggest issue with this selection of lab grown pink diamonds is their saturation. Most of the hues of the inventory consist of dull pink diamonds rather than saturated. Even the fancy intense pink diamonds in their collection leave something to be desired. However, by using their 360 viewer, you can see for yourself if the saturation is up to your standards without having to make a purchase first.
Aside from their lack of brilliant colors, Brilliant Earth has some of the prettiest ring settings I've ever seen. There's so many of today's biggest trends, like garden-inspired and Art deco style engagement rings.
#3 Blue Nile
At this time, Blue Nile doesn't offer loose lab grown pink diamonds. Instead, they have a modest collection shop of Lightbox lab grown diamond jewelry. In this collection, you can find lab created pink diamonds and lab created blue diamonds.
Read also: Best Place to Buy Lab Grown Blue Diamonds
The majority of lab grown pink diamond jewelry in the Lightbox collection are pink diamond stud earrings in different carat weights. There are some fashion rings and even pieces with a combination of pink and white diamonds (alternate name for colorless diamonds).
All of the Lightbox collection has VS clarity grades and Very good cut grades. That means that pink diamonds from this collection will be eye-clean, or free of natural inclusions to the naked eye. All of the pink hues are a medium to light tone pink with no secondary colors of orange or red.
Read also: What are Eye-Clean Diamonds?
Unfortunately, Blue Nile doesn't offer 360 video on these pieces, so you don't get to see how they look before buying them. Fortunately, they offer easy 30 day returns, just in case their pink diamonds aren't exactly what you were hoping for.
Are Lab Grown Pink Diamonds Expensive?
You already known that mined pink diamonds of any hue and tone can be very expensive per carat. But just how expensive is a lab created pink diamond, really?
Like much of the diamond and gemstone world, it depends. I know it's not the answer you want, but it's true. The price of a lab grown pink diamond depends on its over quality-which is made up of a number of factors. This is true for all diamonds, mined and lab diamonds alike.
But with colored diamonds, the biggest determining factor of price is the color. Fancy colors are analyzed based on tone, hue, and saturation. Tone is how light or dark the diamond is, hue is the shade of pink color, and saturation is how rich the tone of the diamond is. Is the color consistent throughout the entire diamond with no light spots?
If so, your pink diamond is likely to be more expensive. Lab grown pink diamonds rated as fancy vivid pink, fancy intense pink, fancy dark pink, or fancy deep pink can cost upwards of $5,000 per carat. Light colored pink lab diamonds can be as low as $2000 per carat.
Still these are much less expensive than natural fancy vivid pink or fancy intense pink diamonds. The lab grown versions have more of a desirable tone and saturation than what is available naturally.
Conclusion
Most of the world is learning that colorless lab grown diamonds are less expensive than natural ones. Many don't realize that fancy colored lab diamonds exist as well. They are thousands less expensive than natural pink diamonds per carat and can really make a splash in diamond jewelry.
Pink diamonds are a great alternative to white diamonds. They have the same properties, and will make a durable engagement ring for daily wear. Many alternative gemstones to diamonds can't be worn due to their resistance to scratching. But all diamonds have the same hardness level.
Many celebrities have opted for a fancy vivid pink diamond over engagement rings with white diamonds. Some of the most notable pink diamond engagement rings have been worn by Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey. In a bizarre event more recently, Lil Uzi Vert had a 10 carat $24 million natural pink diamond embedded in his forehead. This was deemed unhealthy and resulted in needing to be removed.
The point is, lots of people love pink diamonds. Most of us have found the intensity we want is way out of our price range. Lab grown pink diamonds allow those to obtain fancy vivid pink colors without the extra thousands tacked on.
While all of these retailers are great options to buy from, my favorite one is going to be James Allen. James Allen's pink diamonds are vast in size and affordable in price, and you'll surely find the perfect lab-created pink diamond.
