Lab-Created Yellow Diamonds: The Best Places to Buy Them in 2024

Last Updated on September 15, 2024 by Juli "Jewels" Church

Wondering where to buy lab-created yellow diamonds online?

You're in the right place!

In this guide, we'll get into the best retailers of yellow lab diamonds that you know you can trust, plus I'll answer common questions like: 

Lab-created yellow diamonds
  • What should you look for when buying lab diamonds online?
  • Are yellow lab diamonds good for an engagement ring?
  • How do you know you’re getting a good deal?
  • What are the red flags to watch out for when buying?
Lab-created fancy color diamonds

James Allen is our pick for the Top Place to buy lab-created yellow diamonds. They have largest selection of lab yellow diamonds to ensure you have a variety of choices and color intensities.

They carry just over 3400 loose lab-created yellow diamonds. You can filter out your clarity, intensity, carat weight, and diamond shape. Most of their yellow lab diamond shape selection includes ovals, cushion cuts, and pear cut diamonds

The intensity of their yellow lab created diamonds is auto selected from Fancy, Fancy Vivid, and Fancy Intense You can always re-check that if you want those results in your search.

All lab created yellow diamonds over $30,000 come with a free ring setting of your choice within $1500. All their yellow lab-created diamonds will be certified by the IGI. 

Lab-created 0.91 Carat Oval Diamond

James Allen carries a lot of what’s popular and common. If you feel this way, you can still purchase a yellow lab created diamond and add it directly to your cart. 

You get a free lifetime warranty that covers routine maintenance for your fine jewelry. You also receive one free resizing within the first year.

James Allen regularly tops our best diamond seller charts and is easily our top recommendation for lab created yellow diamonds.


2. Brilliant Earth

Brilliant Earth is a highly popular online retailer that focuses on diamond and gemstone ethics. Their natural diamonds and mined gemstones have GIA Origin Reports to help put wary minds at ease over conflict diamonds. 

Colored Gemstones

They also carry colorless lab grown diamonds and fancy colored lab grown diamonds. It's a small collection of 20. Almost all of them are a vivid yellow. Some of them have this gorgeous orangey swirl in them too, like this one below: 

1.32 Ct. Fancy Vivid Yellow Radiant Lab Created Diamond

Majority of these yellow diamonds are over 1 carat and GIA certified. These are the only lab yellow diamonds certified by the GIA on our list today. The stock at Brilliant Earth frequently changes. Today you might see 20 yellow lab diamonds in their inventory, but there might only be 3 the next day. 

The prices of yellow lab colored diamonds at Brilliant Earth are going to be a bit higher than other online retailers. They also have a wide selection of ring settings.

They also offer a 3 year maintenance warranty with an option to re-up at the end. The price of it depends on the cost of your purchase.  


What to Look for When Buying Lab-created Yellow Diamonds

Here's the things to keep an eye out for when looking for yellow lab-grown diamonds online: 

Cut & Carat

We often put having the best cut grade above anything else with colorless diamonds. It controls the overall brilliance and beauty of your white diamond

It’s different with colored diamonds. Instead of round diamonds being the best shape-they're actually the worst shape for colored diamonds. 

The best diamond shapes for yellow diamonds are radiant cuts, cushions, or ovals.

Here's why...

These shapes display diamond color much better than a round yellow diamond. You should avoid them because the color is diffused. 

Don’t worry about the cut grade. You should be looking at its length-to-width ratio and other proportions to see if it matches the “ideal grades” for that diamond shape. 

Like all diamonds, the price of a lab grown yellow diamond will rise as you increase carat weight. However, the increase isn’t too bad if you’re starting lower, like from a carat to a 1.5 or carat diamond. Going from a carat to a 4 carat will cost you a pretty penny. 

Clarity

Lab-grown yellow diamonds should be eye-clean, or free of inclusions. Inclusions happen during the formation process. 

Natural diamonds have a variety of different inclusions, but lab grown diamonds have metallic inclusions instead of crystal inclusions. Those types of inclusions aren’t as noticeable. 

Most of the eye-clean lab-grown yellow diamonds I’ve seen have SI clarity. 

Color

Fancy colored diamonds are graded by the 4Cs, but their color has special grades too. Colored diamonds are assessed by their tone, saturation, and color hues. 

Light yellow diamonds are very popular and less expensive. Yellow lab diamonds are most often a vivid yellow since those are in demand and go for higher prices. All they have to do is introduce nitrogen atom to the pure carbon atom

The most valued lab-yellow diamonds are going to have a bright yellow look throughout the stone. A yellow diamond that has no orange or brown in it is considered top-quality (even if you’re like me and love that orange swirl color).

Gemologists call these canary diamonds, and they are still a lot cheaper than blue lab created diamonds.

How to Get the Best Deal When Buying Lab-Created Yellow Diamonds Online

There are a some things  to consider when purchasing a lab-created yellow diamond online. 

  • Assess the clarity of the stone and its overall size - any inclusions or small blemishes will affect the price of the diamond. 
  • Determine what shape you're looking for - round cuts are popular but also more expensive than other shapes. 
  • Make sure your lab yellow diamond is certified.
  • Buy from a retailer with a 360˚ view.
  • Choose shapes like radiants, cushion cuts, or ovals for yellow diamonds
  • Make sure your length to width ratio and other diamond proportions matches your chosen diamond shape.
  • Compare prices of different retailers.

You'd also do well to remember the following things:

  • Remember that a synthetic diamond isn't an artificial diamond, it's a real diamond.
  • A man-made diamond costs much less than an earth made diamond.
  • Cultured diamonds have better hardness than any diamond simulant, like moissanite or cubic zirconia.

FAQs When Buying Lab-Created Yellow Diamonds Online

Here are some of the most popular questions asked about buying yellow cultivated diamonds online. 

Are lab-created yellow diamonds good for an engagement ring?

Synthetic diamonds have the same overall durability as mined diamonds. Their hardness level for scratch resistance is 10. 

Mohscale

Even buying natural yellow diamonds isn't as expensive as other fancy colors, but having a lab-grown option still makes them affordable for people who might not be able to afford otherwise.

And with the growing interest in colorless diamond alternatives, a lab created yellow diamond will make a perfect engagement ring.

Is it cheaper to buy Lab-created yellow diamonds online?

You’re going to have the best luck finding lab-created yellow diamonds online instead of locally. Honestly, it’s got less to do with price and more to do with finding them. 

Five years ago, places like Kay and Jared refused to carry a loose diamond in their inventory online or in-store. They also refuse lab grown diamonds in their cases. Today, that’s not true. The diamond industry is changing. 

Most types of yellow gemstones are for people with a specific taste. Many physical stores aren’t going to pay a bunch of money to a vendor of yellow lab diamonds, hoping they’ll sell. These stores only sell what’s popular and what everyone wants. 

Overall, lab grown diamonds and natural diamonds are cheaper online than in-store.

Are lab-created yellow diamonds more expensive?

Natural fancy colored diamond jewelry is highly expensive due to the conditions needed to be gem quality. However, a yellow natural diamond the cheapest price of most fancy colored diamonds. . 

Lab grown diamond rings can be between 20-70% cheaper than a natural mined diamond ring of the same grade. For lab grown colored diamonds, you’ll see around a 20-40% difference. 

What are the red flags when buying Lab-created yellow diamonds?

Here’s just a couple things to watch out for when buying a lab-created yellow diamond engagement ring.

Canary Diamonds

Gemologists call diamonds with pure yellow hues canary diamonds. If you look them up on the web, you’ll find reports of sites saying all yellow diamonds are canary diamonds. There’s no actual set standard on the requirements for a canary diamond

Canary Colored Yellow Diamond

Non-Canary Colored Yellow Diamond (Fancy Light)

Grading Report

You’ll want to make sure the stone you’re getting is indeed a lab created yellow diamond. The best way to ensure that is through a grading report from a reputable lab. For lab yellow diamonds, we recommend GIA, AGS, HRD, and IGI grading reports.

You shouldn’t ever buy a center diamond without a grading report. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, buying lab grown yellow diamonds is a great investment due to their affordability and quality. They are virtually indistinguishable from mined diamonds in terms of beauty and quality and provide an ethical alternative to mined diamonds that are conflict-free and do not harm the environment. For those looking for an affordable and responsibly sourced yellow diamond, choose lab-grown ones.


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