Lab-grown diamonds are ethical, cheaper, blood-less. So why aren’t they as popular?

When Divya (name changed on request), a 31-year-old bride-to-be from Delhi, was in the middle of her wedding ring shopping, the idea of opting for a lab-grown diamond did cross her mind. Unlike natural mined diamonds, lab-grown ones don’t cost a bomb – they can be up to five times cheaper.
Yet, Divya, who went to great lengths to make her wedding a budget-friendly event, found herself inclining more towards a natural diamond ring than a lab-grown one because of its “sentimental value”.
“Real diamond gives the feeling that it is real, rather than lab-grown, which gives the feeling that it’s artificial. Although in composition they’re both the same, it just feels that real diamonds hold more value than lab-grown ones,” the bride-to-be tells India Today.
This more or less sums up one of the biggest challenges the lab-grown diamond industry is facing in India, despite the country being one of the world’s leading producers.
For us Indians, the emotional value of jewellery is significant. Even if it doesn’t appreciate over time (as in the case of diamonds), it holds a deep emotional connection and is considered something to be passed down through generations. Add to that the impeccable marketing efforts globally, promoting diamonds as the symbol of eternal love and commitment for several decades now. A wedding is now incomplete without a ring exchange – a ring preferably with a glittery rock sitting on it. Diamonds add that glam and rizz, while also being a tangible promise of ‘forever’ love.

A wedding is now incomplete without a ring exchange – a ring preferably with a glittering rock sitting on it. (Photo: Getty Images)

Diamonds hold so much value because they represent how something so perfect can emerge from imperfections, enduring immense pressure and time to form. The idea of something enduring against all odds, makes diamonds not just a gemstone but a powerful symbol of eternity and unbreakable bonds. Their ability to reflect and refract light leads to that iconic sparkle, making them symbolic of shining through darkness.
But in 2024, the ‘rare’, ‘precious’, and ‘sparkling’ diamond has an affordable and rather ‘ethical’ counterpart – lab-grown diamonds.
Lab-grown diamonds are diamonds (essentially carbon), only produced in a different way. Diamonds no longer require billions of years of Earth’s work to be formed and then found and mined; one no longer needs to take the guilt of embracing their bloody history. Diamonds can now be created in labs – within a few weeks – and then taken for cutting and polishing, like natural ones, to be turned into exquisite jewels.
There are two main methods for creating lab-grown diamonds: Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) and High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT). CVD is commonly used in India.
“In this method, a small piece of carbon is placed in a chamber, where we introduce a gas mixture containing hydrocarbons. By applying very high temperatures and pressures, we create conditions similar to those found deep within the Earth. Over a few weeks, this process transforms the carbon into diamond rough,” Darayus Mehta, co-founder of lab-grown diamond jewellery brand True Diamond tells India Today.
“Lab-grown diamonds are like test tube babies. If you think test tube babies are real, the same goes for lab-grown diamonds – just the way they are incepted is different,” says Disha Shah, founder of lab-grown jewellery brand DiAi Designs.

Lab-grown diamond rings by DiAi Designs

One cannot tell the difference if they hold a one-carat mined diamond and a one-carat lab-grown diamond. Even jewellery professionals can’t. The chemical formulation and physical appearance are the same.
“Machines in laboratories across the world, by simulating the conditions at the core of the Earth, are producing diamonds identical to the natural ones – they are of better quality, cost less and most importantly, leave a smaller carbon footprint,” Shantanu Guha Ray wrote in his book The Diamond Trail (2019).
That’s a whole string of green flags right there, all in the lab-made diamonds’ court. India’s lab-grown diamond jewellery sales grew at 10.6 per cent CAGR from 2018 to 2021. For the next ten years (2023 to 2033), demand for lab-grown diamonds in India is set to surge at 14.8 per cent CAGR.
A noteworthy moment in India’s outlook towards lab-grown diamonds was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the White House in June 2023, when he gifted First Lady Jill Biden a made-in-India 7.5-carat diamond.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted a lab-grown 7.5-carat lab-grown diamond to the US First Lady Jill Biden on his state visit to the US in June 2023. (Photo: ANI/Reuters)

However, lab diamonds are yet to solidify their position; a probable reason why the lab diamond industry is now dealing with overproduction. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) in a new report said that India’s lab-grown diamond industry is facing a major challenge, with prices falling by 65 per cent in the past year, from Rs 60,000 to Rs 20,000 per carat, due to local overproduction and oversupply from abroad.
The apparent USP of lab-grown diamonds (the affordability factor) can turn out to be the reason behind the fall. Some things are desirable when not everyone can buy them or when they are not easily accessible. Luxury and gatekeeping go hand in hand. ‘Is it even a wedding ring if it doesn’t come with a certain price tag?’ is a thought process etched in human minds.
Meanwhile, advertising campaigns tend to be hindering the shift towards lab-grown diamonds too. De Beers’ 2023 campaign featured taglines like “Good things take time. The best take a billion years,” and “Nature’s mic drop,” along with “The real thing deserves the real thing,” during their festive promotions.

An ad released by De Beers in 2023.

In 2016, top diamond producers including De Beers, Alrosa, and Rio Tinto launched an ad campaign targeting millennials with the tagline – “Real is Rare.” This was to combat the growing popularity of lab-grown diamonds back then.
“There have been years of conventional marketing for mined diamonds that have made Indians accustomed to viewing diamonds as investments for the future. These long-held views require time to change,” says Darayus Mehta of True Diamond.
Lab diamond jewellers, however, are hopeful that the industry is only set to thrive in the future.
“I believe lab-grown diamonds will surpass mine-grown diamonds in popularity over the next ten years. The market has only recently begun in India, and over the next few years, we expect to see significant growth and innovation in this industry. India still has a very low penetration rate compared to the more developed US market, which offers a significant opportunity. All things considered, the future looks extraordinarily bright for lab-grown diamonds, and we sincerely feel that they are the way of the future,” Mehta tells India Today.

Lab-grown diamond rings for sale at a trade fair in China. (Photo: Getty Images)

He believes growing awareness and education about the true nature of diamonds – whether lab-grown or natural – will lead to greater acceptance and preference for lab diamonds.
However, not many industry players in both the natural and lab-grown diamond sectors see each other as a threat.
“I don’t think it is an A versus B situation. It is more like A plus B, where both can co-exist. Different consumers might choose either, or even both, depending on their preferences and needs,” says Ajoy Chawla, CEO, jewellery division, Titan Company Ltd.
He believes that lab-grown diamonds won’t replace natural diamonds. Instead, they will serve different purposes and cater to diverse consumer groups.
“Some customers may want both natural and lab-grown diamonds, using each for different purposes, such as wearing lab-grown diamonds for destination weddings where they don’t want to risk losing more expensive, natural diamonds,” he says.
Even the diamond industry’s key player, De Beers Group, views lab-grown diamonds as a different product category.
“Natural diamonds are unique, finite, and rare with enduring value, while lab-grown diamonds (LGDs) – which are mass-produced – do not share these attributes, so they are increasingly sought out for different purposes. We are also seeing growing divergence between the two products as LGDs are mass-produced in ever greater volumes and their value continues to reduce rapidly,” David Johnson, vice-president of corporate communications, De Beers Group, tells India Today.
“We believe there is an interesting future for LGDs, but as a distinct product category from natural diamonds, with much more focus on lower-priced fashion jewellery and in the high-tech industrial space where the outstanding physical properties can be used in a range of applications,” he says.
Disha Shah of DiAi Designs says that lab-grown diamonds essentially cater to two major segments – high net-worth individuals who buy lab-grown diamonds for gifting, and middle-class consumers who can now afford diamonds because of the lower prices.
Disha, who hails from a family deeply rooted in the natural diamond business, ventured into lab-grown diamonds in 2018, when the market for lab-grown diamonds in India was practically non-existent. She noticed the popularity of these diamonds in the West and foresaw their potential in India.
“I have seen how mindsets change. Once you know the price difference, you start wearing lab-grown diamonds and feel that there’s no difference. Lab-grown diamonds make much more sense,” she adds.
Gen Z and millennials are especially attracted to lab-grown diamonds, Disha says, because of “ethical sourcing and sustainability compared to natural diamonds, given the concerns around blood diamonds.”
However, there’s not much solid proof to back these sustainability claims. Though the conflict angle associated with natural diamonds mining, as also depicted in Leonardo DiCaprio’s starter ‘Blood Diamonds’ (2006), is ruled out in the case of lab diamonds.
Ajoy Chawla of Tanishq Jewellery highlights significant energy consumption involved in lab-grown diamond production. He points out that creating lab-grown diamonds, whether through HPHT or CVD processes, requires a large amount of energy.

A laboratory technician monitoring the progress of lab-grown diamond seeds at a manufacturing firm on the outskirts of Surat. (Photo: Getty Images)

“Unless that energy comes from renewable sources, it raises the question of whether lab-grown diamonds are truly sustainable,” he says.
The natural diamond industry, tainted with the history of being harmful, cruel, and conflict-driven, says strong efforts are already in practice to ensure diamonds are sourced responsibly.
“The Kimberley Process is a UN-backed scheme that was introduced in the early 2000s to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate supply chain, and today more than 99.8 per cent of all natural diamonds are certified as conflict-free,” says David Johnson of De Beers Group.
The Kimberley Process certification, however, is often criticised for being insufficient and having several loopholes.
Apart from the sourcing (and production) of diamonds, the conditions in which diamonds are polished and cut should also meet ethical standards. Ajoy Chawla further shares that while larger diamonds are processed in factories, smaller diamonds, which account for 80-90 per cent of industry use, are often cut in smaller units in Surat.
One might be cheaper and practical, while the other might feel more exquisite and authentic – co-existence appears to be the future roadmap for lab-grown diamonds and natural diamonds.
Disha Shah experienced this firsthand when her family, involved in the natural diamond business, initially resisted her venture into lab-grown diamonds. Her grandmother, once adamant about never wearing lab-grown jewellery, now adores her big 3-carat lab-grown diamond ring just as much as her natural diamond pieces.