The Difference Between Diamond Simulants, Lab Created Diamonds, and Synthetic Diamonds

Are lab diamonds, cubic zirconia, and moissanite the same thing?

No. Many consumers are confused about the differences between diamond simulants like cubic zirconia, which has no carbon, and lab diamonds, which are 100% carbon. A lab diamond is not the same thing as a diamond simulant.

Diamond Simulants

Diamond simulants are fake facsimiles of diamonds. Diamond simulants do not have the same chemical composition, physical properties, or optical behavior of a diamond. Every known diamond simulant is weaker and softer than a diamond. A diamond simulant is obvious to the naked eye and can easily be detected using simple jewelers tools.

Ada Diamonds refuses to sell diamond simulants such as cubic zirconias, moissanite, white topaz, and yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG), as diamond simulants are not diamonds.

Lab Created Diamonds

Lab Created Diamonds are a crystal of carbon created above the Earth via High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) Diamond Growth or Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) Diamond Growth.

(Learn more about the process to grow diamonds)

A lab created diamond is, in fact, a diamond. It has all the exact same chemical, optical, and physical properties of a diamond that was formed under the Earth and extracted by an industrial mining operation.

Synthetic Diamonds

A synthetic diamond is another name for a laboratory-grown diamond. 'Synthetic' is the preferred name used by the mined diamond industry as they believe that the term 'synthetic' cheapens the product. Furthermore, it creates confusion between lab-grown diamonds (which are diamonds) and diamond simulants (which are not diamonds).

But I’ve Seen Companies Selling “Lab Grown Diamond Simulants”. What Does That Mean?

Whether you call it a lab diamond simulant, a diamond simulant, or just a simulant, it’s still NOT a diamond. It’s an inferior material designed to mimic a lab diamond, but it is not, in fact, a lab diamond. Most of these organizations are in serious violation of FTC guidelines, have defrauded thousands of customers, and as far as we’re concerned, should be shut down and their executives prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.