Selene Origins | Conflict Free Diamonds

At Selene Origins, we are on a mission to let as many people know as possible there is no difference in lab grown diamonds and mined diamonds, apart from their journey. They are NOT simulants or ‘look-a-likes’.

They are different only in process, not quality. In fact, they are optically, physically and chemically the same. They are equally as beautiful, fiery and brilliant.

Lab grown diamonds are created using one of two methods.

HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature) mimics the heat and pressure mined diamonds need to form in the earth’s crust. A high pressure cubic press houses a growth chamber, where your lab grown diamond will form.

CVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition) uses a method where precipitating carbon lands on diamond wafers, resulting in diamonds growing in layers.

You don’t need to mine the earth’s crust to get super intense heat and pressure needed to create a diamond anymore. This can be recreated in a laboratory, without causing the mass destruction on the natural landscape that mining does.

Think of it this way: Ice can form naturally in glaciers, lakes, or rivers, or created in freezers. The ingredients and results are exactly the same. It is the same concept with lab created diamonds.

These controlled creation methods mean that lab grown diamonds are purer than most mined diamonds as they do not feature any of the nature’s impurities than can cause discolouration. Lab grown diamonds almost always test as Type IIa which is classed as the purest a diamond can be.

To truly identify the difference between a lab grown and mined diamond, it must be analysed in a gemmological laboratory using advanced techniques. It is impossible to tell with the naked eye, or a jewellers loupe.