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3 times Excellent/Ideal in Cut & Polish & Symmetry = “Triple Ex”.

Especially for round diamonds, the expression “3 times Excellent = Triple Ex” is a technical term for absolute top class → three times the very best category (Ideal or Excellent) for cut, polish, symmetry.

“Triple Ex” are diamonds that are classified in both Cut, Polish and Symmetry with an excellent in the diamond certificate -> 3 times excellent.

Since IGI “ideal” cut grade is even slightly better than excellent, “Triple Ex” of course also applies when a diamond has an ideal cut (although the wording is not 3x excellent).

IMPORTANT: IGI’s “Ideal” = better than GIA Excellent! (though both cuts are excellent).
IGI has an additional level for Best-of-Best of Excellent = ideal.
This sometimes causes confusion as people think it has to be 3x Ex but ideal is even better.

Triple Ex stones are classified as follows:

• ideal (better) or excellent cut
• excellent polish
• excellent symmetry

We think that the massive price difference of about 70% between mined diamonds and lab diamonds cannot be sustained in the longer term. Since both are identical products (chemically, physically and optically), theoretically the price difference cannot be justified anyway.

Due to the ecological footprint, it would also be conceivable that in the future lab diamonds might even become expensive.

We see the risk of mining diamond prices falling/correcting as very high.

Due to a strong increase in demand for lab diamonds, prices here could rise because the global supply is currently still small due to capacities and cannot be increased massively so easily.

Lab diamonds are up to 70 percent cheaper than mine diamonds. For colored diamonds – Fancy Color Diamonds yellow, blue, pink and others – the price differences are even greater. Another advantage is that lab diamonds are more sustainable, environmentally friendly, social as well as ethical from their conflict-free origin. They are guaranteed not to be blood diamonds.

Main reasons in favor of Lab Grown Diamonds

• genuine diamonds (official certificates IGI, GCAL, GIA, etc.)
• Our lab diamonds are chemically, physically & optical identical to mined diamonds.
• up to 70% cheaper than mine diamonds
• affordable colored diamonds (Fancy Color Diamonds)
• Sustainable & Environmental & Social/Ethical (ESG; Sustainability)

→ the question is not why buy a lab diamond, the question is why NOT to buy a lab diamond and a mine diamond?!

…diamond = diamond. This was defined by the FTC (USA Federal Trade Commission) in July 2018.

All diamonds consist of pure cubic crystallized carbon.

Chemically, physically, optically, lab diamonds are the same as mining diamonds.

Both are 100% pure crystallized carbon.

Difference: origin laboratory versus mountain mining. Lab diamonds are 100% genuine, cheaper, more sustainable and more ethical. We see no reason not to buy a lab diamond.

No. Even experts with common instruments and diamond detectors, UV light, magnifying glass etc. are not able to tell the difference.

Lab-grown diamonds are identical in appearance to mine diamonds (visually identical)!

✓ traditional gemmological observations and old style “diamond detectors” are NOT able to distinguish them

In order to detect possibly very subtle differences in growth morphology, gemological institutes had to develop extremely expensive and complex equipment specifically for this purpose.

Certification laboratories try with special very expensive and complex machines and specifically trained experts (specially trained gemologists) to assign the difference by means of growth morphology (which is irrelevant in the cut diamond) and here more common fluorescence patterns under the UV light.

But even that is extremely difficult!

Moreover, even if growth patterns should be detected, it does not change the fact that “diamond = diamond”, it is a real diamond with the same material (crystallized carbon, pure carbon), the same chemical composition (chemically, physically and optically identical) and the same crystal structure as a mine diamond.

How do the certification companies manage to identify Lab-Diamonds as such?

As you can see, it is extremely difficult to make this distinction even for extremely well and very specifically trained experts who have specially developed equipment.

They try to categorize the morphology of diamonds using a diagram that lists the growth process, typical growth morphology and visual examples of mine, HPHT and CVD rough diamonds.

This diagram shows the different rough diamonds based on their growth form, or growth morphology. Although this shape is lost after a diamond has been cut and polished, identification is still possible by looking for fluorescence patterns (under the UV light) resulting from, among other things, the particular growth morphology – a difficult task!

As a rule, the cut diamonds are sent to the certification companies already declared as “lab grown”.

A “Lab Diamond” is a man-made diamond that has been grown in a laboratory environment by one of the two currently available manufacturing processes: HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature) and CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition). All real diamonds consist of pure crystallized carbon (pure carbon); this applies to both mine diamonds and lab diamonds. The growing process mimics/imitates natural growth in the deep interior of the Earth (HPHT) or in interstellar gas clouds (CVD). Although the growth process is different from what occurs in nature, the chemical composition, physical properties, and optical characteristics of lab-grown diamonds are identical to those of diamonds mined/extracted from mines. Lab-grown diamonds come in all sizes (currently up to over 10 carats), all shapes and all colors, and the light output is identical to that of mined diamonds.

Also called: Lab diamonds, lab grown diamonds, laboratory-created diamond, lab diamond, man-made diamond, green diamond, green diamonds.

For more on the difference between lab and mining/mining diamonds, click here.