2ct Moissanite Halo Ring
£185.82
Rainbow Moissanite Halo Ring
£177.99
3ct Moissanite Square Pendant
£192.86
Pink Moissanite LOVE Necklace
£163.82
Lab-created moissanite pieces from our collection
Lab-grown diamonds have gone from curiosity to mainstream in under a decade, and the question we hear constantly is: are they "real"? The scientific answer is unambiguous — and the market answer is more interesting. Here's both, honestly.
Yes, lab-grown diamonds are real diamonds
A lab-grown diamond is chemically, physically and optically identical to a mined one: pure carbon in the same crystal structure, hardness 10, same brilliance and fire. Gemological institutes like the GIA grade them on the same 4Cs (cut, colour, clarity, carat) as natural stones. Even experts can't tell them apart by eye — laboratories identify them using specialised equipment that reads growth patterns and trace elements.
How they're made
Two methods dominate. HPHT (high pressure, high temperature) recreates the conditions of the deep Earth around a diamond seed. CVD (chemical vapour deposition) grows diamond layer by layer from carbon-rich gas in a vacuum chamber. Both take weeks rather than the billions of years nature needed — which is precisely why they cost less.
The honest differences
| Lab-grown diamond | Natural diamond | |
|---|---|---|
| Composition | Carbon, identical | Carbon, identical |
| Typical price | Commonly 60–85% less than equivalent natural | Premium for rarity |
| Resale value | Low and still falling as supply grows | Better — but far below retail; diamonds are not investments for most buyers |
| Origin story | Traceable, no mining | Billions of years old; sourcing varies by supplier |
The resale row deserves emphasis because it cuts both ways: lab-grown prices have dropped sharply as production scales, so a lab diamond is a purchase, not an asset. But the widely repeated idea that natural diamonds hold their value is also generous — most retail buyers would recover only a fraction at resale. Buy either one because you love it, not as an investment.
Where moissanite fits
Moissanite — what we work with at Micoryan — is a different lab-created stone entirely: silicon carbide rather than carbon. It's not a diamond and we never call it one. What it offers is even more fire than diamond, near-diamond hardness (9.25+ on the Mohs scale), and prices dramatically below even lab-grown diamonds — which makes 2–3 carat looks affordable. The ladder, honestly stated: moissanite for maximum sparkle per pound, lab diamond for a true diamond without the mining or the markup, natural diamond for rarity and tradition.