The Downsides of Lab Grown Diamonds: Wholesale Prices Are Down 92% Since 2018
We sell lab grown diamonds, so here is the case against them, in full. Six real downsides, what each one actually costs you, and how to buy well anyway.
The author is the founder of Draco Diamond, which sells lab grown diamonds. That is a reason to be suspicious of this page, so every figure is sourced to GIA, the FTC, price indexes or the companies named. Read October 19, 2026.
A lab grown diamond has almost no resale value
This is the largest downside, and it is real. If you sell a lab grown diamond, most of what you paid is gone. Few buyers will take one at all.
| Downside | What it costs you | How to limit it |
|---|---|---|
| Little resale value | Most of the price, if you sell | Buy to wear, not to store value |
| Falling prices | The same stone may cost less next year | Buy when you need it; skip the wait |
| Perception | The odd raised eyebrow | Know the facts; the stone is a diamond |
| Treatment and tints | A stone that looks grey or brown | Read the report; set a colour floor |
| Unproven green claims | Paying for a story | Ask for evidence, not adjectives |
| Insurance and trade in | Lower replacement value, narrow upgrades | Insure at replacement value; read the terms |
Worthy, one of the largest diamond resale platforms, lists lab grown diamonds of any shape and size under what it does not accept. myGemma's buying list excludes them too.12
Where a buyer exists, the offer is low. MadisonDia, which sells lab diamonds itself, puts typical resale at 15 to 20 percent of the purchase price.3
StoneAlgo's price hub is blunter: there is currently not much of a resale market for lab grown diamonds.4
What it costs you depends on why you buy. As a store of value, a lab diamond fails. As something to wear for decades, resale rarely matters, because you never sell it.
Prices keep falling, though the drop has slowed
Lab grown diamonds keep getting cheaper to make, so prices keep falling. A stone bought today may cost noticeably less next year, which stings if you watch the market.
Edahn Golan's wholesale index is down 92 percent since tracking began in July 2018, and 10 percent in the past year. A 1 carat D VVS traded at US$87 a carat in the third quarter.5
Lab grown and natural, one carat round, per carat
Generic one carat round, US dollars per carat. Dashed lines bridge quarters with no published point.
Source: Paul Zimnisky Diamond Analytics, via Quartz (August 2023) and CNBC (March 2025).
Retail lags but follows. StoneAlgo reports lab grown prices down 26.57 percent over the past year, against 17.38 percent for natural diamonds.4
De Beers itself put the fall at 90 percent at wholesale when it announced it would close its Lightbox lab brand in May 2025.6
The fall may be flattening. Golan's index rose about 2 percent in the third quarter of 2026. Waiting for the bottom has its own cost: the occasion does not wait.5
"Wholesale lab prices are down 92 percent since 2018. Buy a lab diamond to wear it, not to store money in it."
Garrett McMartin, Founder, Draco Diamond
Will people think a lab diamond is fake?
Fewer than you fear. The stigma was real a few years ago, but lab grown stones now make up most US engagement ring purchases, and opinion has moved with them.
The Knot's 2026 Real Weddings Study found lab grown centre stones in 61 percent of engagement ring purchases, a 239 percent increase since 2020.9
The older data looks different. In a 2021 De Beers survey of 5,000 US consumers, 47 percent did not agree that lab grown diamonds are real. De Beers funded it, and it predates the shift.10
The science settled the question years ago. US rules define a diamond as pure carbon crystallized in the isometric system, with no requirement that it be mined.11
What it costs you is the occasional raised eyebrow, usually from someone who has not looked at the numbers since 2020.
Every lab diamond can be identified, and must be disclosed
A lab grown diamond cannot pass as mined in a proper laboratory. That protects buyers, but it means the stone always carries its origin with it.
GIA's research is clear that there are no reliable visual clues to identify a CVD stone; identification is best done by a major gemological laboratory.12
US rules require the origin to be stated. The words laboratory grown, or a similar term, must appear immediately before the name of the stone.11
Grading labs mark the stone itself. GIA inscribes the girdle with the words Laboratory-Grown and the report number, so the stone and its paperwork travel together.14
What it costs you: nothing, unless you hoped no one would ever know. For everyone else, a disclosed origin and a verifiable report are the point.
Most CVD stones are treated after growth, and some show tints
Many lab grown diamonds are improved after they are grown. That is legal and disclosed on good reports, but it is a fact buyers rarely hear in a showroom.
GIA reports that some 80 percent of colourless to near colourless CVD diamonds have been subjected to post growth treatment. Brown colour often correlates with faster growth.13
Tints are the visible risk. GIA has seen more grey CVD stones submitted in recent years, and common inclusions include clouds, pinpoints and dark crystals.12
A stone that looks cloudy usually has clouds of tiny inclusions, among the most common GIA finds in CVD stones. They are there on day one and graded on the report, so a strict colour and clarity floor screens most of them out.
Treat the price as spent, like a fine watch or a holiday, not as money stored in a stone.
Check the growth method and any post growth treatment, and confirm the report number matches the laser inscription.
Choose a floor that rules out visible tints and inclusions. Draco's floor is E to F colour and VS2 clarity.
Insure for what a like stone costs today, and have it re-appraised every few years as prices move.
If you may upgrade later, read the seller's trade in policy before you buy, not after.
Can lab diamonds be called eco friendly?
Not without evidence. Lab diamonds avoid mining, but growing them takes a great deal of electricity, and the footprint depends on where that power comes from.
The FTC has warned that marketers of lab diamonds are highly unlikely to substantiate every reasonable reading of unqualified eco friendly or sustainable claims.15
Independent, industry wide figures are thin. The numbers that exist come from individual companies or from studies funded by one side of the debate.
One company publishes its own. Pandora reports 12.58 kg of CO2 equivalent per polished carat, made with renewable electricity and checked to ISO 14067 with limited assurance.16
What it costs you is paying for a story. Ask any seller for its evidence; a claim without a number is an adjective.
Insurance and upgrades follow the lab market, not the receipt
Two costs arrive after the purchase. Insurance pays to replace the stone at today's price, and most upgrade programs only credit a lab stone toward another, larger lab stone.
Insurers generally value lab diamonds at documented replacement value, and those values can shift dramatically. A lost lab stone is replaced with a lab stone.17
Trade in terms are narrow. Jared trades lab for lab only, toward a piece at least double the value. Blue Nile requires like for like at twice the price, and Brilliant Earth asks for twice the value on lab.181920
None of this changes the stone. It is a diamond, as hard and as bright as a mined one. The downsides are about money and paperwork, which is why it pays to buy carefully.
Draco's answer is to sell lab grown diamonds as what they are. Every Draco piece carries 30 day returns, the Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee, free resizing, and free insured worldwide shipping to 25 markets, delivered duty paid with nothing collected at the door, and signature on delivery. Each piece is IGI certified, E to F colour and VS2 or better, with a report you can verify free at IGI.org.
See lab grown diamond engagement rings, tennis bracelets and earrings, priced in Canadian dollars.
The downsides, answered
What are the disadvantages of lab grown diamonds?
Little resale value, falling prices, lingering perception issues, frequent post growth treatment, unproven environmental claims, and insurance and trade in terms that follow the lab market. None of them change the stone, which is a diamond.
Do lab grown diamonds have resale value?
Very little. Major resale platforms such as Worthy do not accept them, and one lab seller puts typical resale at 15 to 20 percent of the purchase price.
Will lab diamond prices keep dropping?
They have fallen 92 percent at wholesale since July 2018 and 10 percent in the past year, but Edahn Golan's index rose about 2 percent in the third quarter of 2026. The fall has slowed.
Can a jeweller tell a lab diamond from a mined one?
Not by eye. GIA says there are no reliable visual clues; identification takes laboratory equipment. Grading reports and laser inscriptions disclose the origin.
Do lab grown diamonds get cloudy?
Cloudiness usually comes from clouds of tiny inclusions and from tints that are present, and graded, before you buy. A strict colour and clarity floor, such as E to F and VS2, avoids most of them.
Are lab grown diamonds better for the environment?
It depends on the energy used to grow them. The FTC has warned that unqualified eco friendly claims are unlikely to be substantiated, so ask for evidence.
References
- Worthy, What We Accept, November 19, 2024.
- myGemma, Frequently Asked Questions, accessed October 19, 2026.
- MadisonDia, Diamond Resale Value in 2026: Why Buyback Offers Cost You More Than You Think, October 2, 2026.
- StoneAlgo, Lab Grown Diamond Prices, accessed October 19, 2026.
- Edahn Golan Diamond Research, Was the Bottom Reached? Lab-Grown Diamond Wholesale Prices Rise, October 7, 2026.
- De Beers Group, De Beers Group announces intention to close Lightbox business, May 8, 2025.
- Quartz, Lab-grown diamonds may not be forever, but their rise is driving down prices, August 17, 2023.
- CNBC, via NBC New York, More couples are choosing lab-grown diamonds for engagement rings, March 10, 2025.
- JCK, Lab-Grown Diamonds Take Command of the Engagement Ring Market, February 25, 2026.
- JCK, Consumers View Natural, Lab-Grown Diamonds Differently, Says De Beers, March 31, 2021.
- eCFR, 16 CFR Part 23, Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries, accessed October 19, 2026.
- GIA Gems and Gemology, Observations on CVD-Grown Synthetic Diamonds: A Review, 2016.
- GIA Gems and Gemology, 10 ct HPHT-Treated CVD Laboratory-Grown Diamond, 2022.
- GIA, GIA Launches Updated Laboratory-Grown Diamond Services October 1, August 26, 2025.
- Federal Trade Commission, FTC Sends Warning Letters to Companies Regarding Diamond Ad Disclosures, April 2, 2019.
- Pandora Group, Lab-grown diamonds, Sustainability, accessed October 19, 2026.
- BriteCo, Can You Insure a Lab-Grown Diamond? Coverage, Cost, and Appraisals, July 13, 2026.
- Jared, Jared Lifetime Diamond and Gemstone Guarantee, accessed October 19, 2026.
- Blue Nile, Diamond Upgrade Program, accessed October 19, 2026.
- Brilliant Earth, Lifetime Warranty and Guarantee, accessed October 19, 2026.
Send us a comparable band and we will beat it almost every time
Same IGI certified specification, direct pricing, about half the listed price of Blue Nile and Brilliant Earth on bridal sets (55 percent below at the median, October 2026). Founder reviewed, no obligation, a quote back in one to three business days. Every Draco band is IGI certified, E to F colour, VS2 and better, with 30 day returns, a Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee, free resizing, free insured worldwide shipping to 25 markets, and signature on delivery.
