Lab-grown diamonds have increasingly gained popularity due to their ethical and environmental advantages over mined diamonds. With their growing presence in the market, it's natural to wonder whether these diamonds can pass a diamond tester, an instrument commonly used to verify the authenticity of diamonds. In this article, we'll explore the capabilities of diamond testers and their effectiveness in distinguishing lab-grown diamonds from natural ones.
Diamond testers operate by measuring the thermal or electrical conductivity of a gemstone. Since diamonds are exceptional conductors of heat and electricity, unique among other gemstones, these measurements often suffice for confirming a stone's identity. However, lab-grown diamonds possess the same chemical, physical, and optical properties as mined diamonds, making the differentiation between the two challenging by conventional testing methods alone.
Advanced testing techniques at gemological laboratories may be necessary to accurately identify lab-grown diamonds, especially when dealing with smaller gemstones of less than 0.10 ct. The use of specialized equipment and the expertise of qualified gemologists is crucial in determining whether a diamond is indeed grown in a lab or formed naturally in the earth's crust. In the following sections, we will delve deeper into various testing methods and their effectiveness in separating lab-grown diamonds from their natural counterparts.