Diamonds are crystalline carbon atoms that formed under the earth’s surface over 3 billion years ago. To be more exact, they formed in the earth’s mantle about 90 miles below the surface under temperatures as high as 2000° F and a pressure of 45-60 kilobars. These extreme conditions link the diamond's atoms together in a special way, creating the hardest substance on earth.

After their formations, diamonds reach the earth’s surface during extremely rare and not yet observed deep-source volcanic eruptions. Diamond is the only gemstone composed of a single element, as they are typically about 99.95% carbon. The other 0.05% can include one or more trace elements, which are atoms that aren’t part of a diamond’s essential chemistry. Some of them influence color.

The diamond’s most common shape found in nature is the octahedron, composed of eight equilateral triangles, four of which meet at each vertex. Cutters split the octahedron in half, resulting in two round brilliant cut diamonds.

Lab-grown diamonds are real diamonds grown in man-made environments. Current technology can recreate conditions necessary for a diamond crystal to form, replicating the earth's natural process of diamond formation.

There are two common methods for growing diamonds in a lab: High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD).
An HPHT diamond starts as a small diamond seed that is placed into carbon. Exposed to about 1500 degrees Celsius and pressurized to approximately 1.5 million pounds per square inch, the pure carbon melts and begins to form around the starter seed. It is then carefully cooled to form a pure carbon diamond.
In the CVD method, a diamond seed is placed in carbon rich gasses that are ionized into plasma using technology similar to that of microwaves and lasers. The ionization breaks the molecular bonds in the gasses allowing the pure carbon to adhere to the diamond seed and slowly crystallize. This process occurs at around 800 degrees Celsius.

Our lab-grown diamonds are CVD Type IIA. Type IIa diamonds are pure carbon diamonds and have exceptional optical transparency. Around 95% of earth-created diamonds contain trace elements that are acquired naturally during the course of their formation, such as nitrogen or boron. This affects their color, with nitrogen producing a slightly yellow appearance, while traces of boron will produce a blue hue. Only 2% of naturally occurring diamonds are Type IIa.