I only use natural gemstones. Never lab-grown. I get asked about this almost weekly, so I'm going to lay it out plainly.
This isn't a moral argument. Lab-grown stones aren't fake. They're real diamonds, real sapphires, real emeralds in the strict chemical sense. But the purchase you're making when you buy one is not the same purchase, and anyone telling you otherwise is either uninformed or selling something.
What each one actually is
Natural gemstones
Natural gemstones form in the earth over periods that are almost impossible to picture. Diamonds take between one and three billion years. Sapphires, emeralds, rubies — hundreds of millions. They form under specific geological conditions that exist in specific places: Mogok for the best rubies, Kashmir for the best blue sapphires, the Muzo region of Colombia for emeralds. The stone carries the chemistry of where it came from. No two are alike, because the conditions that made them were never identical twice.
Lab-grown gemstones
Lab-grown stones are produced in industrial reactors over a period of weeks. For diamonds, it's two main methods: HPHT (high-pressure, high-temperature), which compresses carbon under conditions similar to the earth's mantle, and CVD (chemical vapor deposition), which layers carbon atoms onto a seed in a plasma chamber. The result is chemically identical to a natural diamond. It's also, at this point, a commodity. Production capacity has expanded fast enough that wholesale prices on lab-grown diamonds have dropped more than 90% over the last decade.
The price gap and what it means
At wholesale, a lab-grown one-carat diamond of good color and clarity now costs roughly 5% to 10% of what an equivalent natural stone costs. At retail, many stores sell them at a much smaller discount — 30 to 50% below natural — which means the markup on lab-grown stones is extraordinary.
More importantly, lab-grown stones don't hold value. A natural diamond bought twenty years ago is worth more today than it was then. A lab-grown diamond bought five years ago is worth a fraction of what it cost, because the cost to produce new ones has collapsed. This isn't an investment argument — nobody should buy fine jewelry as an investment. It's a statement about what you're actually owning. A natural stone is a finite object. A lab stone is a manufactured product.
Why this matters for heirlooms specifically
Heirloom jewelry is about time. A piece my grandmother wore that I now wear that my daughter might one day wear — that chain of possession is the point. The stone in the piece is the thing that carries across all three lives.
A natural sapphire holds that role well. It existed long before any of us. It will exist long after. Its color came from the specific place it formed. The inclusions inside it are a record of that formation. When my daughter holds the stone in forty years, she's holding something that also passed through my hands.
A lab-grown sapphire made in a reactor in 2023 doesn't do that job the same way. It's a beautiful crystal. But it's a product.
What I look for in a natural stone
I source stones one at a time, usually in person. These are the things I care about, in roughly this order:
• Color saturation that looks alive under natural light, not just jewelry store light
• Cut that brings out the stone's best — symmetrical where it should be, asymmetrical where the material calls for it
• Origin I can verify and explain — I want to know where a stone came from
• Treatments that are disclosed and acceptable for the species (heat for sapphires is standard; oil for emeralds is standard; beryllium diffusion is not, and I don't use it)
• A price that makes sense for what it is — an extraordinary stone at a suspicious price is usually suspicious
What to ask any jeweler
Two questions, always:
First: is this natural or lab-grown? The answer should be immediate and unambiguous. If the seller hedges, that tells you something.
Second: what treatments have been applied? All colored gemstones are assumed to be treated unless stated otherwise. Heat is standard and acceptable for sapphires and rubies. Fracture-filling, diffusion, and irradiation are disclosures you need to make on an informed basis.
A jeweler who answers both questions directly is a jeweler you can trust. A jeweler who doesn't, isn't.
One thing I won't argue with you about
If you want a lab-grown stone, buy one. They're beautiful, they're real, and for some purchases they make sense — a piece for a teenager, a stone in an experimental setting, a backup for a piece you travel with. I'm not here to talk anyone out of their choices.
But for an heirloom, the answer is natural. Every time. That's why every stone at L'Heritage is natural, and why I'm not moving on that.
Common Question
Q: Are lab-grown diamonds real diamonds?
A: Chemically, yes. They're carbon arranged in the same crystal structure as natural diamonds. The difference is how they were made. A natural diamond formed in the earth over a billion years. A lab-grown diamond was produced in a reactor over a few weeks. Both are real diamonds. Only one is rare.
Q: Why does L'Heritage only use natural gemstones?
A: Heirloom jewelry is about time. The point of a piece passed down across generations is that it carries history with it. A natural stone existed long before any of us and will exist long after. A lab-grown stone is a beautiful product, but it doesn't carry that weight in the same way.
Q: Is a lab-grown diamond cheaper than a natural diamond?
A: At wholesale, dramatically so — about 5 to 10 percent of the price of a natural stone. At retail, the gap is often smaller, which means the markup on lab-grown stones is high. Always ask which type you're being shown and what the actual cost difference is.
Q: Will a lab-grown diamond hold its value over time?
A: No. Lab-grown stones have lost more than 90 percent of their wholesale value over the last decade because production capacity keeps expanding. A natural stone of equivalent quality has held or appreciated. This isn't an argument to buy jewelry as an investment — it's a statement about what you're owning.
Q: How can I tell if a stone is natural or lab-grown?
A: You can't, by eye. A trained gemologist using specialized equipment can identify lab-grown stones with high reliability — there are tell-tale growth patterns and trace inclusions that differ from natural formation. If you're buying a significant stone, ask for a GIA report. The grading laboratories label lab-grown stones explicitly.
