Solitaire rings · By stone
Lab-grown diamond solitaire rings
A lab-grown diamond is a diamond. Same carbon, same crystal, same hardness, same sparkle, and no jeweller can tell it from a mined stone by eye or by loupe. What changes is the cost, and that difference goes into the stone: a bigger carat, a cleaner clarity, or both. STRAPSTYLE began with exactly this, a 3 carat oval lab-grown solitaire no jeweller would make under budget, so it is the stone we know best.
Quoted on the stone · No list price · Last updated 2026-10-05
What a lab-grown diamond actually is
Crystallised carbon, grown over weeks rather than hundreds of millions of years, either under high pressure and heat or by depositing carbon atom by atom from a gas. The result is chemically and physically a diamond: 10 on the Mohs scale, the same refractive index, the same fire. It is not a simulant and it is not a lesser stone. Telling it from a mined diamond needs laboratory equipment that reads growth patterns, which is why the labs grade and certify them separately.
The honest caveat is resale. Lab-grown prices have fallen as production has scaled and there is no reason to assume that stops. Buy it to wear, not as an investment. That is true of natural diamonds too, rather more often than people are told.
Why people choose it for a solitaire
A solitaire hides nothing. There is one stone and the whole ring is about it, so size and clarity show in a way they do not on a pavé band. Lab-grown is how a 2 carat budget becomes a 3 carat ring, or how an SI stone becomes a VS one, without changing anything the eye can see. For an oval or an emerald cut, which show their inclusions and their size more than a round does, that trade is worth even more.
We also grade honestly. A lab-grown stone can be bought in D colour and VVS clarity for less than a natural stone several grades down. We will tell you where the visible difference stops and where you are paying for a number on a certificate.
- Certified by GIA
- Every lab-grown diamond we set is GIA graded, with the report number laser-inscribed on the girdle. You check it on GIA's own site before the ring is made.
- Any shape
- Oval, round, pear, cushion, emerald, radiant, marquise, and the antique cuts, old mine and Dutch marquise, cut on commission.
- 18k gold or 950 platinum
- The two metals we recommend for a ring worn every day. 14k gold and 925 silver are available on request, and their own pages say plainly what you give up.
Colours: colourless to fancy pink, yellow and blue
On the white scale, D to F is colourless and the difference between them is only visible side by side under a lamp. G to H is near colourless and reads white on a hand in any metal, which is where most of the value is. I to J shows a trace of warmth that yellow or rose gold absorbs completely. Below that the stone reads tinted, and we would rather tell you so than sell it as white.
Lab-grown is also where fancy colours stop being a fantasy. Growing a diamond with a trace of nitrogen gives yellow; boron gives blue; a treatment step after growth gives pink. In mined diamonds those colours are among the rarest things on earth and priced accordingly. Grown, a fancy pink or vivid blue solitaire costs a fraction of its natural equivalent and the colour is even through the stone. Graded on the same scale the labs use for natural fancy colours: Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, Fancy Vivid.
- Yellow
- From soft canary to Fancy Vivid. The most available fancy colour and the one that reads best in yellow gold, which deepens it.
- Pink
- Fancy Light to Fancy Intense. Set in rose gold the colour warms; in platinum it reads cooler and clearer. The most asked-for fancy colour here.
- Blue
- Steel blue to Fancy Vivid. Rare even grown, and striking in platinum. Green, champagne and grey are also grown and sourced on request.
Carat: what each size looks like
Because a lab-grown stone costs so much less per carat, the question changes from "how big can I afford" to "how big do I actually want". One carat is the classic solitaire. One and a half to two carats is where most lab-grown commissions land now, because the budget that bought one natural carat buys it. Three carats is a statement, and the size STRAPSTYLE's first ring was. Four and five carat lab-grown solitaires are made, and look exactly as large as they sound.
Shape changes how a carat reads. The table gives the usual face-up size for each; an oval or a pear of the same weight looks larger than a round, and a cushion looks a little smaller.
| Carat | Round | Oval | Cushion | Emerald | Pear |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.50 ct | 5.1 | 6.0 x 4.0 | 4.5 | 5.5 x 3.5 | 7.0 x 4.5 |
| 0.75 ct | 5.8 | 7.0 x 5.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 x 4.5 | 7.5 x 5.0 |
| 1.00 ct | 6.5 | 7.7 x 5.7 | 5.5 | 7.0 x 5.0 | 8.5 x 5.5 |
| 1.50 ct | 7.4 | 8.5 x 6.5 | 6.5 | 7.5 x 5.5 | 9.5 x 6.5 |
| 2.00 ct | 8.2 | 9.5 x 7.0 | 7.0 | 8.5 x 6.5 | 10.5 x 7.0 |
| 2.50 ct | 8.8 | 10.0 x 7.5 | 7.5 | 9.0 x 7.0 | 11.0 x 7.5 |
| 3.00 ct | 9.4 | 11.0 x 8.0 | 8.0 | 9.5 x 7.5 | 12.0 x 8.0 |
| 4.00 ct | 10.4 | 12.0 x 9.0 | 9.0 | 10.5 x 8.0 | 13.0 x 9.0 |
| 5.00 ct | 11.0 | 13.0 x 9.5 | 9.5 | 11.5 x 8.5 | 14.0 x 9.5 |
How a ring is made here
The process is the same for every ring. We talk, by video or in person in Bengaluru. We source the stone for you and send its certificate. A designer draws the ring and you approve the renders before any metal is poured. The makers we work with cut and set it in 18k gold or 950 platinum. You see photographs of the finished ring before it ships, insured and tracked, with an insurance valuation in the box.
Every stone comes with its certificate: GIA for lab-grown diamonds, IGI for natural diamonds and GRA for moissanite. The report number is yours to look up on the lab's own site before the ring is made.
Questions people ask
Is a lab-grown diamond a real diamond?
Yes. It is crystallised carbon with the same structure, hardness and optical properties as a mined diamond. The only difference is where it formed. Every lab-grown diamond we set is GIA certified and the report says lab-grown on it, so nobody is ever misled.
How much bigger a stone can I get with lab-grown?
For the same budget, typically a full carat or more, or several clarity and colour grades higher, or some of each. The exact answer depends on shape and grade, so we quote it on the stone rather than guess here.
Will it lose its sparkle or go cloudy?
No. It is a diamond and behaves like one: it does not cloud, fade or wear. It will pick up skin oil like any stone and a warm soapy rinse brings it back. Re-polishing of the metal is free for life.
Can I verify the certificate myself?
Yes, and you should. The GIA report number is inscribed on the stone's girdle and looked up on GIA's own website. We send the certificate before the ring is made so you can do that first.
Can I have a pink, yellow or blue lab-grown diamond?
Yes. Fancy yellow, pink, blue, green, champagne and grey lab-grown diamonds are grown and we source them on request, GIA graded on the fancy colour scale. They cost a fraction of the natural equivalent, which for pink and blue is the only way most people will ever own one.
What carat sizes do you make?
From half a carat to five carats and above. One to two carats is the most common; three carats is where we began. The size table on this page shows what each weight looks like face-up in every shape.
Is a lab-grown ring a good investment?
No, and neither is a natural diamond ring in almost every case. Lab-grown prices have fallen as supply has grown. Buy the ring to wear, choose it because it is the stone you want on your hand, and let the money you saved go into the stone itself.
Start with the stone
Tell us the shape, the size you have in mind and what the budget is, and we will send back real GIA-certified stones to choose from, with a quote on each. No obligation and no charge for the design work.