It can take roughly six to ten weeks for a lab to grow and create a lab-grown diamond. Naturally, it takes billions of years for diamonds to form naturally in the earth. When diamonds are grown in a lab, it can go through one of two processes. These processes are CVD and HPHT. Each process varies in the length of time it takes to grow a diamond in the lab.
Naturally grown diamonds can take between 1 billion and 3.3 billion years to form. Many natural diamonds are found close to the earth's surface to be easily mined. Why are they so valuable? They’ve been around longer than the human race and the symbolism is what draws people to these accent gemstones.
CVD Diamond Growing
The process of CVD full term is Chemical Vapor Deposition. Under this process a “seed crystal” is placed in a chamber. Gasses fill this chamber and are heated to a high degree that layers of carbon begin to form on top of the seed. The seed will constantly grow and create a square-shaped crystal. It can take roughly about a month to grow a 1 carat diamond.
HPHT Diamond Growing
This process is called the High Pressure High Temperature method. This process replicates the way the earth creates diamonds. Natural graphite is placed in a large machine where it is crushed with high amounts of pressure at an extremely high temperature. The graphite slowly begins to turn into a diamond. It can take anywhere between a few days to a few weeks to grow several crystals. Then to create a 1 carat diamond can take longer than two weeks.
Lab Grown Diamond Sizes
When diamonds are grown in a lab, they often can top out at around 20 carats. Since either diamond growing process takes a lot of energy to produce, 20 carats is the max these processes can create, for now. Naturally occurring diamonds have been found to be up to 400 carats. While these are unrealistic for anyone to use on their jewelry, this size diamond would be cut down to use for smaller diamonds. It would also be out of many peoples budget to buy any diamond of that size.
Conclusion
Shopping for diamonds for your engagement ring? With Acredo, we have a wide selection of both natural and lab-grown diamonds for you to choose from. Contact us today to set an appointment to create the diamond ring of your dreams.