Do Lab-Grown Diamonds Hold Their Value?

Much less than you paid, because a secondhand stone is always up against a new one. Anyone thinking of buying your diamond can buy a new one of the same size from a jeweller instead, often for less than you paid for yours, so that new price is the most they would pay, and they will expect a good discount on top of it.

You can see it in our own prices. The table compares what a typical stone costs on our feed today with the cheapest new stone of the same weight we can offer. A buyer looking at your 2 carat diamond has a new one at $2,206 to compare it with, before any discount for it being secondhand.

Expect offers well below the new price, and sometimes only for the gold or platinum in the setting. The Jewellers Association of Australia says the resale value of laboratory-grown diamonds may not be as high as that of natural diamonds, and that matches what we see.

A typical loose 1 carat IGI stone costs $1,321 on our feed, and a complete 18k gold ring with one starts at $2,950. These are the stones we sell, across eight shapes, every one graded by IGI at D to F colour and VS1 clarity or better.

Because labs keep making more of them, more cheaply, and a new stone sets the ceiling for what anyone will pay for a secondhand one. A lab-grown diamond is grown in a matter of weeks rather than found in a limited natural deposit, so production can keep scaling, and each new generation of equipment brings the cost down.

We see it every time we price a stone: the same size and grade costs less than it did a year or two ago. The Jewellers Association of Australia notes the same, that lab-grown prices have declined significantly in recent years. Our guide to whether lab-grown diamonds go up in price tracks how far and how fast.

A lower price does not mean a lower-quality stone. A lab-grown diamond is still carbon in a diamond crystal, with the same hardness as a mined one, and how good it looks comes down to its cut, colour and clarity.

Better, but not well. A natural diamond also resells for well below its retail price, so it is not money you get back either. It keeps a larger share of its price because new natural stones do not keep getting cheaper, but it loses that share from a much bigger starting price.

That is why the percentages can mislead. A lab-grown diamond starts at a fraction of the cost of a comparable natural one, so the money you keep in your pocket at the start usually outweighs the extra share a natural stone might return years later.

The cost of replacing it with a comparable new ring, which is usually far more than you would get by selling it. Replacement value and resale value answer different questions, so an insurance valuation can sit well above any offer from a buyer.

Because new-stone prices fall, so does the replacement cost, so update the valuation every few years rather than paying premiums on a figure that no longer holds. Keep the invoice, the grading report and photos of the finished ring together. The engagement ring insurance guide explains how those records support a claim.

Rarely, and we do not offer buyback, trade-in or upgrade either. A jeweller can buy a new stone for less than most owners would want for a secondhand one, so there is little reason for them to buy yours.

If you do sell, a private sale usually returns the most, with the grading report in hand. A jeweller or gold buyer may offer only for the gold or platinum in the setting.

Only if you might sell within a few years, or you think of the stone as savings. For a ring you mean to wear for decades, resale hardly comes into it. Our answer to whether lab-grown diamonds are worth it weighs up the rest.