Lab-grown diamonds are not diamond simulants. They share exactly the same physical, chemical and optical properties as natural diamonds, and the only difference between them lies in their formation process. Natural diamonds are formed 160 kilometers below the Earth's surface, where the high temperature and pressure in the mantle make carbon elements crystallize to form the hardest substance in nature after hundreds of millions of years. In contrast, lab-grown diamonds are produced by simulating the natural growth environment through HPHT or CVD technology, which only takes a few weeks to create gem-quality lab-grown diamonds.

Compared with natural diamonds, the core advantages of lab-grown diamonds are ‌low price, customizable features and renewable production‌, which translates to higher cost-effectiveness. As the technology gradually matures, the price of lab-grown diamonds has dropped from 65% of the price of natural diamonds at the end of 2017 to 35% by the end of 2020, and there is still room for further decline in the future.

There is a common misconception that diamonds are only used in wedding scenarios to demonstrate preciousness, but the actual consumption logic tells a different story. According to surveys by De Beers, both in China and the United States, 60% to 70% of women buy diamonds for self-reward purposes, to meet the demand for daily accessories rather than for wedding use. Lab-grown diamonds, with their high cost-effectiveness, precisely target this large independent segmented market and hold solid practical value.