GIA Unveils New Record-breaking Lab-grown Diamond
In the beginning of the month, GIA reported the world’s largest lab-created polished diamond. The new behemoth is an Emerald cut with G color grade and VS2 clarity that weighs 34.59 carats. This surpasses last year’s record set by “Pride of India”, a 30.18 ct. Emerald lab diamond, becoming the largest lab-grown diamond to date. Both stones have been produced by CVD growth method, which marks another milestone for the process.
The diamond has been graded in GIA’s Hong Kong laboratory. While the “Pride of India” was examined by IGI almost a year ago, the previous largest GIA-graded man-made gemstone was a 16.41 carat Princess cut that was tested in the beginning of the 2022. “This 34.59-carat CVD laboratory-grown diamond is the largest faceted laboratory-grown diamond GIA has ever seen, CVD or HPHT,” Wuyi Wang, GIA Vice President of Research and Development, commented about the announcement. “This more than twofold increase in size within one year is an impressive technical achievement in CVD diamond growth,” GIA executive vice president Tom Moses added.
While the size of the gem is no less than impressive, GIA found the remnants of HPHT color treatment in the biggest lab-grown diamond during the examination. The 16.41 carat princess stone from last year was said to be as-grown. However, the laboratory and the gem’s producer don’t consider this a setback. “With such production improvements, correct identification and disclosure are critical to maintaining consumer trust; this is another example of why GIA devotes significant resources and research to protect consumer confidence,” Tom Moses said.
The CVD method has improved drastically over the past few years and now can be used to receive the biggest polished diamonds, if enough time and care are present. Although, the HPHT process is still more commonly applied to grow larger rough, so we can surely expect some breakthroughs in that regard also in the near future.
LaBrilliante is a world’s leading producer of both HPHT- and CVD-grown diamonds. Every recent scientific and technological advancement allows us to get the larger stones. Sometimes, the size of the stone may be an issue while sourcing for man-made gems, as some particular customers may look for outstanding diamonds. With LaBrilliante you can be sure that if it is possible to grow, we can grow it.
