Synthetic diamonds, also known as lab diamonds, created diamonds, or man-made diamonds, are diamonds that are produced in a laboratory. Unlike cubic zirconia (CZ), moissanite, and other simulated diamonds, all of which differ from diamonds physically and chemically, synthetic diamonds duplicate natural diamonds physically and chemically.

To create synthetic diamonds, carbon is dissolved in a molten metal solvent under extremely high pressure and temperature and is allowed to crystallize for a few days. However, since synthetic diamonds are produced in the lab, they show growth characteristics that are different from natural diamonds.

Synthetic gem-quality diamonds are available in a range of sizes, shapes and colors. For colored synthetic diamonds, the cost is much less than for comparable natural diamonds. For colorless synthetic diamonds however, production costs are still too high to make them economically viable to sell except in weights less than about 0.20 carats. This will change in the near future.

Synthetic diamonds generally require sophisticated equipment to detect them.

On the other hand, modern-day fake diamonds such as cubic zirconia (CZ) or moissanite are hard to tell from the real thing and can offer good value. Check out the links below if you're interested in buying fake diamonds: