Lab-grown pink diamonds: as-grown color, explained

Pink is the most asked-for colored diamond in the world, and the color with the most to hide. Most pink diamonds sold today — mined or laboratory-grown — got their color from treatment after the fact. This page explains where pink comes from, the difference between as-grown and treated pink, how pink diamonds are graded, and what an honest pink costs.

What is a lab-grown pink diamond?

A laboratory-grown pink diamond is a real diamond — carbon in the same cubic crystal lattice as any mined stone — that transmits pink light because of defects in that lattice. Unlike blue, pink is not caused by an element. There is no "pink atom." Pink arises from distortions and vacancy centers in the crystal structure that absorb green light, leaving pink behind.

That is also why pink is the most treated color in the diamond trade. Because the color comes from lattice defects, it can be induced after growth: take a stone, irradiate it, heat it, and defects form. It works, it is legal, and done honestly it is disclosed. But it is not the same thing as a stone that grew pink — and the price, the rarity, and the report all say so.

As-grown pink vs. treated pink — read this before buying anywhere

• As-grown pink: the color forms during growth itself. The crystal comes out of the reactor pink. Rare, slow, and difficult — most growers do not offer it.
• Treated pink: a colorless or brownish diamond — mined or grown — is irradiated and annealed after the fact. The overwhelming majority of pink laboratory-grown diamonds sold online are this.

Neither is a secret, but one is often left unsaid. The grading report tells the truth either way: fancy color reports state the origin of color. Our pink stones are as-grown, the report says so, and if we ever offer a treated stone the treatment will be named on the product page before you buy. A house whose promise is that nothing is hidden does not get to make exceptions for its prettiest color.

In mined diamonds, pink commands some of the highest prices ever recorded per carat — the Argyle mine in Australia, source of most of the world's fine mined pinks, closed in 2020, and its stones now trade as collectibles. That scarcity story is geology, not beauty. The color itself — the thing you actually see — can now be grown.

How a pink diamond grows

Our pink stones grow the same way as every stone we make: from a diamond seed wafer in an HPHT press, at pressures above 50,000 atmospheres and temperatures around 1,400 °C, over weeks. Achieving pink as-grown means controlling the growth chemistry and conditions so the lattice forms with exactly the defect centers that read pink — enough to saturate the color, not so many that the crystal degrades. It is slower and less predictable than growing colorless material, which is why so few offer it.

The rough is then cut and polished by hand by named craftspeople in our family factory in Dubai. Cut matters more for pink than almost any color: the cutter orients and facets the stone to deepen the face-up color, and a well-cut pink can read a full grade stronger than the rough suggested.

How pink diamonds are graded

Pink diamonds are fancy color diamonds, graded on hue, tone and saturation rather than the D-to-Z scale: Fancy Light Pink, Fancy Pink, Fancy Intense Pink, Fancy Vivid Pink. Two lines on the report matter more than any others: that the stone is laboratory-grown, and the origin of its color. Our stones carry IGI Laboratory-Grown Fancy Colored Diamond Reports, and every piece ships with its report. We consider the document part of the object.

What does a pink diamond cost?

Stated plainly, once: fine mined pinks have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars per carat at auction, a price driven by geological scarcity and the closure of the mine that produced most of them. We do not price against that, and we do not price the color's mythology. Our prices are set by what a piece costs to make well — weeks of growth, hand-cutting, precious metal, setting by named craftspeople, independent grading. Pieces at State of Matter range from about €3,300 to €38,000, pink included.

Pink diamond jewelry: how we make ours

Every design in our collection is made to order in four as-grown colors — pink, blue, yellow and green — in your size, typically within four to six weeks. Some pieces combine colors; pink sits particularly well beside white and yellow. If you want to see pink stones in person before commissioning, our Stockholm appointments open this autumn.

Common questions

Are lab-grown pink diamonds real diamonds?

Yes — carbon in a diamond lattice, hardness 10 on the Mohs scale, identical brilliance and optical behavior to mined stones. The honest difference is origin, and we state it in full everywhere: laboratory-grown diamond.

Will the pink fade?

As-grown pink is part of the crystal's structure and does not fade under any normal conditions. (Some treated pinks can shift under prolonged high heat, such as a jeweler's torch during resizing — one more reason the report's color-origin line matters. Tell any jeweler working on a colored diamond what they are holding.)

Why are most lab-grown pinks so cheap?

Because most are treated: colorless material grown at commodity scale, then irradiated. The material cost is low and the treatment is fast. As-grown pink is a different product — slower, rarer, and stated as such on the report.

How can I verify a pink diamond's color is as-grown?

Read the grading report's color-origin line. If a seller cannot show it, that is your answer. Ours ship with every piece — the closer you look, the more you see.