Prices

Lab-grown vs natural diamond price: how big is the gap now?

Updated 22 October 2026. 8 sources, listed at the end.

The gap in one table

Retailer price ranges vary with cut and grading lab, so read them as bands rather than quotes. The direction is the same in every source: the bigger the stone, the bigger the gap.

How fast lab prices fell

• Wholesale: a lab-grown price index tracked by analyst Edahn Golan is down about 96% since tracking began in 2018 ³.
• 2025: down 26% over the year ³.
• 2026 so far: down 14% in the first quarter and 13% in the second, a slower fall than before ³.
• Against natural: lab-grown cost about 27% less per carat than natural in 2019 and about 73% less in 2025 ¹.

Analyst Paul Zimnisky expects most lab diamonds to eventually sell for under $1,000 ⁵.

What couples are choosing

In 2025, 61% of engagement ring centre stones were lab-grown, and lab-grown stones averaged 2.0 carats against 1.6 for natural ⁶⁷. Most buyers took the saving as a bigger stone rather than a smaller bill: the average lab-grown ring still cost $4,300 ⁷.

Resale value

Neither kind is an investment. The Knot notes that lab-grown diamonds do not hold resale value because they are not scarce ⁴. Natural diamonds resell for well below retail too; jewellers and buyback services typically offer a fraction of what you paid. Because a lab-grown stone costs much less to begin with, the dollars you could lose are often smaller even though the percentage is worse.

Which one fits your budget

• Want the biggest stone your budget allows: lab-grown.
• Want a mined stone, or a ring that keeps some resale value: natural, and expect to pay several times more per carat.
• Undecided: set the budget first in our quiz, then compare what each option buys at that number. The 1 carat price guide breaks the natural prices down by grade.