Last Updated on 2nd April 2025
Lab-grown diamonds have taken the jewelry industry by storm, offering the same brilliance, durability and beauty as natural diamonds, but only at a fraction of the price. Whether you’re shopping for an engagement ring, a pair of dazzling earrings or a tennis bracelet you can get it much cheaper or much bigger if you go for a lab-grown diamond. The great news is that prices for lab grown diamonds have never been cheaper than now in 2025! This is a great example:
Since their market entrance in 2016 prices for lab grown diamonds have roughly been falling between 15% – 30% per year. They have now reached a level where they are somewhere around 70% – 90% cheaper than a comparable natural diamond with the same diamond 4Cs characteristics! And they have very likely reached a stabilization point where prices will keep dropping but at a much slower pace.
Our 2025 Top Recommended Places to Buy a Lab-Grown Diamond Engagement Ring
1. James Allen is currently the best place to buy a lab-grown diamond for any purpose but especially for an engagement ring. As of February 2025 James Allen features an impressive inventory of 50,000 lab-grown diamonds!
2. Blue Nile clearly is our second choice when it comes to lab-grown diamonds. They have the second largest inventory of lab-grown diamonds and they also have great ring settings to choose from.
3. Whiteflash offers a way smaller selection of lab grown diamonds but if you are looking for the best possible cut quality it’s a great choice. They also feature great designer ring settings.
James Allen: Our 2025 Top Choice for Lab-Grown Diamonds
We love James Allen because it’s the largest online retailer that is able to offer very competitive prices on their entire inventory. They currently boast the largest lab-grown diamonds inventory with roughly 50,000 lab-grown diamonds to choose from. At the same time James Allen is also able to obtain a large amount of diamonds with high color and clarity grades. That gives you the ability to pick just the right lab-grown diamond for you and your budget without having to compromise on the quality.
James Allen was the pioneer and the first retailer offering their 360% Diamond Display Technology. They started out with 20x magnification and now they are even up to 40x magnification meaning you can see the diamond up to 40 times larger than in real life from all angles.
This is especially useful when you try to get the best bang for your buck and decide to buy a SI1 diamond for instance. Here for instance we have two lab-grown SI1 diamonds:
The lab-grown SI1 diamond on the left is not eye clean while the lab-grown SI1 diamond on the right is indeed eye-clean. Nobody does the magnification quite as good as James Allen and that’s why we love them. This is how you will receive a lab-grown diamond from James Allen by the way:
When we bought a 1.5 carat lab-grown diamond from James Allen we liked the fact that the IGI certificate was clearly showing which process was used in the production of the diamond. In this case it was the HPHT process which in theory can produce a more robust structure than the CVD process. But both manufacturing processes have their pros and cons. And we had no problems returning the package within 30 days and getting our money back.
James Allen’s Best Features for Buying a lab-grown Diamond Engagement Ring:
- 360° HD Video & 40x Magnification
- 50,000 lab-grown diamonds to choose from
- Free 30-Day Returns + Money-back guarantee
- Free + Insured International Shipping
- 24/7 World-Class Customer Service via phone, email and chat
- Competitive Pricing & Price Matching
- Free Real-Time Diamond Inspection + Live Chat with a certified gemologist
- 400 + High Quality Ring Settings
- Free Engraving
- Free Resizing – Complimentary resizing within the first year.
- Custom Engagement Ring Builder
- Free Lifetime Warranty on prong tightening, cleaning, polishing and rhodium plating (white gold rings)
The ease of use, the huge selection of lab-grown diamonds and the ability to compare those diamonds to each other so easily makes James Allen the currently best choice to to buy lab-grown diamond.
Designing your own engagement ring is an enjoyable and interactive experience. You begin by selecting your lab-grown diamond, after which you can virtually preview how it will look in your chosen ring setting. James Allen offers a 360-degree view of the ring and diamond combination, allowing you to examine it from all angles. Additionally, the platform provides numerous real-life photos and videos from previous customers who purchased the same setting with a mounted lab-grown diamond. For example, if you’re considering a pavé twist ring setting, you’ll have a clear visual representation of how it will look with your selected diamond:
Click here to check out James Allen’s huge selection of lab-grown diamonds.
Blue Nile: The Second Best Choice for Buying a Lab-Grown Diamond Ring
Then we have Blue Nile which we consider to be nearly as good as James Allen when it comes to buying a lab-created diamond engagement ring. They currently offer around 260 different engagement ring settings. That is less than James Allen but some of their ring settings are quite unique and also very competitively priced. They also frequently offer discounts on their ring settings.
When it comes to lab-grown diamonds Blue Nile also offers a huge variety to choose from. You will find slightly fewer IGI graded lab-created diamonds than you would at James Allen which is our primary reason why we give James Allen the first spot. For lab-grown diamonds our overall preference is to go with an IGI certification as opposed to GIA which would be the most ideal choice for a natural diamond. Nonetheless we are talking about the second largest choice of lab-grown diamonds with all the same features that you will find at James Allen.
Blue Nile has fewer of the larger IGI graded diamonds than James Allen but Blue Nile is actually an ideal choice when it comes to lab-grown diamond jewelry like bracelets, pendants, necklaces, stud earrings and hoop earrings. Definitely make sure to check them out their lab-grown diamond jewelry.
For test purposes we bought a 0.93 carat emerald shaped lab-grown diamond on a simple 14k yellow gold solitaire ring setting. Just like with James Allen we had no problems to return the purchase and get our money back. This time we had a GIA grading report which for lab-grown diamonds is slightly less detailed than an IGI grading report:
Blue Nile’s best features for buying a lab-grown diamond ring include:
- Ideal choice for lab-grown diamond jewelry like bracelets, pendants, necklaces, stud earrings and hoop earrings
- Second largest inventory of lab-grown diamonds
- 360° HD Video & 40x magnification on most of their lab-grown diamonds
- Free 30-Day Returns + Money-back guarantee
- Free Shipping & Insurance
- 24/7 World-Class Customer Service via phone, email and chat
- Virtual Diamond Consultations
- Free Resizing – Complimentary resizing within the first year.
We also think that Blue Nile is an excellent choice when it comes to buying
Whiteflash: Your Best Choice for an Extremely Well-Cut Lab-Grown Diamond
Whiteflash is the best place if you want to buy a lab-grown diamond with a world-class elite cut. Literally all of their lab-grown diamonds look like that:
Whiteflash’s lab-grown diamonds are more expensive but that is for a good reason. The better the diamond cut of a diamond the more brilliance, sparkle and scintillation it will display. Whiteflash’s lab-created diamonds are among the best cut diamonds you will ever find. Their selection is comparatively small but the quality will make up for it. Nearly all of their lab-grown diamonds are IGI-certified which we like to see.
Our test purchase of 1.36 carat lab-grown diamond on a pavé ring setting a was amazing and we also had no problems in returning the purchase within 30 days:
Although we found Whiteflash to be a little bit on the pricey side the extreme brilliance of the lab-grown diamond ring was notable and for us it was worth it.
Whiteflash’s biggest strength when it comes to buying a lab-grown diamond engagement ring is the many designer ring settings brands that you can choose from. Whiteflash’s designer ring settings include Ritani, Danhov, Tacori, Verragio, Vatché, Valoria, Benchmark, Simon G. and A. Jaffe.
Whiteflash’s best features for buying a lab-created diamond engagement ring include:
- Extensive Selection of High-Quality Lab-Grown Diamonds
- Precision-Crafted Engagement Ring Settings
- Exceptional Diamond Cut Quality
- Advanced Diamond Imaging & Certification
- Outstanding Customer Service & Expert Guidance
- Free 30-Day Returns + Money-back guarantee
Most Important Tips for Buying Lab-Grown Diamonds
Make sure that you are buying your lab-grown diamond from a reputable vendor like James Allen, Blue Nile or Whiteflash. A reputable vendor will also be able to provide you with an IGI-certificate which is our preferred certification method for a lab-created diamond. This way you are making sure that you are not getting a diamond simulant like moissanite or cubic zirconia. The diamond certificate should also tell you whether the HPHT or CVD method was used in the creation of the diamond.
You should always choose an Excellent or Ideal cut grade to maximize your lab-grown diamond’s fire, brilliance and scintillation. For diamond clarity it is not necessary to choose any clarity grade higher than VS1 or VS2. You can even easily find eye clean SI1 lab-grown diamonds.
For your lab grown diamond’s color grade there is also no need to go higher than the F color grade. In virtually all cases a G or H color grade will be undistinguishable from a D color grade lab-grown diamond once you wear the ring. Here for instance we have a lab-grown D-color Cushion cut diamond on the left and on the right we have a lab-grown G-color Cushion cut diamond:
If you want to go into more in-depth details when it comes to the diamond color of a lab-grown diamond please read this guide here. Our detailed guide on lab-grown diamond clarity will also help you in getting the best bang for your buck. This way you will have more money left over to spend on the carat size of your lab-grown diamond.