Beyond Jewelry: New Horizons for Lab-Grown Diamonds
Quick answer: Beyond jewelry, lab-grown diamond is being developed for technology uses such as sensors, thermal management and quantum technologies. India is investing in this, including a 2023 government grant to IIT Madras for lab-grown diamond research.
India's lab-grown diamond sector is rapidly evolving, moving beyond jewelry to innovative applications across industries such as electronics, aerospace, defense, quantum computing, and advanced manufacturing.
A Rapidly Expanding Industry
Initially known for rapid production growth in Surat, India's lab-grown diamond industry is now expanding its scope significantly. The emergence of numerous startups has shifted the focus from manufacturing alone to retail branding and exploring new industrial applications.
Government and Academic Collaboration
Recognizing the potential beyond jewelry, the Indian government announced in its 2023 Union Budget a Rs 242 crore grant over five years to the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M), aimed at indigenizing the lab-grown diamond manufacturing process. The India Centre for Lab Grown Diamonds (InCent-LGD) at IIT Madras was identified for the project.
Lab-grown diamond interests these industries because of its hardness, thermal conductivity, and chemical stability. Diamond is so hard it can only be scratched by another diamond. IIT Madras lists potential applications including 5G/6G, magnetometry, thermal management, sensors and quantum technologies.
Technological Advancements
A key goal is home-grown equipment for the two main growth methods, HPHT and CVD. CVD, which deposits carbon from a plasma onto a seed crystal, now dominates the lab-grown diamonds submitted to GIA for grading.
Promoting Transparency and Consumer Confidence
Despite the diversification into other industries, jewelry remains central to the lab-grown diamond market. Clear terminology matters for exporters selling to the US, where FTC guidance requires a qualifier such as "laboratory-grown" or "laboratory-created" and says that when "diamond" appears by itself, it still means a natural diamond.
Industry Self-Regulation
Keeping natural and lab-grown diamonds separate depends on testing. Most in-store devices are screeners that cannot confirm a stone is lab-grown, so suspect stones go to a gemological lab, where trained gemologists use sophisticated equipment to identify their origin.
Retail Expansion and Market Growth
Lab-grown jewelry brands are reshaping India's retail landscape. One example is Limelight Lab Grown Diamonds, founded in 2019, which JCK reports raised close to $11 million in a new funding round and has over 30 stores plus 30 shop-in-shops in more than 35 Indian cities.
The potential for lab-grown diamonds is wide, in jewelry and beyond, and India is investing to play a bigger role in both. To see lab-grown diamonds in jewelry, browse our lab grown diamond engagement rings.
Sources
- IIT Madras: Budget 2023, IIT Madras to get Rs 242 Cr for research on lab-grown diamonds
- GIA: Diamond Description
- GIA: HPHT and CVD Diamond Growth Processes, Making Lab-Grown Diamonds
- GIA Gems & Gemology: Laboratory-Grown Diamonds, An Update on Identification and Products Evaluated at GIA
- National Jeweler: A Quick Review of the FTC's Rules on Lab-Grown Diamonds
- JCK: Screen Saviors? A Roundup of Tools to Test Your Diamonds
- GIA: Is There a Difference Between Natural and Laboratory-Grown Diamonds?
- JCK: Limelight Lab-Grown Diamonds raises new funding
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