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The Question That Keeps Coming Up

A customer picks up a lab grown diamond ring, turns it over in her hands, and asks: will this last as long as a mined one? It’s one of the most common questions in any diamond conversation in 2026, and the answer is simpler than most people expect — though there’s more to unpack once you get past the headline.

Both lab grown and natural diamonds score 10 on the Mohs hardness scale. That’s the maximum. There is no higher rating. What this means in practice is that the only material capable of scratching a diamond is another diamond — lab grown or natural, it makes no difference. The hardness comes from atomic structure, and that structure is identical in both cases.

So if hardness is the same, where does the confusion come from? Mostly from conflating hardness with durability — two related but distinct properties.

Hardness Is One Number. Durability Is Three.

Gemologists typically evaluate durability across three properties: hardness, toughness, and stability.

Hardness measures resistance to surface scratching. Diamond’s 10/10 Mohs rating means it can scratch any other substance and won’t accumulate surface damage from everyday contact — keys in a pocket, countertop edges, sand particles on skin. This is why diamond jewelry retains its polish and sharp facet edges over decades of wear.

Toughness is different. It measures how well a stone resists chipping, cracking, or fracturing from a sharp impact. Diamonds have what gemologists call

Toughness, Cleavage, and the One Real Vulnerability

Diamonds have what gemologists describe as good but not exceptional toughness. The reason: every diamond — lab grown or natural — contains cleavage planes, specific directions in the crystal lattice where atomic bonds are slightly weaker. If a diamond is struck with enough force at precisely the right angle along one of these planes, it can chip or split.

This is not a flaw specific to lab grown stones. It applies equally to mined diamonds. The cleavage planes exist in the same four crystallographic directions in both types, because both share the same carbon crystal lattice. A CVD-grown diamond and an HPHT-grown diamond will exhibit the same cleavage behavior as a diamond pulled from a South African mine.

What tends to affect real-world toughness more than origin is cut quality and inclusion grade. A poorly cut diamond with thin, sharp edges — whether mined or lab grown — is more vulnerable to chipping along those edges. A stone with significant internal inclusions or fractures has more structural stress points. The controlled growth environment used in lab diamond production can actually reduce certain types of inclusions, which in some cases gives well-made lab grown stones a slight practical edge in toughness.

Stability — the third pillar of durability — refers to resistance to heat, chemicals, and environmental exposure. Diamonds can withstand temperatures exceeding 1,500°C without damage and resist most chemicals encountered in daily life. Lab grown diamonds share this stability entirely. There is no measurable difference in thermal or chemical resilience between the two.

Why the Origin Story Doesn’t Change the Physics

The two primary methods used to grow lab diamonds — HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature) and CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) — both start from a diamond seed and force carbon atoms to crystallize into the same cubic lattice structure found in natural diamonds. HPHT replicates the extreme pressure and heat conditions of the Earth’s mantle, while CVD builds a diamond layer by layer from a carbon-rich gas at lower pressures.

Despite the different paths, both methods produce the same outcome at the atomic level: pure carbon atoms bonded in a rigid three-dimensional lattice, with each carbon atom connected to four others. That structure is what makes diamond the hardest known natural material. And since hardness is determined entirely by atomic arrangement — not by how long the stone took to form or where it formed — lab grown diamonds arrive at the same 10/10 Mohs rating by default.

A trained gemologist can distinguish a lab grown diamond from a natural one using specialized equipment that reads growth patterns and trace element signatures. But in terms of hardness, scratch resistance, toughness, and chemical stability, there is no test that produces a different result. The physics are identical.

What This Means for Everyday Wear

For someone buying a diamond ring, necklace, or pair of earrings intended for regular wear, the practical takeaway is straightforward: a lab grown diamond will hold up exactly as well as a natural diamond over time.

Engagement rings take the most punishment — daily contact with surfaces, occasional knocks, exposure to soap and water, hand creams, and cleaning products. A diamond’s 10 Mohs hardness means surface brilliance is preserved through all of that. The facets won’t dull, and the polish won’t wear away.

The only situations that warrant care — for both lab and natural diamonds — are high-impact activities where a direct sharp blow to the stone is possible. Gym sessions, heavy manual work, or sports where hands contact hard surfaces are worth thinking about. Removing diamond jewelry before those activities is a sensible habit, not because lab grown stones are weaker, but because all diamonds share the same cleavage vulnerability.

For cleaning, mild soap, warm water, and a soft brush work well. Avoid ultrasonic cleaners if a stone has known inclusions, and keep diamond pieces stored separately to prevent stones from scratching each other — the one material that can scratch a diamond is another diamond.

At Elevé Diamonds, each piece is built on this understanding. The lab grown diamonds in their diamond rings and diamond necklaces carry the same 10 Mohs hardness as any mined stone — backed by over eight decades of Tibarumal’s jewelry expertise and certified to global standards. The stones are grown, not mined, but the durability is the same. That’s not a marketing claim. It’s just chemistry.