Yes. A lab-grown diamond is real diamond, so it is exactly as hard as a mined one: 10 on the Mohs scale, scratched only by another diamond. It is also no tougher. A sharp knock on a thin edge or a pointed tip can chip either kind, and the setting usually fails before the stone.
You will read that lab-grown diamonds are softer, weaker, or will turn cloudy after a few years. None of that holds up. A lab-grown diamond is the same crystal of carbon as a mined diamond, grown in a few weeks instead of formed over millions of years, and it wears the same way. The durability questions that matter are the same for both: how a diamond scratches, how it chips, and how well its setting holds it. Here is what the material science says, and how to make a lab-grown diamond last.
Lab-Grown vs Mined Diamond Durability at a Glance
| Property | Lab-grown diamond | Mined diamond |
|---|---|---|
| Material | Crystalline carbon | Crystalline carbon |
| Mohs hardness | 10 | 10 |
| Scratch resistance | Scratched only by another diamond | Scratched only by another diamond |
| Toughness (resistance to chipping) | Fair to good | Fair to good |
| Cleavage | Yes, along four planes | Yes, along four planes |
| Turns cloudy with age | No | No |
| Reads as diamond on a thermal tester | Yes | Yes |
The point of the table is that there is nothing to compare. Every durability property is a property of diamond, not of where the diamond came from.
How Hard Are Lab-Grown Diamonds?
Diamond sits at 10 on the Mohs scale, the top of the scale and the hardest natural material known. The Mohs scale only ranks which material scratches which, so 10 simply means nothing else on it can scratch a diamond. Measuring it precisely is harder than it sounds. Laboratory hardness tests, including indentation tests such as Vickers, only work properly with a tip harder than the sample, and almost nothing is harder than diamond. Using an ultra-hard nanodiamond tip, one test recorded a scratch hardness of 167 GPa on a diamond face.
For everyday wear, this means a lab-grown diamond will not scratch from contact with keys, countertops or household dust. Dust contains quartz, at 7 on the Mohs scale, which slowly dulls softer gems and scratches gold, but not diamond. The one thing that can scratch a diamond is another diamond, which is why diamond pieces should be stored apart from each other.
Hardness figures are from Wikipedia's entry on the material properties of diamond.
Hard Is Not Tough: Can Lab-Grown Diamonds Chip?
Yes, and this is the part most guides skip. Hardness is resistance to scratching. Toughness is resistance to breaking, and on that measure diamond is only fair to good, with a fracture toughness of about 2.0 MPa·m½ measured on natural diamond: good for a gemstone, poor next to most engineering materials. Diamond also cleaves easily along four octahedral planes, so a blunt blow at the wrong angle can split or chip it, leaving a smooth break.
In jewelry, chips happen at the thinnest, most exposed parts of a stone: the girdle, the narrow outer edge where the crown meets the pavilion, and the points of pear, marquise and heart shapes or the corners of a princess cut. A knock against a door frame or a dropped ring landing on tile can be enough. A rounded shape with a medium girdle, set so the edge is protected, is the most forgiving choice for a ring that will be worn every day.
Toughness and cleavage are described in Wikipedia's entry on the material properties of diamond.
Are Lab-Grown Diamonds More Durable Than Mined Diamonds?
Neither kind is more durable by nature. When the Federal Trade Commission revised its Jewelry Guides in 2018, it dropped the word "natural" from its definition of a diamond, concluding that lab-grown stones have essentially the same optical, physical and chemical properties as mined ones. GIA puts it the same way: the chemical and physical properties of lab-grown diamonds correspond very closely to those of natural diamonds. That is also why lab-grown diamonds must be sold with a clear qualifier, such as laboratory-grown or laboratory-created: without it, the word "diamond" still means a mined stone.
Individual stones do differ, lab-grown or not. An inclusion or fracture that reaches the surface, or a girdle cut very thin, makes a particular diamond easier to chip. Those are questions about the stone in front of you, not about its origin. For how the two differ in origin and value, see our guide to lab-grown vs natural diamonds.
The FTC's reasoning is summarized by National Jeweler; GIA's comparison is from its guide to identifying lab-grown diamonds.
Do Lab-Grown Diamonds Get Cloudy or Change Color?
No. Diamond does not cloud, fade or lose its brilliance with age, whether it was grown or mined. A diamond that looks dull has almost always picked up a film of skin oil, lotion or soap on its underside, which blocks light from entering and leaving the stone. Cleaning restores it.
What can vary is treatment. GIA notes that most colorless CVD lab-grown diamonds on the market started as brownish crystals and were decolorized by high-pressure, high-temperature annealing after growth. That is part of how many lab-grown stones are made, and a good seller will disclose it. If you want to know, ask.
Post-growth treatment of lab-grown diamonds is described in GIA's guide to identifying lab-grown diamonds.
Will a Lab-Grown Diamond Pass a Diamond Tester?
Yes. Handheld diamond testers work mainly by measuring how quickly a stone draws heat away from a probe, and diamond conducts heat better than almost any other material, about 2,200 W/m·K. A lab-grown diamond is diamond, so it passes. Our article on whether gold conducts heat explains why diamond feels cold to the touch for the same reason.
Telling lab-grown from mined is a different job. Sometimes a trained gemologist can do it with standard equipment, but often it takes advanced laboratory instruments. HPHT-grown stones may show black metallic flux inclusions and a cross-shaped fluorescence pattern; CVD-grown stones have no metallic inclusions but may show dark graphite inclusions, banded strain and striated fluorescence. None of these features affects durability.
Identification features are from GIA's guide to identifying lab-grown diamonds; thermal conductivity from Wikipedia.
The Setting Is the Weak Point
Lab-grown diamonds are rarely lost because the stone fails. They are lost because the metal holding them does. Prongs are thin, and a prong caught on a sweater or struck sideways can bend just enough to loosen the stone. A bezel, a continuous metal rim around the stone, covers the girdle where diamonds chip most easily. Our guide to which setting holds a stone most securely compares the two.
On bracelets, the clasp matters as much as the setting. A tennis bracelet carries dozens of stones on a single box clasp, so a worn clasp or an unclosed safety catch puts every one of them at risk. Our guide to bracelet clasp types shows how to check yours. For any piece you wear every day, have a jeweler check the prongs and clasp once a year.
How Lab-Grown Diamonds Are Graded Now
Grading does not measure durability, but it changed recently and affects how you shop. On October 1, 2025, GIA stopped describing lab-grown diamonds with the color and clarity scales it uses for natural diamonds. It now issues a Laboratory-Grown Diamond Quality Assessment with two categories: Premium, for stones at the top of the range in color, clarity, polish and symmetry, and Standard, for stones a step below. Stones that fall below Standard receive no assessment. GIA's reasoning, in the words of its CEO, is that most lab-grown diamonds "fall into a very narrow range of color and clarity".
Other laboratories may still grade lab-grown diamonds on the familiar 4Cs scale, so check which laboratory issued a report and what it actually describes. Our guide to the 4Cs of diamonds explains the scale itself.
The change is set out in GIA's announcement of its updated laboratory-grown diamond services.
How to Make a Lab-Grown Diamond Last
- Take it off for heavy work. Gym sessions, moving furniture, gardening and anything with hard knocks are where chips happen.
- Store pieces apart. Diamonds scratch other diamonds and every other gem and metal in the box. Use separate pouches or compartments.
- Clean it regularly. Warm water, a drop of mild soap and a soft brush behind the stone remove the film that makes a diamond look dull.
- Check the setting. If a stone moves, clicks or catches on fabric, stop wearing it until a jeweler has looked at it.
- Choose shape and setting for your life. If you work with your hands, a round or oval stone in a bezel or low setting takes knocks better than a pointed shape in high prongs.
For step-by-step cleaning, see our jewelry care guide.
Lab-Grown Diamond Durability FAQ
| Question | Factual Answer |
|---|---|
| Are lab-grown diamonds durable enough for everyday wear? | Yes. They are as hard and as tough as mined diamonds and suit engagement rings and daily jewelry equally well. |
| Are lab-grown diamonds as hard as real diamonds? | Yes. Lab-grown diamonds are real diamonds and rate 10 on the Mohs scale, the same as mined diamonds. |
| Do lab-grown diamonds scratch? | Not in normal wear. Only another diamond can scratch a diamond, so store diamond pieces apart. |
| Can a lab-grown diamond chip or crack? | Yes, like any diamond. A hard knock on a thin girdle, a point or a corner can chip it along its cleavage planes. |
| Do lab-grown diamonds get cloudy over time? | No. A dull look comes from a film of oil or soap and cleans off. |
| Will a lab-grown diamond pass a diamond tester? | Yes. It conducts heat like any diamond. Separating lab-grown from mined requires gemological testing. |
| How long do lab-grown diamonds last? | Indefinitely. The stone does not wear out; the setting is what needs checking over time. |
| Does GIA still grade lab-grown diamonds with the 4Cs? | No. Since October 1, 2025, GIA issues a quality assessment with Premium and Standard categories instead. |
A lab-grown diamond is as hard as diamond gets. Protect its edges, check its setting, and it will outlast everything else in the box.
