Best Place to Buy Lab-Grown Diamonds: 6 Stores' Terms Compared

The best place to buy lab grown diamonds is the store that tells you who graded the stone and still lets you send it back, and on those two tests Rare Carat is our overall pick. It names GIA, IGI and GCAL as its labs, says which reports arrive on paper, refunds in full within 30 days of shipment and matches a lower price on the same report number. Brilliant Earth is the pick if you want to see the stone in a showroom first, and Clean Origin gives the most time, 60 days. Every term and price below was read on each store’s own site on 18 September 2026, or in a dated archive copy where the site blocked us.

How we are paid. RingReel is part of Rare Carat’s affiliate program on the Awin network, so we earn a commission when you buy through a Rare Carat link on this page, at no cost to you. We also earn one through Awin on Ouros Jewels links. The picks come from the terms below, each quoted with the date we read it.

Our Top Picks

1. Our top pick

   Best overall

   1

   Illustration of the setting type, not a photo of this ring.

   Rare Carat

   A buyer who wants the widest choice of graded lab stones and a written price match.

   • Online; lab-grown and natural
   • $1,005i
   Check it at Rare Carat (opens the maker's site in a new tab)

2. Best for seeing it in person

   2

   Illustration of the setting type, not a photo of this ring.

   Brilliant Earth

   A buyer who wants to see a lab diamond in a showroom before paying for it.

   • Online and 42 showrooms
   Check it at Brilliant Earth (opens the maker's site in a new tab)

3. Longest return window

   3

   Illustration of the setting type, not a photo of this ring.

   Clean Origin

   A buyer who wants the most time to decide on a lab-grown ring.

   • Online; lab-grown center stones
   Check it at Clean Origin (opens the maker's site in a new tab)

4. Best if you want the grower

   4

   Illustration of the setting type, not a photo of this ring.

   VRAI

   A buyer who wants a lab diamond from the company that grew it and is happy with store credit if it goes back.

   • Online; its own lab-grown diamonds
   Check it at VRAI (opens the maker's site in a new tab)

5. Best for trying the style at home

   5

   Illustration of the setting type, not a photo of this ring.

   With Clarity

   A buyer who wants to see the style on a hand at home before ordering.

   • Online, with one showroom in New York (SoHo)
   Check it at With Clarity (opens the maker's site in a new tab)

6. Best for a small lab stone

   6

   Illustration of the setting type, not a photo of this ring.

   Angara

   A buyer who wants a finished lab-grown ring with a small stone and a return that survives engraving.

   • Online; complete lab-grown rings
   • $728i
   Check it at Angara (opens the maker's site in a new tab)

Key Takeaways

• A lab-grown diamond is a diamond under the FTC’s 2018 Jewelry Guides, sold with a disclosure that it was not mined, so the store matters more than the stone’s origin.
• Four of the six stores name independent grading labs; VRAI grades its own diamonds, and Angara names no lab on the product page we read.
• Resizing ends the right to return at Rare Carat, Brilliant Earth, Clean Origin, VRAI and With Clarity; Angara’s list excludes only resizing “by another jeweler”.
• The return clock starts at shipment at Rare Carat, when the order is ready at Brilliant Earth and Clean Origin, and on delivery or receipt at VRAI, With Clarity and Angara.
• Wholesale prices for lab-grown diamonds fell 13% in a year to the second quarter of 2026, but prices for one-carat rounds rose 1%, per Edahn Golan’s price list.

The Best Places to Buy Lab-Grown Diamonds Compared

The six stores below each earn a place with something they put in writing. The columns are the commitments that matter once the stone is yours: when the return clock starts, what resizing does to it, who graded the diamond, what an upgrade needs, and a price we could check on the day.

The Six Stores, Reviewed

One More Option: Ouros Jewels

Ouros Jewels sells finished lab-grown rings, wedding bands and loose diamonds, and states IGI certification on its solitaire from 1.00 carat up. We read its pages on 27 October 2026, after the six stores above, so it sits outside the comparison table. Its return terms are narrower than any of the six: returns for personal preference are not accepted, so be sure of the ring before you order.

Also worth a look

Ouros Jewels IGI Certified Round Lab Grown Diamond Solitaire Engagement Ring

by Ouros Jewels

Complete ring: center stone included

Best for: A buyer who has settled on the ring and wants an IGI-certified 1 carat lab solitaire in solid gold.

Ouros Jewels sells finished lab-grown rings in silver, 10K, 14K and 18K gold and platinum, and the solitaire we priced runs from 0.25 to 5 carats, with IGI certification stated on the page from 1.00 carat up.

Ouros Jewels listing photo of the setting; it does not necessarily show the 1.00 ct stone priced.

What we like

• IGI certification is stated on the product page for center stones of 1.00 carat and above
• One setting offered in six metals and carat weights from 0.25 to 5, each priced on the page
• Ships to more than 40 countries

Keep in mind

• Returns for a change of mind are not accepted, and every return needs approval first
• The store's return policy excludes purchases discounted 15% or more, and the price we saw was 30% off
• Below 1.00 carat the product page does not promise an IGI report

Price range

$791 on sale (listed at $1,130) for the round lab solitaire with a 1.00 ct E-F VS stone in 14K white gold, as the US page opened on 27/10/2026

Material

Online; complete lab-grown rings, wedding bands and loose diamonds

Guarantee

Free repair of a manufacturing defect found within 30 days of delivery; paid repairs after that

View current price at Ouros JewelsVisit Ouros Jewels (opens the maker's site in a new tab)

Why Two Others Are Not Picks

• Whiteflash. Its 30-day money-back guarantee covers only its own branded natural diamonds; for “all other certified diamonds, including lab created diamonds” the window is 10 days, and it starts when the diamond is available to you.
• Costco. Its jewelry information PDF, read on 18 September 2026, describes IGI appraisals and GIA reports for diamonds of one carat and up, but says nothing about lab-grown diamonds, so we could not compare it on the same terms.

For the full reviews of the two stores most buyers compare first, see our Rare Carat review and our Brilliant Earth review, and for Rare Carat set against Blue Nile on the same lab diamond, our Rare Carat vs Blue Nile comparison.

How We Chose

• Six stores that sell lab-grown diamonds online, each policy page opened on 18 September 2026 with the wording copied, not summarized.
• Clean Origin and part of Brilliant Earth read through the Internet Archive, because both sites blocked automated reading that day; each archived term carries its capture date.
• Grading judged by what the store names: an independent lab named on the page counts, a store’s own certificate is labeled as such, and silence is “not stated”, never a no.
• Prices only from the product or listing page, with the configuration stated, and “not checked” where the site would not load its search.
• No star ratings, no scores of our own and no “tested” claims. Nothing here was bought or handled.

What a Lab Diamond Should Cost in 2026

Lab-grown prices have fallen further and faster than almost anything in jewelry. Edahn Golan’s Lab-Grown Wholesale Price List for the second quarter of 2026 reports that its index “declined 13% year over year and is down 96% since we began tracking wholesale prices in July 2018”. The same report finds the one-carat round is the exception: wholesale prices for those “rose by 1%”, while 2-carat stones fell 20%.

These are the retail prices we could check on 18 September 2026. They are not the same grade, so read them as what each store asks for what it shows first, not as a ranking.

Two warnings come with any price. Rare Carat shows a higher “Comp. value” beside each price, and we did not find a page explaining how it is calculated, so compare the price itself. And Angara’s 1/6 carat is not a one-carat stone: its knife-edge design stops at 1/2 carat. For how price climbs with size, see our diamond ring price by carat guide, and for complete rings at a fixed budget, our picks for engagement rings under $1,000. How far a lab-grown stone undercuts a natural one in the same setting, carat by carat, is priced in our guide to natural and lab-grown diamond engagement rings.

The Grading Report Decides More Than the Store

A grading report is the only document that describes your diamond independently of the store that sells it, and for lab-grown stones it is also where the choice of store shows most.

GIA changed the rules for lab-grown reports. From 1 October 2025 it describes lab-grown diamonds as “Premium” or “Standard” and, in its own announcement, “will no longer use the nomenclature created for natural diamonds”. A GIA report on a lab stone graded since then will not carry the familiar color and clarity letters, so compare the IGI or GIA report itself, not only the listing. Our lab-grown vs natural diamond guide covers what each report says.

VRAI is the one store that grades its own diamonds, and it argues that its certificates carry “a lifetime warranty and value guarantee” that independent labs do not offer. That is a real difference in approach: you trade an outside opinion for a promise from the seller. The certificate links on its inventory page point to Diamond Foundry’s site.

Returns and Resizing: Where the Rules Bite

Five of the six stores stop a return once the ring has been resized, and the wording is plain at each: “Once something’s sent in for resizing, it can’t be returned” at Rare Carat, “Rings that have been resized or modified” at Brilliant Earth, “Orders that have been exchanged or resized are not eligible for return” at Clean Origin, “Modified or resized rings” at VRAI, and “Items that have been submitted for resizing, even if still within the 30-day return period” at With Clarity. Angara excludes items “Damaged, modified or already worn by you” and those “re-sized or engraved by another jeweler”, and does not say whether its own free resize counts, so we read no promise into it.

The clocks differ as much as the rules. Rare Carat counts 30 days from the shipment date and needs the return scanned by FedEx before the window closes. Brilliant Earth and Clean Origin count from when the order is ready to ship or collect. VRAI, With Clarity and Angara count from delivery or receipt, which gives you every day the ring is actually in your hands. On a proposal timetable, those few days of transit can decide whether a change of mind is still free.

The workable order is the same everywhere: decide on the ring within the window, then size it. VRAI adds a cost to changing your mind with cash rather than credit, a recycling fee of 300 dollars on an engagement ring refunded to your card, waived if you take store credit. With Clarity allows a second return within 30 days only as store credit or with a 20% restocking fee. For what a resize costs when it is not free, see our guide to ring resizing cost.

Which Store Fits Your Situation?

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is a Reasonable Price for a Lab Grown Diamond?

It depends on the grades. On 18 September 2026 a 1.00 carat H VS1 lab round cost 395 dollars as part of a Rare Carat ring, a 1.01 carat E IF about a thousand, and a 1.01 carat D VVS2 1,670 dollars at VRAI. Compare the same grades across stores on the day.

Which Brand Is the Best for Lab Grown Diamond Jewelry?

For a lab-grown engagement ring, Rare Carat is our overall pick: it names its grading labs, refunds in full within 30 days of shipment and matches prices on the same report number; we priced five of its finished lab-grown engagement rings from 1 to 3 carats. Brilliant Earth suits buyers who want a showroom, and Clean Origin gives the longest return window of the stores we compared.

Are Costco Diamonds Lab Diamonds?

We could not confirm either way. The Costco jewelry information PDF we read on 18 September 2026 describes IGI appraisals and GIA reports for larger diamonds and does not mention lab-grown stones. Under the FTC’s Jewelry Guides a lab-grown diamond must be disclosed as not mined, so the listing itself should say.

Are Lab-Grown Diamonds Worth Buying?

They are worth buying for the stone, not as a store of value. A lab-grown diamond is a diamond under the FTC’s definition, and it costs far less than a mined stone of the same size. But wholesale prices are down 96% since 2018 by Edahn Golan’s index, so do not expect to resell one for what you paid.

What Is the Lifespan of a Lab Diamond?

The stone itself does not wear out in normal use: the FTC’s definition of diamond, which covers lab-grown stones with the same properties, includes a hardness of 10. What wears is the setting. Rare Carat and Brilliant Earth both list prongs wearing or bending over time as normal wear, not a defect, so have prongs checked.

Sources

• Rare Carat, Lab Grown Diamonds, listings as the page opened, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Rare Carat, Linda Comfort-Fit Engagement Ring With 1 Carat Round Lab Diamond, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Rare Carat, 30-Day Returns, undated, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Rare Carat, Ring Resizing Policy, undated, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Rare Carat, FAQ, undated, accessed 25/09/2026.
• Rare Carat, Diamond Upgrade Program, undated, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Rare Carat, Diamond Price Match Policy, undated, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Rare Carat, Does Rare Carat Have a Warranty?, undated, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Brilliant Earth, Free 30-Day Returns and 1-Year Resizes, undated, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Brilliant Earth, Lab Grown Diamonds, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Brilliant Earth, Shopping With Us, warranty and upgrade terms, read through the Internet Archive capture of 09/06/2026 on 18/09/2026.
• Brilliant Earth Group, Inc., Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, filed 17/03/2026, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Clean Origin, Return Policy, read through the Internet Archive capture of 27/07/2026 on 18/09/2026.
• Clean Origin, Resizing Policy, read through the Internet Archive capture of 09/02/2026 on 18/09/2026.
• Clean Origin, Independently Certified, read through the Internet Archive capture of 10/02/2026 on 18/09/2026.
• VRAI, Returns and Exchanges, undated, accessed 18/09/2026.
• VRAI, Our Diamond Certification, undated, accessed 18/09/2026.
• VRAI, Diamond Inventory, listings as the page opened, accessed 18/09/2026.
• With Clarity, Our Policies and Terms, undated, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Angara, Return Policy, US store, undated, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Angara, Lifetime Warranty, US store, undated, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Angara, Knife-Edged Classic Round Lab-Grown Diamond Solitaire Engagement Ring, US store, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Ouros Jewels, IGI Certified Round Lab Grown Diamond Solitaire Engagement Ring, 14K white gold, 1.00 ct, US store, with its Return & Cancellation tab, accessed 27/10/2026.
• Ouros Jewels, Policy, undated, accessed 27/10/2026.
• Whiteflash, Money Back Guarantee, undated, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Costco, Additional Jewelry Information, undated PDF, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Edahn Golan Diamond Research and Data, After a 96% Decline, What’s Next for Lab-Grown Diamond Prices?, 2026, accessed 18/09/2026.
• GIA, GIA Launches Updated Laboratory-Grown Diamond Services October 1, 2025, accessed 25/09/2026.
• Federal Trade Commission, FTC Approves Final Revisions to Jewelry Guides, 2018, accessed 18/09/2026.
• Federal Trade Commission, Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries (16 CFR Part 23), 2018.