If you’ve ever shopped for fine jewelry or high-tech industrial components, you’ve probably encountered artificial diamonds—sometimes called lab-grown diamonds, man-made diamonds, or cultured diamonds— and wondered how they compare to their natural mined counterparts when it comes to cutting and polishing. As someone who’s spent the last decade working in the artificial diamond supply business, I get this question all the time, from both retail jewelers sourcing stones for their bridal lines and aerospace engineers looking for precision parts for high-performance tools. The short answer is yes: artificial diamonds can be cut and polished just like natural diamonds, and in many cases, they offer distinct advantages over mined stones for a wide range of uses. But if you dig into the details, the process isn’t identical to how we’ve worked with natural diamonds for centuries, and understanding those differences is key to choosing the right stone for your project. Artificial Diamond
Let’s start with the basics: what even is an artificial diamond? Unlike natural diamonds, which form deep in the Earth’s mantle over billions of years under extreme heat and pressure, artificial diamonds are created in a lab in as little as a few weeks. There are two primary manufacturing methods: High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). HPHT mimics the natural conditions that form diamonds, compressing a carbon seed and heating it to over 1,500°C while feeding it carbon-rich materials like graphite. CVD, by contrast, uses a chamber filled with carbon-based gas that is ionized into plasma, breaking down the gas so carbon atoms settle onto a seed plate, building up a diamond layer one atomic layer at a time. Both processes produce diamonds with the exact same chemical composition as natural diamonds—pure carbon structured in a cubic crystal lattice. That molecular similarity is why cutting and polishing them is so similar, but it’s also where some key differences in their crystal structure come into play, differences that have real implications for how we work with them.
For those new to the industry, cutting and polishing a diamond isn’t just about making it look shiny—it’s a precise process that maximizes the stone’s brilliance, fire, and scintillation. For gem-quality diamonds, cutters use a set of rules (most famously the Tolkowsky ideal cut, developed in 1919) to determine how to shape the rough stone to reflect light in the most visually appealing way. The process starts with sorting the rough diamond to determine its crystal shape, size, and any inclusions (flaws) inside, which tells the cutter where to make cuts to avoid damaging the stone and highlight its best features. Next comes planning the layout, where the cutter maps out the ideal proportions for the finished stone before making any cuts. Then comes cleaving or sawing, splitting the rough along natural cleavage lines to remove excess material or separate sections with different color or clarity. After that, bruting shapes the girdle (the edge of the stone) by spinning two diamonds against each other, and polishing uses abrasive materials like diamond powder to carve the facets that create the stone’s shine.
This entire process relies on one core fact: diamonds are the hardest known natural material, with a 10 on the Mohs hardness scale, and their only natural abrasive is other diamond. That means cutting and polishing diamonds requires tools made from diamond dust or diamond-tipped blades. For artificial diamonds, this same logic applies—since their atomic structure is identical, they’re just as hard as mined diamonds, so the cutting and polishing tools work the same way. But here’s where the differences start: artificial diamonds, especially CVD-grown ones, often have a more uniform crystal structure than natural diamonds. Natural diamonds form over billions of years, so they can have internal stresses, tiny variations in crystal orientation, or even impurities (like nitrogen or boron) that create color or affect how light passes through them. Artificial diamonds, by contrast, are grown under controlled conditions, so their crystal structure is far more consistent. That consistency makes them easier to cut and polish to uniform specifications, a huge benefit for industrial applications where precision is everything, and even for gem-quality stones where consistency in size and cut is desirable for jewelry lines.
But it’s not all smooth sailing. I’ve seen our team run into challenges when cutting artificial diamonds that don’t come up as often with natural stones, challenges that tie back to their manufacturing process. For example, HPHT-grown diamonds can sometimes have what’s called “platelet formation”—tiny, flat defects inside the crystal that align along specific directions. If a cutter doesn’t account for these platelets when making cuts, they can cause the stone to crack or chip during polishing, something that’s less common with natural diamonds because their defects are more randomly distributed. CVD-grown diamonds, on the other hand, are often thicker or have a different surface structure than natural rough diamonds, so the tools used to cut and polish them sometimes need slight adjustments. Most jewelers and cutters who work regularly with artificial diamonds learn these nuances quickly, though; after a few dozen stones, the process becomes second nature.
Another area where artificial diamonds shine (pun intended) over natural diamonds when it comes to cutting and polishing is consistency. When I supply rough artificial diamonds to a client making precision industrial tools, they don’t just need a diamond that’s hard—they need a diamond that’s exactly the same size, shape, and crystal orientation as the last one they bought. With mined diamonds, no two rough stones are identical, so cutters have to adjust their plans for every single piece. With artificial diamonds, because we grow them to custom specifications, we can provide rough stones that are already shaped to match the exact dimensions needed for the final product, reducing waste and speeding up production. For gemstone jewelers, this consistency means they can create lines of jewelry where every stone in a set (like a pair of diamond studs) is cut to the exact same proportions, leading to a more uniform, high-end look that’s hard to achieve with natural mined diamonds.
But what about visual quality? Do artificial diamonds polish to the same luster and shine as natural diamonds? The short answer is yes, especially for gem-quality stones. When polished correctly, artificial diamonds have the same refractive index (the measure of how much light bends as it passes through the stone) as natural diamonds, meaning they produce the same brilliance and fire. In fact, some studies have shown that CVD-grown diamonds can have even better light performance than some lower-quality natural diamonds, because their uniform structure means there are fewer internal flaws that can block light. That said, not all artificial diamonds are equal. Lower-quality artificial diamonds (often called “industrial-grade” diamonds) grown for use in tools, not jewelry, have more impurities and defects, so they won’t polish to the same high shine as gem-grade stones. But that’s intentional—industrial-grade diamonds are designed for hardness and heat resistance, not visual appeal, so their cutting process focuses on maximizing those properties rather than luster.
I’ve had countless conversations with jewelers who were skeptical about working with artificial diamonds because they thought the final product would look “fake” or less shiny than a natural diamond. After seeing the first set of studs we supplied them, though, most come back asking for more. One jewelry client in New York told me last year that their customers couldn’t tell the difference between the artificial diamond studs and their top-of-the-line natural diamond studs, and the artificial stones cost 30% less, making them a much better value for many shoppers. That’s a win-win for everyone: the customer gets a beautiful, durable diamond at a lower price, the jeweler gets a reliable product to offer their clients, and we get to supply a stone that’s better for a range of applications.
There’s also the environmental aspect, which ties into how the industry approaches cutting and polishing. Mined diamond production has a well-documented environmental impact, from deforestation to water pollution to carbon emissions from heavy mining equipment. Artificial diamond production, by contrast, uses a fraction of the resources: making a one-carat artificial diamond uses about 1/10th the energy of mining a one-carat natural diamond, and there’s no need for large-scale excavation or the associated waste. That means when we cut and polish artificial diamonds, we’re not just working with a superior stone—we’re doing it with a much smaller environmental footprint, which is a huge selling point for modern consumers who care about sustainable products.
Of course, it’s important to be honest about the limitations. Artificial diamonds can be cut and polished like natural diamonds, but they aren’t exactly the same, and there are cases where natural diamonds are still the better choice. For example, some very large, high-quality natural diamonds have unique historical or sentimental value that artificial diamonds can’t replicate, and rare natural colors (like vivid red or blue diamonds) can’t yet be replicated in lab-grown stones at commercial scale. But for most applications—from fine jewelry to industrial cutting tools—artificial diamonds are just as good, if not better, than natural diamonds, and their cutting and polishing process has matured enough over the last decade to keep up with the demand.
As someone who’s built their business around supplying high-quality artificial diamonds, I’ve seen first-hand how the technology has evolved. Ten years ago, the best artificial diamonds were still clearly distinguishable from natural ones because their crystal structure was inconsistent, making polishing uneven. Today, we can grow artificial diamonds with near-perfect crystal lattices, and the cutting and polishing tools have advanced to match that precision. We work with jewelers, manufacturers, and researchers all over the world, and one thing I can tell you for sure is that the future of diamonds isn’t just in the ground—it’s in the lab, and it’s here to stay.
If you’re a jeweler looking to add a line of durable, high-luster gemstones to your collection, or a manufacturer needing precision components for cutting tools, electronics, or aerospace applications, artificial diamonds offer a reliable, cost-effective alternative to natural diamonds. Our team has years of experience working with every grade of artificial diamond, from gem-quality HPHT and CVD stones to industrial-grade diamonds for high-stress applications. We can customize rough stones to your exact specifications, provide guidance on cutting and polishing techniques to get the best results for your project, and offer consistent, on-time delivery to keep your operations running smoothly. We’re always happy to walk through your needs in detail, answer any questions you have about the process, and help you find the right diamond for your specific application. Reach out to our team to discuss your requirements and learn more about how artificial diamonds can elevate your products or operations.
Tungsten Alloy References
- Collins, A. T. (2000). The growth and polishing of diamond. Diamond and Related Materials, 9(3-6), 363-368.
- Field, J. E. (Ed.). (1992). The properties of diamond. Academic Press.
- Royal Society of Chemistry. (2021). Lab-grown diamonds: A guide for consumers and industry. RSC Publishing.
- Zaritsky, A., et al. (2018). Light performance of CVD-grown versus natural diamonds. Journal of Gemmology, 36(2), 124-135.
- United States Geological Survey. (2022). Mineral commodity summaries: Diamond. U.S. Geological Survey.
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