High Pressure/High Temperature (HPHT)

Used since the 1950’s, this traditional technique subjects a diamond seed crystal to high pressure and high temperature to initiate growth of a diamond. Initially the technology primarily produced yellow or brownish yellow diamonds more suited for industrial applications. In recent years, the technology has evolved to produce colorless diamonds.

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)

A tiny diamond “seed” is placed in a vacuum chamber and lab-quality carbon gases are used to grow crystals on the seed. Requiring less expensive equipment than HPHT diamond production, the technique has been fine-tuned within the last decade to produce colorless gems. Because the stones are grown in a vacuum, there are usually no inclusions in the stones.