Not in the sense of resale, and the same is true of natural diamonds. Once any diamond is bought at retail, reselling it privately usually returns only a fraction of the purchase price, because the resale market is small and buyers expect a discount. Lab grown diamonds are newer, and their retail prices have fallen as production has grown, so you should not expect to recover what you paid. This is not a reason to avoid them. It is a reason to buy a diamond for the right purpose: to wear, to mark an occasion, and to keep or pass down. Judged that way, a lab grown diamond holds its value well, because it keeps its beauty, its hardness and its certification for life. If you want an asset that appreciates, a diamond of any kind is the wrong choice. If you want a stone to wear forever, it is an excellent one.
Explore the about lab grown diamonds page for the full picture on how they are made, graded and certified.
Why diamonds do not appreciate
The resale market for diamonds is small, fragmented and dominated by trade buyers who pay wholesale. A retail diamond carries the cost of cutting, certification, settings and the retailer's margin, none of which a private resale recovers. This applies to mined and lab grown diamonds alike.
What does hold its value
Beauty, hardness and certification. A lab grown diamond does not dull, scratch or fade with age. The IGI certificate that confirms its grade is valid for life. A well chosen, well set diamond stays just as wearable in thirty years as the day it left the workshop.
How to buy with this in mind
Buy for the meaning and the years you will wear it, not for resale. Choose a diamond size and shape that suits the person, set in metal that will last, with a setting that can be cleaned, resized and serviced. A lab grown diamond bought this way is the best kind of value, the kind that compounds in the wearing.
Related questions
Are lab grown diamonds a good investment?
No diamond is a good financial investment for the average buyer, lab grown or natural. The right reason to buy a diamond is to wear it, not to flip it.
Do lab grown diamond prices keep falling?
Retail prices have fallen as production has scaled, and they may continue to. This makes a lab grown diamond a better proposition for buyers today, not a worse one, because the value to the wearer has not changed.
Will my lab grown engagement ring still look as good in twenty years?
Yes. A diamond is the hardest natural material on earth. With normal care and an occasional professional clean, it will look the same as the day it was set.
