Sustainability is Made, Not Mined
At Oya Labs, sustainability and transparency are central to everything we do. Oya, our inspiration and muse, is a goddess of the wind and innovation. We honor her by crafting our jewelry with diamonds created in a lab using energy from the wind and sun. Using renewable energy means that our lab-grown diamonds are sustainable and certified carbon neutral according to the SCS-007 Jewelry Sustainability Standard, the first truly comprehensive sustainability standard developed for the global diamond market by SCS Global Services, creators of the USDA Organic label.
Lab grown diamonds don’t just look exactly the same as mined diamonds, they have identical physical, optical and chemical properties as mined diamonds. Even trained gemologists need specialized instruments to tell them apart. Consider the distinction between naturally occurring lake ice and controlled ice. Despite both being crystallized water, they originate in distinct environments. Similarly, diamonds can arise from carbon deep within the Earth or through controlled lab processes. The crucial divergence lies in their formation locale.
All diamonds, whether mined or made, have unique optical characteristics. They actually slow down light to half speed, bending it and reflecting it internally to dazzle your eyes with brilliance, fire and scintillation. Natural and lab-grown diamonds both have amazing physical characteristics too. They are the densest material on Earth. To find something with atoms closer together, you’d have to travel to a collapsed star. The strong crystal structure of all diamonds means they have unmatched hardness. They are also the only gemstone made from a single element: carbon. No imitation can rival the beauty of diamond, no matter where it forms.
There is one important difference between natural and lab-grown diamonds. Natural diamonds must be mined from the Earth, often in pristine remote areas of the globe. Diamond miners have to move mountains to find this rare gem in nature. For every carat of lab grown diamond you choose instead of a natural diamond you protect 250 tons of earth from being displaced.
In contrast, lab-grown diamonds are efficiently engineered in a high-tech facility. Our lab-grown diamonds are CVD, or Carbon Vapor Deposition created diamonds, grown in a vacuum chamber with methane and hydrogen and a thin diamond seed. The gas is heated to create a white-hot plasma and carbon atoms bond, layer by layer to the diamond seed growing into an exceptionally pure lab-grown diamond rough crystal. Diamond cutters cut away the seed and shape and polish the rough crystal just as they would a rough natural diamond crystal.
Carbon Vapor Deposition(CVD) Process
We track each one of our lab-grown diamonds through our partner’s facilities so we can assure you of its sustainable and ethical origin.
In addition to being sustainable, our lab grown diamonds also happen to be breathtakingly beautiful. Each one is a Type IIa diamond, the purest type of diamond with virtually no impurities to tint the color. Less than 2% of natural diamonds are Type IIa, including legendary Golconda diamonds and the Cullinan diamond in the British crown jewels. Of course, growing the hardest substance on earth isn’t easy. Lab-grown diamonds often have inclusions and slight tints of color just like natural diamonds do.
Experience the beauty and brilliance of fine quality sustainably grown diamonds, free from the environmental and human toll of mining. Choose luxury without compromise and value that fits your values. The future is even more precious than diamonds.
