Questions, answered

Lab-grown diamonds are created in a laboratory rather than mined from the earth. Ours are grown by chemical vapour deposition, which the trade shortens to CVD: they grow layer by layer from a carbon-rich gas.

They are physically, chemically and optically the same as mined diamonds. Neither a jeweller nor a gemologist can tell the difference by eye.

Not by looking. A trained jeweller cannot tell them apart with the naked eye or an ordinary microscope. Only the specialised equipment in a gemological laboratory can tell which is which.

"Synthetic" is the laboratory word for grown rather than mined, so lab-grown diamonds are sometimes called that. It does not mean imitation.

What they are not is simulants. Cubic zirconia and moissanite look like lab-grown and mined diamonds but are different materials entirely. A lab-grown diamond is the same material as a mined diamond.

Yes. Lab-grown diamonds typically retail at 60 to 80 per cent less than a mined diamond of equivalent quality. They are priced on the same four measures — cut, colour, clarity and carat.

They are graded exactly as mined diamonds are, on the same four Cs, and the leading gemological laboratories — IGI, GIA, SGL and EGL — certify them.

That is true of lab-grown diamonds as a whole. What DLV supplies with a particular piece is set out under ordering, below.

Mined diamonds are the hardest material there is, ranking 10 on the Mohs scale, and a lab-grown diamond ranks 10 as well. They match mined diamonds in hardness and strength, and will outlast the person wearing them.

No. They do not fade, discolour or cloud. A lab-grown diamond looks the same in thirty years as it does on the first day.

No. A machine cannot be set to produce a particular grade and size — it creates the conditions, and growth takes its own course from there. Colour, clarity and carat vary from one lab-grown diamond to the next, exactly as they do in mined stones.

Yes, the same four Cs: cut, colour, clarity and carat. DLV sets E-F colour and VS clarity throughout. Both are stated on the product page.

Every piece is made to order, which takes about 10 working days. After it is dispatched, delivery takes 3 to 4 business days to the 8 metro cities (Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad) and 10 to 12 business days elsewhere in India.

Nothing sits on a shelf waiting, which is why a piece can be made in the karat and colour you choose rather than the one that happened to be in stock.

Nothing. Delivery is free anywhere in India except Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, where we cannot deliver yet. We do deliver to Sikkim.

Not at present. Online orders are for delivery within India only.

Yes. Every DLV gold piece is BIS hallmarked, with a HUID. Our silver pieces are 925 sterling silver with a 925 purity stamp.

Every piece arrives with a DLV Statement of Authenticity, which records what the piece is made of, including its lab-grown CVD diamonds. That comes as standard, in the box, with nothing to ask for.

Two things can be added to a gold piece at extra cost, and both are worth asking about before you order rather than after. An SGL jewellery certificate, priced per carat and shown on the product page. And where the centre lab-grown diamond is over one and a half carats, it can be supplied individually certified.

The certificate is priced separately rather than built into the jewellery. A certificate included at no charge has been paid for somewhere, and that somewhere is the price of the piece. We would rather show it and let you choose.

Because the piece does not exist yet. Every DLV piece is made to order. For gold, the BIS hallmark — and any certificate you have asked for — is issued once the piece has been made.

The HUID of a gold piece, and any certificate number, are confirmed with you for your own piece before it is dispatched. A number printed on a listing would belong to somebody else’s jewellery.

Every DLV gold piece is BIS hallmarked, and the hallmark includes a 6-character HUID (Hallmark Unique Identification) marked on the piece. You can check it yourself, free, in the government's BIS CARE app: open the app, tap "Verify HUID" and type the 6 characters.

The app shows the details BIS holds for that HUID, such as the purity. Your own piece's HUID is confirmed with you before it is dispatched. Our silver pieces carry a 925 purity stamp and no HUID.

Rings are made in Indian sizes 9 to 16. Tennis bracelets are made at a single 7 inch length.

If you are unsure of your size, the ring size guide shows how to measure at home with a strip of paper.

Yes, within seven days of delivery, in its original condition with the invoice.

The returns and exchange policy sets out what is covered in full.

Yes, free of charge within 30 days of delivery. You send the ring to us and cover the postage; the resizing itself costs nothing.

Yes. We buy back at 70 per cent, within two years of purchase and against the original invoice. Gold coins are not bought back.

A piece can also be exchanged after 360 days, up to two years from purchase, again at 70 per cent. The full terms are in the returns and exchange policy.

Yes. White gold is rhodium plated, and the plating wears with time on any white gold jewellery. We re-plate once free of charge; you cover the postage to send the piece to us.

Warm water, a drop of washing-up liquid and a soft brush under the lab-grown diamonds, where the film that dulls them collects. The jewellery care guide covers storage and what to take it off for.