India's lab-grown diamond market is booming and suddenly, everyone is selling. Venture-funded startups are opening stores every month. Big Brands have launched their own lab-grown brands. And traditional family jewellers have entered the category too. For a buyer, the real question is no longer "should I buy a lab-grown diamond?" but "who should I buy it from?"
Having watched this market closely from our counters in Kolkata and Delhi, here is an honest map of the three kinds of sellers including where we fit, and where each option genuinely shines.
Type 1: The venture-funded startups.
These are the names filling your Instagram feed. The category attracted record investor funding in 2025, with tens of millions of dollars flowing into lab-grown diamond brands in a single year. The money funds rapid store expansion, slick apps, celebrity endorsements and heavy advertising.
What they do well: beautiful contemporary designs, polished online buying, wide reach, competitive pricing on minimalist pieces: studs, solitaires, rings, tennis bracelets.
What to check carefully: three things. First, the certificate: insist on independent grading and verify the report number online yourself. Second, the exit terms: many startups advertise "lifetime exchange," which is not the same as cash buyback; read the fine print on what your jewellery is worth if you ever return it. Third, longevity: a buyback or warranty promise is only as strong as the company's future, and venture-funded businesses live and die by their next funding round.
Type 2: The corporate giants.
The most telling development of the past year: India's biggest houses have entered lab-grown. When conglomerates that built their names on natural diamonds start selling lab-grown, the debate about legitimacy is officially over.
What they do well: brand trust, standardised quality, beautiful showrooms.
What to check carefully: pricing (big-brand overheads are built into the tag), design depth in the new lab-grown lines (many are starting with small capsule collections), and whether traditional Indian jewellery - bridal sets, mangalsutras, bangles is available in lab-grown at all, since several corporate lab-grown brands focus on Western-style light jewellery.
Type 3: The legacy family jeweller.
The third path: an established jewellery house that has adopted lab-grown diamonds while keeping everything that made traditional jewellers trustworthy, hallmarked gold billed at the day's rate, face-to-face service, custom-making, and buyback promises kept across generations of customers.
What we do well (yes, this is us): at Goenka Jewellers every diamond is IGI certified; gold is billed transparently against the published daily rate - see today's Kolkata gold rate; buyback is in writing at 80% cash on diamonds and 100% on gold, alongside a 100% exchange offer and lifetime warranty. And because we come from traditional jewellery-making, our lab-grown range covers what startups rarely do: mangalsutras, bangles and churis, kadas and full bridal sets — alongside modern solitaires and tennis bracelets.
What to check carefully with any family jeweller: exactly the same things as everyone else: independent certification, hallmarking, written policies. Legacy alone is not proof; documents are. We insist you verify ours.
4.32 Ct Fancy-Shaped Diamond Bracelet, 18K - View this piece
The 5-question test that works on all three
Whoever you buy from, ask these five questions and you will never go wrong: (1) Is the diamond independently certified, and can I verify the report number online? (2) Is the gold BIS-hallmarked and billed at a transparent daily rate? (3) What exactly do I receive - in cash - if I return this in five years? (4) Is the warranty lifetime, and is it written down? (5) Can I walk into a physical store and speak to the same people after my purchase?
Any seller who answers all five clearly deserves your consideration. Any seller who hedges on even one does not deserve your money.
Frequently asked questions
Are startup lab-grown diamond brands unsafe to buy from?
Not at all - many sell certified, well-made jewellery. The point is to judge every seller by documents and policies, not by advertising volume.
Why do family jewellers offer cash buyback when startups usually offer only exchange?
Traditional jewellers have always operated on the principle that jewellery is a family asset that may need to be liquidated. Cash buyback is part of that older, customer-first economics - and we believe lab-grown diamonds deserve the same protection.
Experience the third path yourself: book a face-to-face appointment in Kolkata or Delhi.
Goenka Jewellers - World of Lab Grown Diamonds. Crafting Legacy Forever.