Lab-Grown Diamond Price Per Carat by Clarity: 2026 Spec Grid
This is a spoke of Lab-Grown vs Natural Diamonds. If you want the per-carat price grid by clarity grade — not the macro story about why prices are falling — this is the page.
The 2026 grid: per-carat retail, IGI-graded, near-colorless (G–H)
Prices are US retail, IGI-graded G–H color, Excellent cut on round brilliants, mid-2026 averages across major US online retailers. Use them as a sanity check, not a quote.
| Clarity | 1.00 ct | 1.50 ct | 2.00 ct | 3.00 ct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FL / IF | $1,200 | $1,500 | $2,200 | $3,800 |
| VVS1 | $1,000 | $1,300 | $1,900 | $3,300 |
| VVS2 | $900 | $1,100 | $1,700 | $2,900 |
| VS1 | $800 | $950 | $1,500 | $2,500 |
| VS2 | $700 | $850 | $1,350 | $2,200 |
| SI1 | $550 | $700 | $1,100 | $1,800 |
| SI2 | $450 | $600 | $900 | $1,500 |
A few things to read off the grid directly:
- The spread from FL to SI2 at 1.00 ct is roughly $750. At 3.00 ct it's roughly $2,300. Clarity premium scales with size, because inclusions are more visible in a bigger stone.
- At the SI tier, the price stops collapsing — there's a floor where the stone is approaching wholesale cost regardless of clarity. Below that, you're buying material that's mostly rejected by retail channels.
- For why these numbers keep moving down quarter over quarter, see lab-grown diamond resale value 2026 and the hub article.
When to spend up on clarity
There are three honest reasons to pay for VVS or better on a lab-grown stone:
- Step cuts (emerald, Asscher). Step cuts have long, open facets that show inclusions clearly. Drop a VS2 inclusion into an emerald cut and you can see it from across the table. For step cuts, buy VVS2 minimum, ideally VVS1.
- Stones above 3 ct. Big stones are bigger windows. An SI1 that looks eye-clean at 1 ct often shows a feather or a crystal at 3+ ct. At 3 ct and up, buy VS2 minimum.
- You plan to inspect under 10x regularly. If the answer is yes, you already know which clarity you want. Most buyers will not, and shouldn't pay for grades they can't see.
For everyone else — round brilliants, princess, oval, cushion, pear, marquise, heart, radiant — SI1 eye-clean is the right buy. See Eye-Clean Diamond Clarity for how to verify eye-clean on a specific stone before paying.
When the report itself drives the price
Whether you're looking at a $700 SI1 or a $3,800 FL, the report is doing real work. The October 2025 GIA format change means a GIA lab-grown "Premium" stamp no longer prints a clarity grade — so the grid above doesn't apply to GIA-only stones. For GIA Premium pricing, assume the bottom of the bucket and price accordingly; the full reasoning is in IGI vs GIA lab-grown grading.
Growth method (CVD vs HPHT) does not meaningfully affect the price grid at these spec ranges in 2026. Both methods produce stones across the full clarity range; the report tells you which. The deeper breakdown of the two methods is in CVD vs HPHT lab diamonds.
What to ask the seller
"What's the per-carat price on this stone, and is it benchmarked to the IGI grade? Can I see comparable IGI-graded stones in the same color and clarity at this size from another retailer?"
If the seller balks at a comparison link, the price is above market. Lab-grown is a commodity now; the price grid clears within a fairly tight band, and a stone sitting 20% above the grid above is asking you to pay a margin you won't recover. For the natural-diamond counterpart, see diamond price per carat 2026, which holds value differently because the wholesale floor doesn't fall the same way.
Outside reference
The Antwerp dealer Ajediam publishes a per-carat lab-grown price reference that the European trade uses as a wholesale benchmark. Cross-checking your US retail quote against a published wholesale source is the single most effective negotiation move you can make on a lab-grown center stone.
The one-line summary
For most buyers in 2026, an IGI-graded G–H, SI1, Excellent-cut round in the 1.00–2.00 ct range, priced within the grid above, is the right buy. Step cuts and 3 ct+ rounds justify spending up on clarity. Everything else is paying for grades you can't see — and on a stone whose resale value is near zero.