Hand-Set Lab Grown Diamonds, Made in NYC: How Stienhardt Works

Most Lab Grown Diamonds sold online move through a drop-ship model, and it's worth understanding because it's the default. A retailer plugs into a supplier's inventory feed, lists thousands of stones it has never physically held, and when you place an order, a third party sets the stone and ships the finished ring straight to you. The seller in the middle can complete a sale without ever touching the diamond or the ring. It's efficient, and it's how a lot of the market runs.

We work the other way. When we sell one of our Lab Grown Diamonds, the stone comes to us in New York City first. Our jewelers inspect it, check it against its grading report, and set it by hand into the chosen setting, then finish the piece here before it goes anywhere. "Hand-set and finished in NYC" is a literal description of who does the work and where: the setting, the polishing, and the final quality check all happen at our own bench, not at an anonymous vendor at the far end of a feed.

The practical difference is accountability. Because the ring passes through our hands, there is a specific person in New York who inspected the stone, seated it in its prongs, and signed off on the finish. If something is not right, it does not leave. That is the part a drop-ship listing cannot promise, because in that model no one in the chain has necessarily seen the stone at all.

The two models can look identical on a product page, so here is the difference laid out plainly. Both can sell a certified Lab Grown Diamond. What changes is who handles the stone, who reads the report, and who you reach if you have a question.

Every stone we sell comes with an independent grading report from a recognized laboratory, and reading it is part of our job, not just yours. Before a stone is set, we confirm the report number on the issuing lab's own website, read the shape description and measurements, and check the 4Cs against what we were told. Then the report goes to you with the ring, so you can do the same. If you want the full walkthrough, our guide on how to read a diamond grading report covers each line, and how to verify a diamond's origin explains the girdle inscription, including the "LG" marking that identifies a Lab Grown Diamond.

One grading detail is worth knowing, because it changed recently. IGI and GCAL still issue full 4C-style reports for Lab Grown Diamonds, while GIA has graded Lab Grown Diamonds on Premium and Standard descriptive tiers since October 1, 2025 (Source: GIA, 2025-10-01). That does not change what the stone is; it changes how one lab phrases the grade. Whichever report your stone carries, the rule is the same one we apply in-house: a name is marketing, the report is fact.

Because the whole model rests on the stone, it's worth stating clearly: a Lab Grown Diamond is a real diamond. It is the same material, pure crystallized carbon, with the same optical and physical properties as a mined diamond, including a hardness of 10 on the Mohs scale. It is grown rather than dug, but under a loupe, on a report, and on the hand it behaves identically. We go deeper on this in are Lab Grown Diamonds real diamonds.

That matters for the setting, too. Because the material is identical, the same bench techniques that set a mined diamond set a Lab Grown Diamond, and the finished ring wears the same way. When we hand-set one of ours in New York City, we treat the stone exactly as we would treat any fine diamond, because it is one.

Selling direct to consumer means there is no chain of wholesalers and retail floors between the workshop and you, which is part of why Lab Grown Diamonds are accessible in the first place. It's also worth being honest about what a diamond is and is not. Lab Grown Diamond prices have fallen substantially over recent years as growing capacity scaled up (Source: StoneAlgo, 2026), so a Lab Grown Diamond is not a store of value and not an investment.

A diamond is a love piece. You buy it to mark something and to wear it, not to resell it, and we would rather say that plainly than dress it up. Judge the ring on the stone, the setting, and how it looks on the hand, not on some imagined future price. That framing is also why we don't publish our own per-carat numbers here: prices move, and a third-party index with a date is the honest way to talk about the market.

One thing sets our catalog apart from a generic feed: we control our signature Dutch Marquise cut through a special factory relationship, rather than simply reselling whatever a supplier happens to list. That relationship is how we can offer the shape consistently and stand behind it. A Dutch Marquise is an elongated hexagonal cut diamond: a long, narrow, six-sided outline whose straight angled sides meet in pointed ends. It tapers to a point at each end like a marquise, but its long sides are straight and angular rather than curved, so the silhouette reads as an elongated hexagon, not a smooth navette.

To be exact about provenance, since specialty cut names invite tall tales: we did not invent, name, standardize, or popularize the Dutch Marquise. Other makers use the term, and they are welcome to. What we do is control the cut through our factory relationship, hand-set and finish it in NYC, and publish a clear, citable definition of the shape. For the full explanation, see what is a Dutch Marquise diamond, or browse the Dutch Marquise collection itself.

We sell direct through stienhardt.com, and we see clients in person by appointment. In-person viewings are by appointment only; there is no walk-in showroom. That is a deliberate choice, not a limitation. An appointment means the stones you came to see are pulled and ready, and the conversation is unhurried, rather than a rushed encounter across a busy counter.

You can start online and stay online: browse, ask questions, and buy without ever booking a visit. If you would rather see a stone in person or design something specific, you can book an appointment for a viewing, in person or virtual. Either way you are dealing directly with the people who source the stones and set the rings, which is the point of the model.

This way of working suits a buyer who wants to know exactly what they are getting and who is standing behind it. If you care that a specific person inspected your stone, that its independent report was read before it was set, and that the ring was finished by hand rather than pulled from a warehouse, this is built for you. It also suits anyone who wants time and attention over a showroom rush, since a by-appointment model exists to give you both.

If you simply want the lowest possible price on an anonymous stone and do not mind who handled it, a high-volume drop-ship seller may suit you better, and that is a fair trade to name out loud. We are not the cheapest link in a feed. We are the jeweler who owns the stone, sets it in New York City, and hands you the report.

Stienhardt & Stones is a New York City jeweler that sources Lab Grown Diamonds and hand-sets and finishes them in NYC, selling direct to consumer by appointment. We own and inspect every stone we sell and hand you its independent report rather than drop-ship it, and we control our Dutch Marquise cut through a special factory relationship. None of that requires overclaiming: we did not invent or name the cut, and a Lab Grown Diamond is a love piece, not an investment. What we promise is narrower and more useful. A real person in New York handled your stone, read its report, and set it by hand.

If that is the way you want a ring made, start with the signature cuts, or book a viewing when you are ready to see one in person.