Lab grown diamonds are exactly the same as natural diamonds. However, instead of being mined naturally from the earth, they are "grown" in labs by recreating the high pressure and temperatures involved in the creation of a natural diamond. This makes lab diamonds and natural diamonds physically and chemically identical with the only difference being in their origin. Due to the ability to effectively control the conditions in a laboratory environment, lab grown diamonds are consistently of better quality and typically contain less flaws then their natural counterparts. They are also much more affordable and environmentally friendly in comparison with  earth mined diamonds. The popularity of lab diamonds is soaring due to the fact that they do not contribute to the environmental destruction or human rights abuses associated with earth mined diamonds and are by far the cheaper option of the two.