Lab-Grown Diamonds Are Everywhere. This Company Thinks It Has the Secret to Making Them High-End

Since their wide instauration to the marketplace astir a decennary ago, lab-grown diamonds person carved retired a important portion of the market. Industry expert Paul Zimnisky recently told the quality bureau AFP that lab-grown stones accounted for 18.5 percent of diamond income successful 2023 and would transcend 20 percent this year. Perhaps this isn’t astonishing present that scientists tin grow diamonds successful conscionable 150 minutes—faster than you tin ticker Oppenheimer.

In the US, lab-grown diamonds were forecast to surpass earthy stones successful presumption of units sold by the commencement of 2024. Yet astatine the aforesaid time, their values person plummeted: the per-carat terms caved astir 90 percent successful the 5 years to 2023, according to expert Edahn Golan.

De Beers, which fiercely resisted the instauration of lab-grown stones but yet launched its ain scope called Lightbox, slashed prices successful May 2024 earlier announcing that it was closing down its lab-grown user scope wholly successful June, aft six years, stating that the economics of lab-grown diamonds for jewelry were not sustainable.

Indeed, the proliferation of lab-grown diamonds successful terms points that De Beers does not similar to entertain possibly underlines the brand’s determination to treble down connected costly mined gems. Pandora precocious launched a campaign, fronted by Pamela Anderson, showcasing its lab-grown diamond postulation pieces starting astatine less than $300.

However, a lab-grown diamond tin instrumentality connected shapes not usually imaginable from mined stones—something watchmaker TAG Heuer has exploited to large effect with its Carrera Plasma one-off designs. They are predictable, consistent, and untroubled by the ethical and biology issues that plague accepted diamond mining.

Their influx has, anecdotally astatine least, contributed to an summation successful engagement-ring diamond sizes crossed the board, arsenic the larger sizes made imaginable by instrumentality has forced those buying earthy stones to rise their carat game. But they person a PR problem: Despite offering vastly improved worth and overmuch amended eco credentials, if they go excessively cheap, lab-grown diamonds volition suffer their sparkle among buyers who privation to cognize that a awesome of affection came astatine a meaningful cost.

Now, lab-grown diamond jewelers are pivoting to a much premium model, seeking to found differentiation wrong the lab-grown marketplace and entreaty to customers’ amended quality arsenic good arsenic their magpie instincts. And, for some, it's working.