Lab Grown Diamonds market is ragingly growing markets across the world. Laboratory grown diamonds are result of technological progress, wherein their manufacturing is associated with low cost cultivation techniques as compared to cost of natural diamonds. Absence of mining and fewer complexities makes it cost effective.
By the end of 2023, the global market of Lab grown diamonds is expected to garner USD 27.6 Billion by registering a CAGR of 7.4% during the forecast period i.e. 2016-2023. Adoption and acceptance of Lab-grown diamonds are driving factors of new market players getting into the same.
Courbet
Marie-Ann Wachtmeister, Courbet’s artistic director, and Manuel Mallen, the company president from Place Vendome, Paris, believes they are the future! And why not, they are laser-marking their stones to set their jewellery apart from conflict diamonds or the negative legacy of mining. Courbet is launching its first collection made out of recycled metals and Lab grown diamonds.
Engagement rings will be the centre-pieces of Courbet’s collection, although it will also include a parure, which is a matching set of necklace, bracelet, ring and earrings. The collection, however, won’t be ready until October because the diamonds are still growing, according to Courbet. Sales will be available online, with international shipping, and at the Place Vendôme store; a one-carat white-gold ring will be 6,200 euros, or $7,200, which includes the 20 percent tax.
In 2017, Mr. Mallen founded Courbet with Marie-Ann Wachtmeister, a Swedish entrepreneur and jewellery designer whom he met three years earlier, while he was president of the jeweller Poiray.
“What appealed to me about Courbet,” Ms. Wachtmeister said, “was the chance to create a high-end, ethical collection that stood for modernity.” “We are signaling the coming of a new age on the Place Vendôme,” Manuel Mallen, co-founder of Courbet, said in an interview in the showroom. “It is not by accident that we chose this name.”
The brand is named on an artist and political agitator, Guatave Courbet who almost 150 years ago proposed moving the famous victory column from that legendary square. In 1871, when a revolutionary government called the Paris Commune controlled the city, the column actually was pulled down. It was not a glorious success for Courbet, however, who was jailed and then forced to flee to Switzerland, where he died in exile in 1877 (The column had been rebuilt four years earlier).
“The jewellery houses on the Place Vendôme know that their products have damaged the environment in one way or another,” Mr. Mallen said. “The time has come for change.”
The timing for launching this new brand, Courbet, which is home to venerable houses like Boucheron, Chaumet and Van Cleef & Arpels is perfect. Lately, in July 2018, the United States Federal Trade Commission amended its jewellery guidelines to say, as the Federal Register reported the change: “Lab-created products that have essentially the same optical, physical and chemical properties as mined diamonds are also diamonds.”
Signet
De Beers has led to amassing of interest and acceptance of Lab Grown Diamonds among diamantaires by launching Lightbox – a Lab grown diamond jewellery brand which is slated to start selling online this month. Signet is a sigththolder client for De Beers rough diamonds and is also participating in the miner’s Tracr blockchain initiative.
Gina Drosos, CEO Signet Jewelers, in a conference call with analysts said, “Signet Jewelers will consider selling synthetic diamonds at its stores if consumer demand justifies”, clearly indicating that Signet might be lining up to carry the De Beers collection in its stores.
“As you probably know,” she said in response to a question, “we don’t carry lab grown diamonds in any of our banners [stores] today, but we have a very customer-first mindset on this and we want to focus on delivering the products and experiences that customers want. So we are very closely monitoring and assessing the demand for this emerging category.” said Drosos.
If De Beers’ move into Lab-grown diamond landscape is any indication, consumer demand is already in place.
Long Jewellers
The general manager of Long Jewelers, Jon Walp, considers himself a traditionalist, when it comes to the never-ending debate between natural and Lab-grown stones. But, as a smart businessman, addressing an immense acceptance of Lab Grown Diamonds in audience, he understands the importance of offering something for everyone at his showroom.
Long Jewelers will now have an exclusive supply of Pure Grown Diamonds (PGD) available for purchase in their showroom. The diamond manufacturer currently stands as the largest seller of grown diamonds in the United States. Long Jewelers’s current inventory includes a selection of 25 loose white diamonds in various shapes and sizes, but as a PGD authorized retailer, they are able to specially order diamonds of a particular size or shape for the discerning buyer.
“It’s more about where the diamond comes from that’s getting people to buy, rather than the price. This is especially true with younger people — they don’t care whether or not diamonds are grown or gotten from the ground,” says Walp.
Long Jewelers is an award-winning jewelry retailer based in Virginia Beach. They are retailer of designer wedding bands, engagement rings, Swiss timepieces, fine jewellery items and services customers in the Virginia Beach for over 30 years.
Pure Grown Diamonds, one of the leading innovators in above-ground diamonds and lab-grown diamond technology, is renowned for creating ethically-made diamonds of exceptional radiance and quality. Each stone comes with a certificate of authenticity verifying the diamond’s type IIa classification.
“We don’t know how popular Lab-grown diamonds will be at our store, but it at least gives us the opportunity to provide the customer with an alternative to mined diamonds.” Said Walp.
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