De Beers to sell man-made, ‘fun and pretty’ diamonds for the first time in its history
The brand is making a historic U-turn by selling diamonds produced in a lab, which will cost a fraction of the price of mined gems
For the first time in its 130-year history, De Beers will sell diamond jewellery made in a lab rather than underground over billions of years.
The move is a historic shift for the world’s biggest diamond miner, which vowed for years that it wouldn’t sell stones created in laboratories. The diamonds will be marketed in the US under the name Lightbox, a fashion jewellery brand, and sell for a fraction of the price of mined gems.
The strategy will create a big price gap between mined and lab diamonds and pressure rivals that specialise in synthesised stones. A 1ct man-made diamond sells for about US$4,000 and a similar natural diamond fetches roughly US$8,000. De Beers’ new lab diamonds will sell for about US$800 a carat.
“Lightbox will transform the lab-grown diamond sector by offering consumers a lab-grown product they have told us they want but aren’t getting: affordable fashion jewellery that may not be forever, but is perfect for right now,” says Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers.
Fun and pretty
“Our extensive research tells us this is how consumers regard lab-grown diamonds – as a fun, pretty product that shouldn’t cost that much – so we see an opportunity,” he says.