Lab-Grown and Mined Sectors "Call a Truce"
July 20, 20
(IDEX Online) - The lab-grown and mined diamond sectors have "called a truce" as they unite against the common enemy of declining demand, claims an expert writing for business magazine Forbes.
More and more jewlers are now selling them side by side, argues writer and market researcher Pamela N. Danziger, as the producers of both lab-grown and mined diamond each provide a more clearly defined and distinct message to consumers,
The global market was already suffering from lower marriage rates and an overall decline in jewelry buying before COVID-19.
The US Census Department's monthly retail sales detail hasn't reported jewelry sales since January - the last month before coronavirus impacted - because the figures are too low to be reliable.
Danziger says a campaign by the Diamond Producers' Association to promote mined diamonds - "Real Is Rare. Real is a Diamond" - was effectively thwarted in 2018 when the Federal Trade Commission ruled lab-grown diamonds were also real.
And so, she argues, the emphasis has now shifted from mined diamonds being "real" to them being "natural".
She points to De Beers as having found a way to "make peace" between the natural and man-made alternative with its lab-grown Lightbox brand.
And she concludes: "Now that the mining interests have found a clear and precise message that differentiates its choice from laboratory-produced diamonds and doesn't undercut or denigrate the emerging category, the entire jewelry industry will benefit from this new spirit of détente."
Generic pic of a rough lab-grown diamond