Cartier’s Descendant Starts A Lab-grown Diamond Jewelry Collection
A few months after the Pandora’s Brilliance collection announcement, another big name in the industry introduced a lab-grown diamond jewelry line. Oui by Jean Dousset, a great-great grandson of Cartier's founder, is a collection of semi-custom lab-grown diamond jewelry sold directly to the consumer through the designer’s online platform.
This news didn’t come as a surprise. Dousset launched his online platform Oui last year during the lockdown. The website offers a variety of engagement rings, including the middle budget options that start at around $3000 for a piece. The mission of the designer’s brand is to carry the legacy of the jewelry into the future and bring in new groups of consumers. Lab-grown diamond engagement rings only seemed like the next logical step for the company, since many consider the gemstones to be the main innovation in the jewelry industry for the past several years.
With the introduction of the lab-created diamond ring collection, Dousset’s business opens up to the consumers with limited budgets even further. “The goal of Oui has always been to make high-quality jewelry more accessible, without having to sacrifice quality, personalization or their desired carat weight,” - the designer says. For example, the Oui collection engagement ring will cost almost half of the price of the comparable ring with a mined diamond.
On the other side of the aisle, there are the heads of the Cartier brand who are not planning to start using lab-grown diamonds in their jewelry. While, according to some rumors, lab-grown melee implementation may be a subject of current discussion in the company's headquarters, the center stones are off the table, at least in the foreseeable future.
In the recent Business of Fashion and McKinsey’s “State of Fashion Watches and Jewellery” report Cartier executive Cyrille Vigneron claims that their consumers will reject the man-made diamond jewelry due to the lack of history behind it. However, more and more high-end brands tend to disagree, as they pick up the fast-growing trend.
Dousset himself, who’s been in the jewelry business for almost 3 decades, is assured that “pointed messaging as well as high profile designer brands adopting and legitimizing lab growns will eventually overcome” any misconceptions. With his GIA certified top-quality lab-grown diamonds, the scion of the great Louis-François Cartier plans on upholding his promise of traceability, personalization, and now affordability.
We at LaBrilliante are excited about this announcement, as it further indicates the industry’s acceptance of lab-grown diamonds that is most likely related to the consumer’s demand. While there are still retailers that are on the fence, more and more big names are ready to offer man-made diamonds as an additional option for people who used to sacrifice the jewelry piece of their dreams for staying within the budget. Now those people have a perfect solution and we’re thrilled to be a part of this change.
