From West To East: Lab-grown Diamonds Global Updates
Man-made diamonds made some news globally over the last month. The demand is strong with customers all over the world, and it seems like people from every corner of the diamond and jewelry market have caught up with this. While not everybody is ready to go all in on lab-grown, most of the industry players have tipped their toes into the lab diamond category, in one way or another.
Early September saw Swarovski launching their lab-created diamond collections globally. Following the success in the USA and Canada, the company has introduced the category to all of their flagship stores worldwide, including such markets as The UK, Italy, France, Germany, Australia, UAE and many more. All lab diamonds under the Swarovski brand will be certified by IGI to make their origin transparent for the final customer. “Lab-grown diamonds will play a significant role in the future of the diamonds category, and they represent a strategic growth category for Swarovski,” the company’s CEO Alexis Nasard said.
Mass-focused retailers are not the only ones accepting man-created gemstones, as they are becoming more prominent with higher-end jewelers. LVMH-owned French brand Fred launched the limited edition collection featuring lab-grown diamonds. While last year the luxury group invested in the lab-grown grower company, this marks the first time any of their brands have applied man-made diamonds in their projects. The collection called Haute Joaillerie Force 10 Duality features 5 jewelry pieces set with fancy vivid greenish-blue lab gems, all certified by GIA. All diamonds have the company’s patented Fred Hero Cut.
While famous companies announced their launches, the Asian market was interacting with lab-grown diamonds at the jewelry shows. A few massive events took place in several Asian countries over the last few weeks, including the Jewellery & Gem World show based in Hong Kong.
LaBrilliante was happy to be among the exhibiting companies. Suppliers from all over the globe came to Hong Kong, and the buyers met them with the increased demand. As more retailers from China and Japan accept lab-grown diamonds, the product is steadily shifting the Asian jewelry market like it already did in the West. The retailers are following the footsteps of their Western colleagues, introducing bigger and better lab-created gems to their customers. At the same time, consumers appreciate the affordability of manufactured stones. It seems inevitable that The Eastern jewelers will see a massive boost in popularity of lab-grown jewelry during the upcoming holiday season.
Man-made diamonds are making their way across all the hemispheres, steadily winning over the entire global jewelry market. With strong predictions of growth, and multiplying demand, we’re sure that the jewelry industry has already changed forever.
