Lab-Grown Diamonds are Taking over Fashion Market
Man-made diamonds are a unique product, a match made between the jewelry industry and scientific achievements, so it’s not a surprise that they can exist in several realms simultaneously. While some huge companies use lab-grown stones to create exquisite one-of-a-kind works of art, others are promoting them to a wider audience with mass-oriented items. After the success of Pandora’s jewelry collections, more and more retailers are attracting lower budget customers with lab-created offerings.
Despite De Beers announcing their decision to withdraw from the gem-quality lab diamond market, many other jewelry giants don’t seem to support this idea. Signet experienced 14% revenue growth in fashion jewelry sales after increasing their lab-created diamond input in this segment. This increase proves to be the great source of margin for the company amid the 9.4% drop in overall sales. Signet sold estimated $864 million worth of jewelry with lab-grown diamonds last fiscal year, and this figure is expected to only grow this year, as the company pushes towards having more LGD items in their fashion segment. “In fashion, we see a meaningful runway for LGD expansion… These LGD fashion pieces carry more than two times the transaction value of non-LGD pieces at attractive margins,” said Signet’s CEO Gina Drosos.
It’s not only the US retailers who are actively increasing their lab-grown fashion offerings. Pandora, the biggest retailer in the world, is continuing to bring their jewelry to new markets. This month, the company started their EU takeover by debuting its lab-grown diamond collections in Denmark. After the latest revenue increase of 17% in lab diamond jewelry sales, Pandora’s CEO Alexander Lacik is planning to continue introducing these items to more European countries. At the same time, independent Swiss watchmaker BA111OD that is focused on creating more budget-friendly watches that are still considered luxury, presented their new models set with lab-grown diamonds. Every Chapter 6 ladies dress watch has 60 man-made gems decorating the bezel and is available for around $1,300, which is a steal for a Swiss-made watch.
“We must embrace the opportunities lab-grown diamonds provide to push design boundaries and open the world of fine jewelry to a wider market” says luxury retailer Lily Arkwright. The manufactured gems can serve both fashion and bridal segments. While they’ve already proven to be helpful to huge companies by increasing their revenue even during tough times, they also bring more customers into the independent stores. By offering a 2 or 3 carat diamond in their engagement ring for half of what 1 carat mined diamond would cost, many jewelers are still able to grow their sales. LaBrilliante wants to help you with this endeavor. Don’t hesitate to contact us with any request you have!
