Lab-Grown Diamonds Open New Opportunities For Established Companies
With the JCK show approaching, lab-grown diamonds are expected to be the trend of this year’s exhibition. Prior to the event, we see more and more brands accepting man-made stones into their inventory. For example, Jared, a high-end subsidiary of Signet, made news a few weeks ago by introducing their new collection with lab diamonds, created in collaboration with the star of the reality show “Say Yes to the Dress” and designer Pnina Tornai.
According to Jared’s merchandising director Laura Brown, a lot of clients who used to be not able to afford Jared's jewelry item, are now able to purchase a 2 carat lab-created diamond ring. While the category of man-made gemstones was launched by Signet just two years ago, it’s rapidly becoming the fastest-growing one across the Group’s companies. “It has become a quite sizable and healthy percentage of our business and developed very quickly in the last two years,” Bill Brace, the president of Jared and Jewelry Services, said.
“Younger people don't settle for a stone less than 3 carats. They want a bigger stone, and lab-created diamonds are the answer,” Pnina Tornai confirmed. The Pnina Tornai ONE collection features a variety of bridal settings set with manufactured diamonds of different shapes and sizes, which price ranges from $1,300 to $19,000.
Jared executives feel optimistic about the future of the lab-grown category and the overall demand for diamonds. The man-made stones have shown themselves strong during the passing season and are expected to be even more stronger in the next one. During the last few years we’ve seen the successful launches of a lot of lab-grown diamonds exclusive brands, both domestically and overseas, from Vrai in California to London’s Queensmith and Antwerp based Kimaï. And it seems that now any well-established jewelry company requires lab-created diamonds to compete. We’re looking forward to this year’s JCK show and new developments that should start in its wake. The interesting news will undoubtedly follow, as man-made diamonds are becoming the most sought after category for both fine and fashion jewelry segments.
