LaBrilliante Applauds Pandora’s Decision to Switch to Lab-Grown Diamonds
Pandora is the world’s biggest jewelry manufacturer by volume and recently announced the plans to stop using mined diamonds in its production. The company is aiming to completely move to lab-grown diamonds starting with the Brilliance collection in the UK and expanding to other markets next year. Here are three reasons why:
Sustainability
While the Kimberley Process was implemented almost two decades ago, the mining industry is still tainted by the human rights violation reports, not to mention the supposed damage to the environment. Pandora's announcement is a part of its bigger strategy to completely transition to sustainable and ethically sourced materials, such as recycled precious metals and now - lab-grown diamonds. The company is set to ensure carbon neutral manufacturing, with plans to use at least 60% of renewable energy going to 100% by 2025.
Affordability
Pandora is known for being a mass retailer offering affordable jewelry. For the sheer size of the company, on average they sell only 50,000 charms with small mined diamonds a year due to the price constraint. Man-made diamonds cost approximately half of what the similar mined stones do. By using them, Pandora is now able to multiply the quantity of their diamond pieces and offer jewelry with bigger gemstones, while at the same time maintaining the price tag that the target consumers are used to.
Awareness
For a long time diamond growers have battled for recognition as a part of the jewelry industry. However, in the recent year things have changed and now we see both De Beers and Signet selling jewelry with lab-grown diamonds. Millennials, who now account for half of jewelry consumers, tend to care more about both price and company’s values. With lab-grown diamonds being promoted as both more sustainable and affordable alternative to mined ones, Pandora’s decision was just a question of “when”, not “if”.
LaBrilliante completely supports Pandora’s decision to recognize and promote lab-grown diamonds. We believe that this is the right and motivated step which not only benefits the man-made diamond market, but also helps the company uphold the promise they give to their customers.