Almost everyone knows about diamonds: rare, beautiful, and long-lasting. However, after lab grown diamonds entered the consumer field, some of the original concepts were changed. Since the outbreak of the epidemic in 2020, with the evolution of the economic situation and international political landscape, the diamond market pattern has also undergone drastic changes.
However, lab grown diamonds are still a controversial product, and the "value of lab-grown diamonds" has always been a troublesome topic. Supporters and opponents are full of "radicals" who have launched rounds of "battles" because of different interests or ideas. At the same time, internal disputes within the same "camp" are also continuing, making the public even more confused:
Is it worth the money?
What this article is going to interpret is a commentary article that appeared in the international media half a month ago. Although we do not agree with some of the views, we will still present them as a reference for industry partners.
Whether it is Prada's recent actions or Pandora's ambitions, the industry has a feeling that more and more brand companies are adopting cultivated diamond products.
Different from those "brands" that only like to play low-price strategies (in fact, they are just names), what real brands are doing is starting from their own cultural attributes and design attributes, combined with the characteristics of materials such as cultivated diamonds. Create value for yourself (and for the industry).
Just like when we talked about the Prada incident before, a friend in the background mentioned: "Consumers first recognize a brand like Prada, not 'cultivation' or 'diamond'. There is an essential difference."
We feel that from a certain perspective, what our friend said makes sense.
The author raised two questions in the article:
1. Why should natural things be considered “inherently better than artificial ones”?
2. (From an industry and market perspective) Is price the only decisive factor?
“These are two fundamental issues among the difficulties facing the contemporary diamond industry.”
"The Natural Diamond Council (NDC) has been working hard to portray lab-grown diamonds as cheap, man-made 'alternatives' to natural diamonds, the product of hundreds of millions of years of development by nature. No one denies the fact that 'nature has developed' these diamonds. But the question of value is questionable.”
Value is a very comprehensive concept, which includes the rarity of this type of material, appearance, quality-price system, traditional concepts, etc. From a market perspective, traditional concepts (maybe) play a greater role.
De Beers began general marketing of natural diamonds in 1939 in response to the Great Depression environment that had just passed. In 1947, "A Diamond is Forever" appeared, equating this kind of material with love, thus opening up the most powerful marketing road in the twentieth century. To this day, although the definition of "everlasting" has been questioned, it still plays an important role in the natural diamond industry.
Between 1939 and 1979, the U.S. market rose from US$23 million to US$2.1 billion, which is good proof.
Stephen Lussier once said: “If you want people to really absorb a message, you need to tell it in a way that is unforgettable.”
When this concept is deeply implanted, most people cannot accept that their dreams are "tarnished" by cheaper "substitutes" created by scientists.
This is one of the reasons why it is difficult for lab grown diamonds to compete with natural diamonds in some fields: Lab-grown diamonds, due to their lack of historical and cultural precipitation, are currently not enough to have the same influence as natural diamonds in terms of value.
But the world is changing. When people realize the existence of "blood diamonds" and see the deep holes left in the ground, they will question the beauty portrayed by the natural diamond industry. Suddenly, "from carbon to diamond" seemed less important, and "carbon footprint" and "environmental protection" became the theme.
Of course, what I want to mention here is that we have always recognized the efforts of the modern natural diamond industry in environmental protection and sustainable development. When describing De Beers, we have mentioned something like "paving the way for the elephant" many times before. deeds. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author.
Today, judging from the tone of some to-C media, it seems that it is difficult for the younger generation to easily accept "advanced products marketed and created by industry giants" (note: we have reservations about this). In contrast, the "artificial" nature of lab-grown diamonds, while less romantic than it sounds, is at least "not ambiguous."
Back to retail.
“If you really want to know why retail brands are now embracing lab-grown diamonds, then I can only say that this is a trend in the market.”
Whether it is positioned as "jewelry" or "accessories" (note: the current positioning is indeed not clear), brands are accepting lab-grown diamonds. This is an undeniable fact.
Of course, people know that lab-grown diamonds are man-made and can even be described as “synthetic”, but they are definitely not fake diamonds. Otherwise, LVMH's investment of US$90 million in Lusix will become a major strategic mistake, and the group's jewelry brand Fred will also be stained by the launch of lab-grown diamond products.
At the end of the article, the author used the sentence "Too good to be true." He seems to want to say that products like lab-grown diamonds are too good to believe that they are real.
In any case, like any opinion, the article interpreted today is still somewhat subjective. As friends in the industry, we can put aside those subjective perceptions, truly take a deep look at the business environment around us, and then look at what is happening in the international market from a broader perspective. I believe that with your wisdom, you will be able to come up with your own answer.
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