De Beers to Launch Line of Synthetic Diamonds

RAPAPORT... De Beers will begin selling laboratory-grown diamonds undera new fashion-jewelry brand, promising to transform the synthetics sector byoffering pieces at low cost.The company has launched Lightbox Jewelry, which will beginmarketing a new brand of lab-grown diamond jewelry in September, it saidTuesday. Diamonds from Lightbox will retail from $200 for a 0.25-carat stone to$800 for 1 carat, and will include white, pink and blue diamonds set inearrings and necklaces. "Lightbox will transform the lab-grown diamond sector byoffering consumers a lab-grown product they have told us they want but aren'tgetting: affordable fashion jewelry that may not be forever, but is perfect forright now," said De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver. "Our extensive research tells us this is how consumersregard lab-grown diamonds - as a fun, pretty product that shouldn't cost thatmuch - so we see an opportunity here that's been missed by lab-grown diamondproducers," he continued. Lightbox will offer transparency about lab-grown diamondsthat is currently lacking, added Steve Coe, the general manager of the newbrand. "We've learned from our research that there is a lot ofconfusion about lab-grown diamonds - what they are, how they differ fromdiamonds, and how they are valued," Coe said. "Lightbox will be clear withconsumers about what lab-grown diamonds are, and will offer straightforwardpricing that is consistent with the true cost of production." The brand will debut in the US, becoming available initiallyto US-based consumers through Lightbox's e-commerce website, with De Beersplanning to announce retail partnerships in due course. All its lab-growndiamonds weighing 0.20 carats or higher will carry a permanent Lightbox logoinside the stone that is easily visible under magnification, identifying it assynthetic. Element Six, De Beers' synthetic-diamond technology company,will produce the stones, with Lightbox being the only jewelry brand to sourcelab-grown diamonds from that unit, which has been synthesizing diamonds forindustrial purposes for decades. Those years of investment in research anddevelopment have enabled De Beers to offer lab-grown diamonds at a lower pricetoday, Cleaver noted. To expand Element Six's capabilities, De Beers will invest$94 million over four years in a production facility near Portland, Oregon,adding to its existing UK-based facilities. The plant will be capable ofproducing at least 500,000 carats of rough synthetic diamonds per year oncefully operational, De Beers said.Image: Matt Crabb/De Beers