Are lab-grown diamonds taking the world by storm?

Mumbai (Maharashtra) : The Swiss-based luxury watchmaker, TAG Heuer, which designs, manufactures and markets watches and fashion accessories, forayed into the synthetic diamond for the first time in its history. The Carrera Plasma model unveiled in April made use of lab-grown diamonds in the case, dial, and crown. The company clarified that it was not officially embracing lab-grown diamonds, but rather the possibility of using them to create novel shapes. Obviously, that same watch with natural diamonds would have cost many times the current $376,000 price tag, likely making it commercially unviable.

With the diamond industry in the world facing an acute shortage of natural diamonds as the production at the diamond mines are depleting, many leading jewellery and watch companies around the world have shifted to lab-grown diamonds. While the lab-grown diamonds are easily available in the market, it commands less than 40 percent price than the natural diamonds.

The Rapaport group in its latest December issue of the magazine carried a report on lab-grown diamonds. According to Rapaport Group, the demand for synthetic diamonds has been growing for some time now. An industry analyst named Paul Zimnisky estimated in October 2021 that synthetics producers had already pumped out nearly 3 million carats that year, a staggering figure compared to the few hundred thousand carats coming out annually just a few years earlier, but still minuscule compared to the 116 million carats of natural diamonds mined in 2021.

Jewelry brands using lab-grown have ballooned, marketing themselves as more ethical and sustainable than their natural counterparts. Despite the fact that these statements are frequently exaggerated, they have influenced people’s thinking. If “lab-grown” used to mean “fake,” it now means “green.”

In October, Swiss watchmaker Breitling joined the movement, saying it would stop using natural stones by the end of 2024 in an effort to become “more sustainable.” It should be noted that the Indian factory where Breitling’s diamonds are manufactured is not carbon neutral. However, for every lab-grown carat the company sells, it has pledged to contribute to a social impact fund for diamond-producing communities, which would otherwise depend on the natural-diamond industry for their livelihoods.

The fact that LVMH invested in the Israeli lab-grown producer Lusix is perhaps the most telling statement in favour of synthetic diamonds. As justification for its investment, the luxury conglomerate cited the superior quality of Lusix’s gemstones and the company’s promising future. Moreover, Lusix presents its gems as a golden sustainability standard, since the facilities run exclusively on solar power.