Since ancient times, people have worshipped nature deep in their hearts, and natural creations seem to carry a special "magic." This was one of the perspectives reflected in an article published by Robb Report yesterday.
In the article, titled "The Fall in Lab-Grown Diamond Prices: Why It's Not a Bad Thing," author Nick Scott discussed several topics, including the clash between lab-grown and natural diamonds on a conceptual level. Of the three "precious gemstone standards"—beauty, durability, and rarity—lab-grown diamonds lack only the quality of "rarity." This is one of the reasons traditional practitioners are often critical of them.
Over the years, the price of lab-grown diamonds has continued to decline, which is a worrying fact. Additionally, De Beers lowered retail prices for its Lightbox brand in May of this year and announced the suspension of lab-grown diamond production for jewelry in June, raising doubts in the industry about the future of these products.
Although De Beers is not a giant in the lab-grown diamond sector, its strong position in the traditional (natural) diamond industry is undeniable, and each of its actions sparks a chain of thoughts and discussions.
At the same time, the economic downturn led to the collapse of the natural diamond market—a reality witnessed by many over the past year and a half. Consequently, there has been a more intense clash between the two perspectives on how to view "disruptor" lab-grown diamonds.
Proponents argue that humans, using their own abilities, have solved the issue of scarcity through technology, bringing beautiful products to a wider audience, which is a reflection of social progress. Opponents, however, believe that it is precisely the emergence of man-made products that has disrupted market perception, shattering people's "diamond dreams" (for more on Pranay Narvekar's view, see his detailed perspective), fundamentally changing the structure of the diamond market.
What is more "worrying" is the high level of importance that China and India, two major nations, place on the lab-grown diamond industry. This makes the future even more unpredictable: how should the natural diamond industry, deeply influenced by Jewish capital, better integrate into the contemporary Eastern world?
The lab-grown diamond industry is destined to grow amidst controversy, which is its "fate" as a man-made product—despite the fact that many of the disputes could have been avoided.
Helen Molesworth, head of fine jewelry at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, wrote a book titled "Precious: The History and Mystery of Gems Across Time." She believes that natural and man-made products are diverging economically and emotionally, which is a natural trend.
"Why don't we embrace this trend? Why not incorporate man-made gemstone products into industries like furniture, automobiles, and yachts?"
Molesworth's view has received widespread support, as one of the key insights brought by lab-grown diamonds is the potential for greater creativity in what was traditionally a static material. In consumer fields alone, items like Tag Heuer watches, TFR diamond rings, keychains, phone cases, doorknobs, hair clips, and stationery are all areas where applications have been realized or could be realized.
In the interim financial report recently released by the Chow Sang Sang Group, its lab-grown diamond segment (under the TFR brand) expanded its product line from lab-grown diamonds to synthetic sapphires, generating HKD 4.27 million in revenue for the first half of 2024—a 59% increase compared to HKD 2.68 million in the same period of 2023. Although HKD 4.27 million seems negligible compared to the group’s total revenue, especially in a challenging environment where overall group sales dropped by 13%, the progress of the lab-grown diamond segment remains impressive.
Perhaps this is the kind of surprise that "creative products" bring us. "Like artificial intelligence," lab-grown diamonds allow us to plan for the future more richly and creatively. While their "non-rare" nature may be seen as a weakness by the traditional market, from another perspective, creativity may be more important than rarity.
After all, only through continuous creation can sustainability be achieved.