For decades, diamonds have been the symbol of lasting love. But the industry is in for a generational reckoning as young people decide whether to buy natural diamonds, lab-grown diamonds or forgo the tradition altogether.
In 1954, scientists with General Electric created a machine that squeezed carbon under 1.5 million pounds of pressure per square inch at 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The result was the hardest substance on Earth, diamonds.
Initially, these diamonds were used as tools to cut metal and glass. But as experts refined the process, the product eventually reached the clarity of diamonds used by jewelers.
Are lab-grown diamonds the real deal?
Lab-grown diamonds have all of the same chemical and physical properties as their natural counterparts, according to the Gemological Institute of America. In 2018, the Federal Trade Commission ruled lab-grown diamonds are considered diamonds.
“It’s not really that different than growing a plant in your yard or growing a hydroponic plant,” Aja Raden, a jewelry expert and author of “Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World,” told Straight Arrow News. “It was grown on purpose under controlled conditions but the final product is the same.”
Sixty-three percent of independent jewelers have started selling lab-grown diamonds, according to a survey from In Store. But not everyone in the industry believes this is good for business.
“This product is being produced by the Chinese, among others, in unlimited quantities. So it’s not like a real diamond,” said Martin Rapaport, founder and chairman of the Rapaport Group. “Oh, here’s a Van Gogh I have in my museum. I can give you a lithograph. It’s the exact same ink, the same brushstrokes done by the computer.”
Lab-grown diamonds are a bargain, priced between 80-95% less than mined diamonds. But price isn’t the only reason some people are opting to buy lab-grown diamonds. Ethical conflicts marred the mining industry for years. In the 1990s, the diamond trade was at the center of African civil wars.
Today, the situation is far less volatile. However, human rights activists still warn that some in the diamond mining industry are not maintaining international labor standards. The diamond industry maintains the trade provides economic advantages and infrastructure to mining communities.
How marketing made diamond sentiment sparkle
Diamonds weren’t always the token of love. Much of that reputation is traced back to the iconic 1947 De Beers advertising campaign, “A Diamond is Forever.”
“When World War II was over, all of the money in the Western world had been reshuffled,” Raden said. “There was this new thing that had never existed before in the world called the middle class. And what the middle class meant was, you weren’t a peasant, you had extra money, you could buy a washing machine, you could buy a car, you could go on vacation. But you didn’t have a lot of money. You couldn’t buy a castle, you couldn’t buy a tiara.
“So they had to figure out how to sell diamonds, not to a small number of obscenely wealthy people, but to an enormous number of comfortable people,” she said. “And what they did was they came up with the diamond engagement ring.”
But Rapaport believes there is more to the sentiment behind diamond jewelry than an advertising campaign.
“De Beers, what they did was, they were able to attach the diamond to that fundamental need to give gifts,” he said. “It’s not just the woman who’s receiving the gift. The woman is very happy when she receives the diamond. But it’s not only because she got a diamond, she got a man.
“She got someone that says, ‘I’m going to love you, I’m going to take care of you, I’m going to be with you your whole life.’ That transcends, just, ‘Here’s a gift,’” he said.
Raden said the campaign created by N.W. Ayer & Son did more than sell diamonds, it revolutionized advertising.
“They invented everything we associate with advertising, from consumer research to product placement, on celebrities, on movie stars, on red carpets,” she said. “When a princess gets engaged, she gets a diamond ring. They made sure diamonds were everywhere you would see them and want them. And it worked so well.”
But nearly 80 years after the campaign kicked off, the tradition is losing its sparkle with younger generations. The average diamond engagement ring now costs more than $5,500. The majority of unmarried millennials and Gen Zers aren’t worried about keeping up with what some call an “outdated tradition,” according to a survey by the Thriving Center of Psychology.
Lab-grown diamonds go mainstream
For years, big names in the diamond industry refused to validate lab-grown diamonds.
“DeBeers insisted forever, for years, they would never have anything to do with these filthy scuzzy fake diamonds,” Raden said.
But in 2018, the company had a change of heart, launching its Lightbox brand of lab-grown diamonds, with a 1-carat stone going for $800.
“They didn’t just switch horses and go, ‘Well I guess now we sell lab-grown diamonds, the future is here, taste the rainbow,’” Raden said. “Instead, they’re making the worst jewelry they can possibly make out of these exquisite lab-grown diamonds. And they’re marketing it as badly as they can figure out how to market it. They’re making sure it seeps into your consciousness, just like it did with diamonds.
“The message they want you to have is lab-grown diamonds are not real. They’re charming. You should definitely buy some, but they’re cheap and they’re fake. And it’s working,” she said.
In 2023. the natural diamond market brought in $71 billion while lab-grown diamond sales hit roughly $16 billion, according to estimates from industry analyst Paul Zimnisky.
Meanwhile, prices for wholesale polished diamonds fell 20% last year. But Rapaport said there’s more to the price shift than an increase in lab-grown sales, which grew 38% from 2021 to 2022.
“COVID came in and really shook everybody up,” he told SAN. “Remember, there was no vacation really taking place at that time, no travel, people were stuck at home. And so diamond purchases and jewelry purchases were very big winners when you had those government funds coming through. But then it stopped. The party was over.”
Despite market trends, he still thinks there is a lasting market for luxury jewelry.
“Diamonds are forever, little old ladies are not,” he said, laughing. “So you’re gonna get to a situation here where there’s going to be huge wealth moving from these baby boomers to these worthy or unworthy millennials. Diamonds aren’t for everybody. Diamonds are for people that have money. Forgive me, I like to sell diamonds to rich people.”
Raden, a jewelry designer herself, believes lab-grown diamonds have a huge upside when it comes to what will be possible in the future.
“You can do things with lab grown diamonds you can’t do with natural diamonds,” she said. “We’re just on the precipice of it, but you can make much more interesting colors than exist in nature. You can give them different properties. You can grow them so big that I could have a bangle made out of one diamond. There is interesting art to be made if you embrace that this is just a slightly different medium.”
