Lab-grown Diamonds – Modern Philosophic Stone. Or Where is the Secret of Growing Demand?

You might hear famous phrases like “Every epoch has an appropriate hero” or “We are what we eat (or what we choose)”.  These are only two examples but different nations have a variety of diverse sayings or proverbs accenting the importance of human choice. From day to day, we make a choice – what to eat? What to do? What to say? Or how to say? Many “What” and “How” are strongly dependent on our values. We will never prefer a thing or deed, which we consider unworthy regardless of the scale of choice – be it a future spouse or a kind of cheese for breakfast. We are guided by inner compass and every our choice is a reflection of our true identity – personal ‘I’ and collective (social) ‘I’.

The easiest way to track the relevance of this idea is by thinking about jewelry choice.  We are sure that you can in a minute identify what jewelry you can gift for the honey and which one you can choose for the friend. You know exactly which material (or gems, or pearls,) you will choose for the young lady and which one for a status madam. What does it mean? It means we make connections between human traits (feelings, age, status, etc) and jewelry features.

Diamonds are a top-desired jewelry option from the beginning of time. It could be easily called a philosophic stone since its marketing positioning and demand for it, which are transforming from age to age, reflects social values across the times and gives us the keys to understanding new products like lab-grown diamonds.

New age, new philosophy, new product – this logic worked for centuries, so it should work today. We have to become a philosopher and explore current social values to understand why man-made diamonds are so popular today.

Are they really so popular?

Yes, they are. Demand for lab-grown diamonds has been steadily growing during the last five years. While in 2018 they represented less than 5% of global diamond jewelry sales, man-made diamonds are expected to reach 10% in 2022, and, if this pace of growth continues, they will constitute 20% of sales by the end of the decade.

More and more often people are choosing man-made diamonds. This new product is gradually nabbing fame and market share from natural diamonds. Manufactured diamonds are preferred even in the case of special occasions like weddings, engagements, or anniversaries, which previously were considered “the natural diamonds’ space”. Just for the last year, the segment of lab-grown diamond engagement rings increased from 6 to 10%.

Recently, man-made diamonds entered a luxury segment. Now it is too early to speak about figures but it is needed to say about famous brands that have embraced lab-created diamonds. DeBeers – a company that is highly devoted to natural diamonds launched a new man-made diamonds line. Swarovski and Pandora – world-famous brands – became lab-grown oriented. Breitling – the luxury watch brand – announced switching to only man-made diamonds by 2024.

Who is choosing lab-grown diamonds?

To identify the major buyers one does not need statistical data. All we need is to explore the previous paragraph. It is enough to question “Who is the target audience of the brands mentioned above?”, “Who is getting married right now?”, “Who is currently an economically active population?”

Yes, we are talking about the youth – a generation raised at the transformative age called Millennium.  Millennials are those who prefer lab-grown diamonds to conventional natural diamonds. Now, we can also speak about the next generation –  Gen-Zers, who continue to follow this choice.

If looking for confirmation with data, one can address market reports and observations. So, engagement rings with man-made diamonds became the most-sold at the times of Millenials’ weddings.  Now, from the words of managers of the largest European distributor Madestones, lab-grown engagement rings are chosen for the second wedding. Those, who were born between 1981 and 1990, could currently experience turning points in their life like divorce and new relationships. Experts also share that there is a new tendency on the market – replacing natural diamonds with man-made stones in the engagement rings of long-married couples.

If Millennials could have reasons not to buy lab-grown diamonds for their weddings, Gen-Zers have no obstacles to making that choice they indeed want. The product has currently unprecedented proven quality, a decent level of trust, and a more than affordable price. Because of this, the choice of Gen-Zers is more eloquent and that is why next year promises not only a wedding boom but also an increase in lab-grown diamond engagement ring sales.

And, finally, why do millennials and Gen-Zers choose lab-grown diamonds?

We started by speaking about values that define us and precondition our choice and would end by discussing the same issue to understand how the man-made diamonds marketing concept corresponded to the buyers’ values.

According to The Millennial Study, the new generations value rationality, personalization, and safety.

So, are lab-grown diamonds rational purchases?

Yes, exactly. The price gap between natural and man-made diamonds is around 76%. And the difference in price is constantly increasing. It means that people can buy a significantly bigger lab-created gem than they could afford if buying natural diamonds.

The thing is not only in price but also in life priorities. While saving on things, one can spend money for more important purposes like self-care or emotional experience.

Have lab-grown diamonds personalization potential?

Yes, exactly. Lab-created diamonds are easy to customize. Innovative technology makes it possible to grow diamonds of various colors, including saturated hues that could not be met in natural diamonds. Manufacturers can grow stone of tiny or huge sizes and it allows differentiating forms and cuttings. It is possible to produce whole-diamond rings when having a huge stone.  It is easy to be unique and demonstrate identity with man-made diamonds.

Are lab-grown diamonds safe?

Yes, in many concerns. Physically and chemically they are identical to natural diamonds, so there is no threat from the manufactured diamond as an industrial product.

Moreover, man-made diamonds are environmentally safe. They do not require mining; they do not make harm to Earth; they do not require exploitation or hard work conditions to be grown. Although man-made diamonds are grown in an industrial way related to consuming water and energy resources, all enterprises are steadily moving to reduce any environmental effects by launching new sustainable-oriented approaches and policies.