- Title: Where science meets art: the rise of lab-grown gems
- Date: 22nd December 2023
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (DECEMBER 13, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF JEWELLERY PIECES ON DISPLAY AT ANABELA CHAN FLAGSHIP JEWELLERY STORE ON WEST LONDON’S SLOANE STREET VARIOUS OF FOUNDER AND CEO OF ANABELA CHAN, ANABELA CHAN, USING A LOOP TOOL TO EXAMINE LAB-GROWN DIAMONDS CHAN USING A CALIPER TOOL TO SIZE THE STONES (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER AND CEO OF ANABELA CH
- Embargoed: 5th January 2024 06:55
- Keywords: DIAMONDS GEMS JEWELRY LAB GROWN DIAMONDS
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / TEL AVIV, ISRAEL / NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / UNKNOWN LOCATION
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / TEL AVIV, ISRAEL / NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / UNKNOWN LOCATION
- Country: UK
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe,Fashion
- Reuters ID: LVA001764621122023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Jewellery designer Anabela Chan examines her diamond gemstones with a loop tool, checking for the traditional four Cs of cut, clarity, carat and colour.
But Chan won’t find the imperfections that characterise all naturally-mined diamonds. T
hese are lab-grown flawless gems, created in a highly controlled production environment that simulates how diamonds grow on Earth, at faster speeds.
It is a chemical process that takes around 10 weeks compared to billions of years to form naturally.
Chan sees her work, displayed around her boutique in London’s Knightsbridge, as a merging of “science and art”.
The lab-gown jewellery market is surging, with year-on-year market growth of 20% annually in recent years, and global profits at $15 billion, according to analyst Edahn Golan.
Mid-market fashion jewellery retailers Pandora and Swarovski introduced lab-grown stones in the last 18 months in a bid that is paying off.
For Pandora, the world’s largest jewellery maker, the new category is providing popular and profitable, sparking change across the jewellery landscape and democratising the diamond industry.
Priced at 60% less than natural gems, the origins of Chan’s fine jewellery brand, also named Anabela Chan, stem from her desire to create highly crafted but accessible jewellery for a broader customer base.
During her studies she visited several diamond mines in Sri Lanka and was struck by the working conditions and pay.
She established her brand a decade ago, using sustainable materials including lab-grown diamonds and coloured gemstones, pioneering recycled aluminium from tin cans, and sourcing pearls grown using regenerative farming techniques.
As production costs fall lab-grown diamond prices are declining, with a 1-carat lab-diamond now selling for 80% less than its equivalent natural diamond, compared to 10% less than its counterpart a decade ago, analyst Edahn told Reuters.
This means brands will need to differentiate themselves in other ways.
Pandora Senior Vice President and head of diamonds Joshua Braman emphasised the importance of the design element of lab-grown diamonds, a point of difference at Pandora who offer around 1,200 diamond design options, with broader appeal.
Other points of difference are production sources, with Pandora and Anabela Chan both utilising 100% renewable energy sources for lab-grown diamond production, a 5% carbon footprint compared to the mined diamond sourcing process.
Both rely on producers who employ carbon dioxide capture technology that draws carbon dioxide from the air, converts it and then feeds it into the process to form carbon atoms, taking something negative and turning it into something positive.
(Production: Natalie Thomas, Will Russell, Lara Brehmer) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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