DeBeers to sell lab-created diamonds

#16
BigPurseSue said:
I agree that lab-created diamonds are going to be the wave of the future. But educating consumers is going to be tough. For instance most people don't understand the difference between lab-created gemstones and simulated gemstones.

DeBeers' pricing is very interesting. https://lightboxjewelry.com/pages/our-pricing They're setting the stones in cheap costume-jewelry settings--sterling, 10K, gold-plated. So as not to impact their buyers of mined diamonds no doubt. Yet the pieces are very expensive. For a 1/4 carat-total pair of diamond studs in 10K gold the price would be $400. It would be $100 less if the setting is silver.
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I did a couple of really quick searches on ready to sell earring studs from James Allen and Blue Nile and the price for .25ctw was between $260 and $400 in 14-18K gold. These would be uncerted stones, of average quality color and clarity, with no mention of cut quality. So this is probably a fair comparison if anyone is looking for a baseline comparison to the cost of the new DeBeers "fashion" diamonds as opposed to the cost from one of the big name online vendors for mined stones.

https://www.jamesallen.com/fine-jew...brilliant-diamond-earrings-025-ctw-item-17161

https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-jewelry/diamond-earrings/stud?elem=head&oid=14299&track=main1

I think the fact that the article states that these items will be available online only is also very important. That is also one reason why the really well known online vendors generally have lower prices than brick and mortar stores for a similar quality piece- no physical store overhead.
 
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#17
bunnycat said:
I did a couple of really quick searches on ready to sell earring studs from James Allen and Blue Nile and the price for .25ctw was between $260 and $400 in 14-18K gold. These would be uncerted stones, of average quality color and clarity, with no mention of cut quality. So this is probably a fair comparison if anyone is looking for a baseline comparison to the cost of the new DeBeers "fashion" diamonds as opposed to the cost from one of the big name online vendors for mined stones.

https://www.jamesallen.com/fine-jew...brilliant-diamond-earrings-025-ctw-item-17161

https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-jewelry/diamond-earrings/stud?elem=head&oid=14299&track=main1

I think the fact that the article states that these items will be available online only is also very important. That is also one reason why the really well known online vendors generally have lower prices than brick and mortar stores for a similar quality piece- no physical store overhead.
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The DeBeers jewelry really does look overpriced compared to Blue Nile doesn't it? Maria Tash is another online vendor of diamond studs that look a lot better than the DeBeers' offerings. She sells some gorgeous blue and pink diamond studs in gold settings that are priced so much more affordably than the DeBeers'.
 
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#18
DeBeers diamond jewelry is overpriced compared to other brands, I think. But I am intrigued by this move into man made stones. I think they will do well, especially with the colored gems. I suspect people will be happy to have something from DeBeers that sparkles like a diamond but not at traditional prices. Enough to overlook other things. And they ARE great at marketing, so I imagine they will be able to make these really appealing.
 
#19
Pocketbook Pup said:
DeBeers diamond jewelry is overpriced compared to other brands, I think. But I am intrigued by this move into man made stones. I think they will do well, especially with the colored gems. I suspect people will be happy to have something from DeBeers that sparkles like a diamond but not at traditional prices. Enough to overlook other things. And they ARE great at marketing, so I imagine they will be able to make these really appealing.
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Yes, the colored gems. Blue diamond studs are something I would seriously consider.
 
#20
For anyone interested in reading opinions from "the trade" on this subjct, this thread over in Pricescope is very interesting (and I'm reading through it slowly...). I don't frequent Pricescope as much any more, but I always enjoy reading through informative threads with the heavy hitters (Gary Holloway- inventor of the Holloway Cut Advisor tool, Texas Leaguer- Whiteflash VP Bryan Boyne, and one of my favorites in the intelligent and thoughtful response category John Pollard- diamond designer for Wink Jones of Infinity Diamonds)

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/de-beers-undercuts-the-man-made-diamond-price.241185/
 
#21
bunnycat said:
For anyone interested in reading opinions from "the trade" on this subjct, this thread over in Pricescope is very interesting (and I'm reading through it slowly...). I don't frequent Pricescope as much any more, but I always enjoy reading through informative threads with the heavy hitters (Gary Holloway- inventor of the Holloway Cut Advisor tool, Texas Leaguer- Whiteflash VP Bryan Boyne, and one of my favorites in the intelligent and thoughtful response category John Pollard- diamond designer for Wink Jones of Infinity Diamonds)

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/de-beers-undercuts-the-man-made-diamond-price.241185/
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Fascinating read. Thanks for posting that.
 
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#22
bunnycat said:
For anyone interested in reading opinions from "the trade" on this subjct, this thread over in Pricescope is very interesting (and I'm reading through it slowly...). I don't frequent Pricescope as much any more, but I always enjoy reading through informative threads with the heavy hitters (Gary Holloway- inventor of the Holloway Cut Advisor tool, Texas Leaguer- Whiteflash VP Bryan Boyne, and one of my favorites in the intelligent and thoughtful response category John Pollard- diamond designer for Wink Jones of Infinity Diamonds)

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/de-beers-undercuts-the-man-made-diamond-price.241185/
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That is a really interesting discussion! Another thank you for posting the link!
 
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#23
I found this really fascinating but am completely put off by the cheap settings that will be offered. They surely did this as to not threaten their own market. I would definitely pick up something if they at least had a 14k or 18k gold setting. The colors sound really fun, but I just cannot get behind these overpriced settings.
 
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#24
This is very interesting. The biggest barrier in my view is that they will not be graded. That makes it difficult to know without some training in diamond grading whether the MMD would actually be comparable to the mined diamond in appearance and performance. Otherwise, I would have no problem buying some fun large earrings or cocktail ring with MMD at these prices. Even with the cheap settings, if there was a way to know the stoned were comparable in specs to the mined diamonds I buy now, I would just reset the diamonds in platinum or 18k gold. I often buy loose stones anyway in order to design my own jewelry.
 
#26
I'm not sure if this is worth starting a new thread over, but I came across this piece on Forbes. I'm not sure it's worth its own thread so I'm posting it here. Full article in link.


The Federal Trade Commission recently amended its Jewelry Guides to help prevent deception in jewelry marketing.

The FTC based its decision in favor of scientific facts, not the mined-diamond industry lobby, giving consumers real information on which to make informed diamond purchasing decisions.

The FTC’s ruling is removing the previously specified “natural” origin from the definition of a diamond. The old FTC definition stated a diamond was “a natural mineral consisting essentially of pure carbon crystalized in the isometric system.” Now the word “natural” has been erased.

Before it was necessary for laboratory diamond marketers to precede the word diamond with terms like “laboratory-grown,” “laboratory-created” or worse “synthetic.”

“The revised guides have now excluded ‘synthetic’, a clearly misleading term from the prescribed qualifiers,”

The ruling also brings further clarity to consumers confused by simulants, like cubic zirconia and moissanite, positioned as synthetic diamonds. “It is clear simulants may not be referred to as a diamond by any qualifier,”

The most significant change for marketing lab-grown diamonds is now the man-made diamond industry can call its products cultured. This has been the term the mined-diamond industry has fought hardest against, since it drew direct references from something consumers clearly understand – cultured pearls – rather than obfuscating consumers with complicated and confusing terminology.
 
#28
It's already mid-Sept. and DeBeers has still not launched their manufactured-diamond jewelry line. Ads for Lightboxjewelry.com keep popping up here on TPF but the web site is not shoppable. DeBeers had originally planned to launch the line by Labor Day now they're saying "later in 2018."

I've been hearing radio ads for local jewelry stores that are pushing back, advising jewelry shoppers that they don't want manufactured diamonds. "Come to us for real diamonds..." That sort of thing.

Maybe DeBeers isn't going to launch this line after all?
 
#29
BigPurseSue said:
It's already mid-Sept. and DeBeers has still not launched their manufactured-diamond jewelry line. Ads for Lightboxjewelry.com keep popping up here on TPF but the web site is not shoppable. DeBeers had originally planned to launch the line by Labor Day now they're saying "later in 2018."

I've been hearing radio ads for local jewelry stores that are pushing back, advising jewelry shoppers that they don't want manufactured diamonds. "Come to us for real diamonds..." That sort of thing.

Maybe DeBeers isn't going to launch this line after all?
Click to expand...

They are up and running now.
 
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