August 2024 | Lab Grown Magazine

August 2024 | The Lab Grown Diamond Resource Book 22 Mailed to 24,000 Jewelers Monthly - To advertise call (888) 832-1109 | August 2024 23 Is it any wonder why recent bridal studies from The Knot and Brides Magazine note a 10% increase in natural diamond centers to 2cts, but the mass mountings are mostly in in14k? We should have expected Type IIa lab diamonds at lower prices to dominate the bridal market. But get ready for a big win:win surprise in this story. Photo: Idex As mines close and the carat weights and gem quality are reduced, naturally, mined diamond prices will increase and probably often. Offer smaller natural carat weights in lesser quality than the “norm” and raise the price. That seems like a Blockbuster business botch and a historically proven overnight industry killer. Thank our lucky stars we have a seventh key known as the cloned stone - the LGD. And here’s why these diamond twins need to pair up in the same ring (hybrid form) for both to win at sales. The leading Reddit diamond group was confused about the price and if the pear shaped 6.8ct VVS1, E color solitaire set in an 18k gold simple band that sold for $189,000 was LGD. It was. You’re looking at a private label sale from Saks (now Saks/Neiman Marcus), which, if designer branded, would sell for about 15% more through top name consumer diamond sites. Photo: Reddit Teamwork or Turmoil Teams are partners, and partners trust and work together for mutual success. All the keys on God’s green Earth couldn’t unlock the madness we’ve placed ourselves in. Not until we find the right door to unlock and walk through together. We don’t have to sing Kumbayah while we do it, but we can’t be walking over one another either. We’ve allowed the natural diamond to monopolize jewelry. Money flooded miners “forced” key https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/ round-cut/6.01-carat-d-color-if-clarity-ideal- cut-sku-21837804? cur=USD&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw- uK0BhC0ARIsANQtgGPGxhxlPdtIVLabKljjPKu_6 vHjVGQvbnNR0s6rRC9PXjWGQWLhVWYaAgI_ EALw_wcB t.ly/tSbuI $107,810 $110,460 $77,330 (Top) James Allen will give away a simple, 14k white gold mounting with the pur- chase of any lab diamond sold at over $10,000. “Shoppers are savvy. They know what a D aFlawless is and are asking for them in sizes we never expected to sell two years ago. Now, we’re moving upon 18ct offerings in loose lab and mountings,” a James Allen spokesperson said. (*Bottom) Blue Nile is famous for listing a price and crossing it out when it first posts to offer the optics of a sale reduction when the diamond is typically listed to be sold at the reduced price to start. Regardless, we shopped the closed two round lab D color, F clarity, Excellent to Ideal cut com- parisons to see the selling price differences as of press time. partners, namely bridal, to carpool with them to an unknown destination. In the other lane is the luxury watch industry. How many luxe watch brands can you name that accent their timepieces with anything but diamonds? How many fine jewelry stores offer diamond jewelry? Imagine if diamond demand overall fell, or if Millennia’s children (who are marrying later than any other demographic to date, if they get married at all) start to think engagement rings could become yesterday’s news. As the new youth of America questions tangible purchases that aren’t built into experiences – like noiseless 4-camera flying drones following your hike, or instant pop-up outdoor camping tents. These kids will soon carry credit cards but aren’t as “showy” with branded labels. They mix and match their own styles to gain a personalized look giving high-end designers time to think how to capture the largest buying segment ever known to man. We’re in a massive diamond traffic jam, filled with road rage with people running out of gas. It’s convenient to blame sluggish natural sales on a cloned stone that didn’t invent itself. While the original, natural variety was discovered in India about 4,000 years ago, America invented the diamond duplicate around sixty years ago. That’s a lot of wasted time to not have a plan in place knowing natural would become more scarce each day. No worries. We have the success key for a win:win within this story that doesn’t shun natural. The LGD “side” has ridden the coattails of the billions of natural diamond dollars, decades of time and genius advertising and marketing of yesteryear. Diamonds are still written into the most popular music, movies and now mayhem can turn into marvelous.