July 2020 - Lab Grown Magazine

July 2020 | LG | The Lab Grown Diamond Resource Book 14 To advertise call (888) 832-1109 | July 2020 15 Colored diamonds, on the other hand, are rare, in- cluding LGs. With a long list of LG producers producing color, they may not be that rare in the future, but that doesn’t dampen the deep desire of colored diamonds now or in the foreseeable future. For consumers, LG white diamonds are still rather new, so LG colored diamonds are re- ally new. New is the best sales word in the world; so, now is the time to get into color. Color Craving Consumers As LG companies are waking up to a world craving color, “consumers are making the con- nection to colored diamonds as something af- fordable and within their reach,” says Jansen. “We decided to go in the direction of color since it’s a wider worldwide market when compared to white mined or lab grown stones. It’s also a proven market from an acceptance and desire perspective. A beautiful, rare pink at auction may sell for millions and, out of finan- cial reach for the majority, now is the new affordable luxury.” Psychologically, we all crave what we can’t have. Consumer demand for colored diamonds and gemstones is proven. Chatham’s approach on LG color is focused on man-made precious gemstones. While it may be next to impossible to obtain consistency and size in natural blue sapphires, for exam- ple, Chatham offers color consistency and size when growing his gems. The company caters to the end user’s budget rather than the finances of mining operations. A Question of Value Jansen uses Fine Art as a comparative example of value for colored LGDs. He notes the often-pricey framed faux master copies over an original masterpiece. Art lov- ers pay premium prices to commission a well- executed rendition adapted from one-of-a- kind art. They know they will never afford an original Édouard Manet or Salvador Dalí, nor are they trying to pass off their copy as an original; they simply wish to enjoy the expertly executed brush strokes of a masterfully crafted replicate image on canvas. Value is in question when reselling joins the conversation. The debate over an LGD’s re- sale value compared to the same carat weight, color, clarity, and cut of a mined stone is hard to win. History shows that natural diamonds have gener- ally increased in price over the decades, while the short his- tory of LGDs shows a decline in retail prices as white stones flood the market. One thing that could change this scenario is a few legendary designers embracing LGDs, but that is yet to occur—at least for the white gems. On the Block While there are no plans to sell LG gemstones at any major auction house, a recent develop- ment for Christie’s and Sotheby’s has been their significant push into private sales. There is a concerted effort to expand revenue streams be- yond those of traditional open-outcry auctions. In this vein, Sotheby’s inked a deal with eBay and auction houses are expanding to reach the masses via online auctions. These are positive signs that the right carat weight, color, cut, and clarity of LGDs or LG gemstones may be sold at high-jewelry auctions in our lifetime. The moment a major design house embraces their own branded LG stone and places it on the right person of influence, the potential of auc- tion-house LG sales is quite real. LG colored producers will see new demand and revenue, as consumers can finally afford a red diamond. Tom Chatham reminds us of one major de- signer that caused caverns of concern for the natural pearl industry in the 1920s—the cultured pearl. Dating back to 1893 when Kokichi Miki- moto succeeded in growing a semi-spherical pearl, cultured pearls shook up the natural pearl industry. Sotheby’s has been auctioning ► Imperial red 3.4-ct LGD pen- dant, with white LGD (16.3 ctw) in 14K gold by Lucent Diamonds. (Photo: Lucent Diamonds) The DPA recently announced a name change and its plans to drop the “Real Is Rare” tagline. A variety of colored diamonds in the rough grown by Chatham. (Photo: Chatham) www.labgrownsource.com