June 2021 | Lab Grown Magazine

June 2021 | The Lab Grown Diamond Resource Book 22 To advertise call (888) 832-1109 | June 2021 23 info@futurediamonds.us +1 646-417-0669 20W 47ST #1202A, New York NY 10036 www.futurediamonds.us Email / SMS “PL” to recieve updated price list. Oval Emerald Princess Radiant Q: During your IDEX tenure, you focused more on diamond data and less on feature writing. Soon this transition would move you out of IDEX and into your own research and analytics firm, Edahn Golan Diamond Research & Data Ltd. Please describe why you went solo. In late 2008, following the financial crash, we were approached by several companies to help with industry analysis. As opposed to the analysis we had published up until then, this was bespoke research and Ken strongly encouraged me to take the lead. It became a growing activity for me at IDEX of providing data, analysis, and research to a wide range of companies. Among them were business consulting firms such as Bain and AT Kearny, financial firms, and more. Quickly, it became apparent that my heart was no longer in hard news. Going deeper into the mechanics of the diamond industry was far more interesting. My interest to focus solely on research and analytics led to my decision to form my own research firm in 2013. Starting your own operation is a challenge that comes with its rewards. All mistakes are yours, and it is up to you to understand the what’s and the why’s of those mistakes.On the flip side, everything learnt from those experiences are yours, too.That is a reward upon itself. Add that to deciding at what pace you work, which projects you take on, which you turn down, and the challenges of figuring out something new, and you have a very fulfilling career at hand. It must be said that without Ken Gassman’s mentorship, which included smart advice, insights, and encouragement, I couldn’t have done it. Q:There continues to be adebate on the use,ormisuse, of the word “rare” associated with natural, white diamonds. What is your take on “mined diamonds are rare,” and what supports your position? Diamonds are rare, and in the discussion (not to say dispute) between natural and lab-made diamonds, it is a valid point. First, the facts: There are an estimated 10,000 known kimberlitic pipes around the world. Of them, only 10% are diamantiferous. Of the 1,000 diamantiferous pipes, only 100 are economically viable to mine and about half of them are currently mined.That’s 0.5% of all known resources. The rest have either been depleted or are under development. Finally, of all the diamonds that come out of the ground, only half are fit for jewelry. Considering that most mines will be depleted in the next 20-30 years, not only are those diamonds rare, but they will also become even harder to find going forward. In the context of natural versus lab-grown, when comparing something that takes hundreds of millions of years to form, against something that can be grown within days and to no end, then clearly naturals are rare by comparison. In that regard, natural diamonds have a trait that LGDs don’t have. It does not make one better than the other, but it does mean that they are different. From a retail perspective, that is meaningful. You can’t offer them as interchangeable. Lab-grown is a different product, with its deserved shelf space. From our research, we see that retailers, who clearly differentiate between the two, do much better business in selling LGDs. Q. What is your diamond forecast for mined and man-made, and why? I expect demand to grow for both. For natural, I expect it to slowly gravitate towards the higher-end market, with the lower end lost over time. For LGDS, there are two trajectories, propelled by one force: the expected decline in the cost of growing. One trajectory is low-cost jewelry that enjoys the aura of being a diamond product. The other is higher-end jewelry that is sold at a premium as branded jewelry. This requires the jewelry to be very well made and designed. In such a case, the LGD will be a component, not a main selling point. “Competition Keeps Pushing Down Lab- Grown Prices.” (Chart: www.edahngolan.com ) >>