June 2024 | Lab Grown Magazine

June 2024 | The Lab Grown Diamond Resource Book 26 Mailed to 24,000 Jewelers Monthly - To advertise call (888) 832-1109 | June 2024 27 Dan Scott is founder and brand architect with New York/metro-based Luxe Licensing, marketing, production and licensing agency catering to bespoke and select demi-fine jewelry brands. Dan welcomes conversation and may be reached by texting + 1 201 294 3697, through WhatsApp, or by emailing dans@luxelicensing.com The Double LGD Engagement Sale Non-binary has left the room. “Men’s engagement rings” just walked in. Erikson Larsson, 29, is from Sweden and moved to California where he met his now finance, Mia. “We shopped around for two weeks and found both of our engagement rings at Grown Brilliance in LA,” Larsson said. “At first, Mia was shocked I was getting an engagement ring too, but that’s our county custom. Why should the girl be seen as taken when the guy walks around like he’s single?” With seven locations and a showroom in Manhattan, Grown Brilliance is expanding and catering to the double engagement sale, “We’re seeing this trend more on the West coast but it’s starting to become a thing,” their Melrose Place-based LGD salesperson noted. “Our Dallas location is just starting to see the same dual engagement ring sale but not one male engagement ring in Chicago or in Washington DC… (Two of their other locations) - at least not yet. “It seems very pansexual in the states so I’m surprised you guys aren’t into it yet- but it’s totally common in lots of Europe,” Larsson added. Companies like Diamondere, Charles & Colvard’s to Sterling Corporation’s Kay Jewelers are making Sterling Corp’s Kay Jewelers recently got into the men’s engaging ring trend early, but knowing the retail price had to more in line with contemporary all metal bands, they opted for 10k gold and reduced carat weight and their LDGs at lesser color grades. It seems to be working, as women are happy to see they’re significant displaying an “I’m taken” symbol on their finger just as women have for decades. multiple size men’s engagement rings with LGDs to keep consumer costs at bay and margins high. And, with Kay’s, setting in 10k gold helps that cause. “Our lab-created diamond (VS quality) rings look exactly the same as natural diamond rings while being at half the price. Lab-created diamond rings are environmentally friendly while having the same chemical composition as natural diamonds and hence the exact same brilliance,” noted a representative for Charles and Colvard. While Diamondere and Charles and Colvard are getting more requests for platinum in their men’s engagement rings, there is much more 14k white gold offered as an “average.” This, while the blue collar demographic of middle America visiting stores like Kay’s will find 10k only settings and less impressive LGDs to keep the total cost more in line with what men are used to spending on their own jewels. In our final installment we’ll give you the master key and prove you should get to know your customer base a lot more than you do. Those conversations will help keep those wandering consumer eyes away from big box chains that can outspend you in your market -but you can outthink them. ◊