March 2022 | Lab Grown Magazine

March 2022 | The Lab Grown Diamond Resource Book 26 To advertise call (888) 832-1109 | March 2022 27 parthdiamonds.com contact@parthdiamonds.com Direct: (310) 779-1151 Office: (213) 622-2094 Toll: 1 (855) 4 LAB GROWN 1 (855) 452-2476 All Types of Melees Fancy Shapes & Colors Next Day Delivery Extremely Competitive Pricing The Largest Lab Grown Supplier in Los Angeles Most Reputable Manufacturer of 4ct+ CVD F-J Color Rounds Up to 5ct in Every Shape and Color heightens the overall value of the finished piece. There are currently no iconic diamond design houses that are producing LGDs. DeBeers shields their parent name in their Lightbox Diamond branding, so they don’t count. It will only be a matter of time before a diamond house legend tests the LG waters. Until then, the LG sector is enjoying a speedy adoption from the fashion and luxury world. With such, those stones are instantly aligned with prestige. As these LG jewels continue to hit the red carpet, LG simply follows the celebrity placement game. LUXE LGDs. In October 2021, the luxe fashion team at Badgley Mischka released a LGD engagement collection. Interestingly, the collection tested at Saks Fifth Avenue have been pulled offline (and from all Saks locations) now selling through Saks Off Fifth. Catering to a more ‘affordable luxury’ audience, Mark Badgley and James Mischka had other plans contracted in 2020 when they teamed up with Unique Designs, Inc. to create a Macy’s LGD bridal collection. Badgley said, “Lab-grown diamonds are definitely a huge future of the industry. The fact that you can work with perfect stones at a fraction of the price of a mine diamond is amazing.” FROMPARISWITH LOVE Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet, a renowned French painter led the Realism movement in the 19th- century. Borrowing from this legendary art past, Maison of Courbet’s CÉLESTE collection is offered exclusively in LGDs with some interesting design/ marketing plays. Maison of Courbet’s CÉLESTE line wishes to “impart harmony between people and If we reduced our LG rough and polished imports from China, India and Russia and started to export our own LG rough, polished and finished goods to fashion capitals like Paris and Rome, we’d have a game changer. LGD value wouldn’t take a front seat position, we’d take the driver’s seat. Proven LGD Resale Value. This point was addressed in detail in February’s Lab-Grow Magazine ( https://labgrownmagazine.com/Issues/ February2022/20-21/) so we’ll look at resale value from another view. One from the global luxury sector, which we’ll dive into shortly. With mined stones, no two cut and polished diamonds will be identical, even when cut from the same rough. This is also the case with man- made. A benefit with lab, however, especially when comparing the fancy variety, will be much closer to matching than with any mined option. As-grown. As with natural diamonds, the value of a LG stone that is ‘as-grown,’ or not enhanced, will be appraised higher. Since labs like GIA are producing LG grading reports denoting if the man-made diamond is ‘as-grown,’ this documentation will become a recurring selling point defending higher ticketed LG loose or mounted stones. Everyone enjoys strong margins but keeping the retail engagement ring price in the high thousands is, in many ways, a necessity for stores. ‘As-grown’ achieves such. Elevated quality is also an upsell catalyst. If sparking consumer diamond registration through the purchaser’s online network isn’t incentive enough, add in-house or referral appraiser services, jewelry insurance alignment, and a guaranteed lifetime trade-up program (buying lab doesn’t mean staying lab). Branded LGDs . A branded natural diamond, offered by the likes of a Cartier, Graff or Winston, clearly elevates the value of that stone.When a major design house presents a diamond, they will most likely set it in their own fine jewelry. This obviously What Badgley Mischka lost with LGDs and Saks Fifth Avenue, they have gained with Macy’s and their exclusive LGD bridal line under their historic fashion namesake. Photos: Badgley Mischka