March 2022 | Lab Grown Magazine

March 2022 | The Lab Grown Diamond Resource Book 32 To advertise call (888) 832-1109 | March 2022 33 famous ‘Tulip Mania’ years where people with too much money simultaneously tried to buy an object in short supply. Look at Sotheby’s and Christies today.Throw out a pink diamond of a few carats and the sky’s the limit. I don’t think the world is going to run out of billionaires, but we will run out of pink diamonds at some point. Maybe the collapse will come when those stones come back on the market. Maybe prices will reach an extreme level that even billionaires will refuse to buy, like ‘Tulip Mania.’ No one could afford even the cheapest tulip bulb, much less the exotic ones. With no buyers, the market collapsed. This could happen with natural diamond in the future, when supplies run thin, when demand drives prices to unsustainable levels. The same happened with natural pearls. They once were the most expensive gem of all, now they look common next to a good, cultured pearl. LGD could be the answer if this happens in the natural diamond market. We’ll offer a full interview with Tom in a future issue. For now, we’ll close with some significant developments from the International Grown Diamond Association (IGDA) and two mega industries to learn from. IGDA 2.0 While one may find two other very small LGD US- based associations, they’ve remained silent for far too many months, so we turn to the IGDA. While founded in 2016, the IGDA has remained dark until the last few months. Not making any major headlines yet, the group has reached significant milestones of late. Richard Garard is a founding member and continues to serve as President and Secretary General out of Morrisville, North Carolina. In recent months, Garard has assembled a fourteen person leadership committee. No titles or specific responsibilities have been announced for these individuals as of press time, but you may read who has been appointed at https://www.theigda.org/ leadership-committee.php. You’ll know at least three names on this list: Tom Chatham of Chatham, Inc.; Shelly Katzir of Hoover and Strong, and Marty Hurwitz of MVI Marketing. IGDA’s MISSION + REBOOT STRATEGY “Formed to serve as a central point for communication, education, and development of the lab-grown diamond industry, represent industry leaders from every sector of the lab-grown diamond supply chain, and from over a dozen countries worldwide.” That’s a cut-and-paste from the opening paragraph on www.theIGDA.org . Here’s where they appear to stand: • Create a smart ‘reboot 2.0’ business-to- business PR strategy: Check. • Recruit seasoned industry individuals from across the globe as a ‘steering committee’: Check. • Increase and retain a paid membership roster: Check. We haven’t gotten to ‘checkmate’ yet, and it doesn’t appear we will, thankfully. Currently, there are sixty-five companies that are listed on IGDA’s site as active members. Most seem to qualify as a ‘corporate member,’ (i.e., a grower, larger LGD distributor and/or LGD equipment service vendor).These companies have paid a $3,000 per year fee while retail/e-com/individual LGD selling firms/people pay $350 per year. The perks of membership are cited on the group’s ‘Join Us’section, yet the drilldown specifics have yet to be detailed. The ‘Latest Updates’ portion of their site rehashes LGD global news and spotlights noteworthy individuals from their leadership committee. So far, there isn’t any news on membership meetings, educational forums, or any proposed activity for key events. Not yet, but turning on ‘2.0’ isn’t a fast flip of a switch. THE GREENGUIDE One ‘event’ that must be on IGDA’s radar is the update to the FTC’s Green Guide. First issued in 1992 and updated in 2012, the Green Guide is allegedly due for another update this year. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) publishes and helps enforce the rules, exactly as the FTC issues and supports their Jewelry Guidelines. Complete with the Federal legal power, they may question, investigate, impose fines, and legally act upon those breaking the guidelines. Gaze into finely grown emeralds via Chatham, Pendant and ring both feature a 11x5 mm baguette Chatham- created emerald, 1.50 cts. each set in 14K gold with grown white diamond accents. Photo: Chatham.com AEHAN DIAM NY LLC Manufacturer Wholesaler Exporter AE-155 Round 3.15 G VVS1 459121942 91% LG-AE-009 Round 2.00 E VVS2 407999491 92% LG-AK-21-12-6 Round 3.00 E SI2 474110303 91% LG-SN-3-61 Round 2.00 D SI2 470119896 91% LG-AK-21-12-7 Cushion 3.01 H VS2 467162612 93% LG-AK-21-12-33 Cushion 2.02 D VVS2 467162644 93% LG-AK-21-10A-4 Emerald 2.14 M SI1 464103702 92% LG-SN-3-52 Heart 2.02 D VS1 470147436 89% LG-AK-21-8-2 Oval 2.08 L VS2 462150672 89% M A K E E V E R Y M O M E N T P R E C I O U S Mauli (646) 226-7921 Explore extensive collection of lab grown diamonds at wholesale prices I D - 1 5 5 9 1 9 0 . 50 TO 8 . 00 CTS A L L S H A P E S Get in touch for bes t di scount s Rosa (212) 869-0544 WhatsApp, Text or Call us for any Labgrown demands We service Melee and Fancy shapes as well!