When lab-grown diamonds first started to make noise in the consumer jewelry market, much of the marketing power driving them forward was about cutting
through the confusion. Are they real? Why do they cost so much? Why should I buy them? Shoppers had questions, and the only way to make sales was to answer them clearly, concisely, repetitively and in unison.
The messages have started to hit home, bolstered by strategic celebrity product placements and collaborations. Stars such as Lady Gaga and Emma Watson have worn them on the red carpet, while actress Penelope Cruz teamed up with Atelier Swarovski to create her own collection. Lab-grown producer Diamond Foundry has been pushing into the fashion market with tie-ins to trendsetting department store Dover Street Market and label Balmain, as well as co-creating collections with stylish jewelry designers.
Despite the recent maturation of the market, which is still in its infancy, education remains at the core of many marketing plans. “The evolution of our message to consumers in the last year about the created-diamond category has been driven by their unprecedented speed of acceptance,” says Amish Shah, chief executive of New York-based lab-grown brand ALTR. “However, the change in our narrative and message hasn’t been a significant one — we don’t ‘market,’ we educate and empower the consumer [to make their own choices].”
Diversifying their appeal
While lab-grown diamond companies’ campaigns generally tend to rest on the same pillars — price and ethics being the original struts — individual brands are starting to diverge in the minutiae. This is perhaps due in part to the ongoing difficulties of predicting future prices, as well as a barbed backlash against the sector’s early ethical claims. Last year, an independently substantiated report by research group TruCost — commissioned by the Diamond Producers Association (DPA) — claimed that mined diamonds produced 160 kilograms of carbon dioxide per polished carat, compared to 511 kilograms for an equivalent lab-grown diamond.
Amid the increasing scrutiny, ethics remain at the core of Diamond Foundry’s strategy, but it has had to work hard to back up its millennial-friendly claims. It has invested in renewable-energy-powered facilities in the Pacific west to lower its impact, and it offsets unavoidable carbon emissions such as transportation of its goods and staff. These efforts have earned it a carbon-neutral certification from independent watchdog CarbonNeutral.
“The environmental impact will always be a focus for us,” says Ye-Hui Goldenson, Diamond Foundry’s director of public relations and communication. “We are not just making claims, but have been certified by third parties. We are finding that consumers today are more knowledgeable and selective than they have ever been before and are making purchases that are more thoughtful and impactful.”
Others, aware of the minefields, are avoiding this narrative altogether. “We never got into these controversies,” says Dror Yehuda, president of Yehuda, which specializes in scientifically enhanced natural diamonds and lab-grown diamonds. “When you make certain claims, you better have the research to back it.”
Instead, Yehuda focuses on a simple message for all its diamonds: Bigger is better. “We continue to stress that in the same way you could purchase a larger diamond with [Yehuda’s] Clarity Enhanced Diamond, now you can purchase an even larger diamond with lab-grown diamonds.”
At Diamond Foundry and its consumer-focused jewelry brand Vrai,
there is also an emphasis on larger stones; the US lab offers lab-grown diamonds of 5 carats and above. “Consumers are now familiar with lab-grown diamonds, and communication has evolved from education to providing more options for them to choose from,” says Vrai chief executive Mona Sadat Akhavi. “They feel equipped to confidently purchase larger stones and are understanding that it is an investment piece.”
At ALTR, the choice is not necessarily about size, but about increased quality. The fully integrated supplier has launched what it calls “the most hypnotic diamond you’ve ever seen”: the ALTR X. It features one of the brand’s 48 patented cuts, with 10 hearts and arrows and a light refraction of more than 97%. It also claims to have a “consistent supply” of type IIa lab-grown diamonds.
‘Unwanted results for De Beers’
“The industry at large had never encountered [the need for] value creation [through] branding and marketing,” says Shah, as it was previously sufficient to market diamonds based on their intrinsic value alone. “It’s been a difficult transition for the legacy companies that have existed in an industry that relied on marketing driven by a single company for the last 100 years.” Now, he says, the industry is gaining “new life from entrepreneurs creating brands that are educating and driving desire for today’s consumers.”
De Beers might have thought the launch of its Lightbox line — which focuses on reasonably priced jewelry with ungraded lab-created diamonds that go for a flat $800 per carat — would relegate lab-grown to the fashion realm. Instead, it has opened up a space for its competitors to own the luxury end of the market by focusing on innovation and advances in technology.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the move achieved unwanted results for De Beers,” says Yehuda. “It gave credibility to the segment. My guess is that they meant to deter other companies from going in, but achieved the opposite.”
Image: ALTR; Rosemarie RyanArticle from the Rapaport Magazine - February 2020. To subscribe click here.