Lab-Grown Line Won’t Hurt Low-End Goods, De Beers Says

(jckonline.com) - De Beers doesn’t feel its new Lightbox lab-grown diamond line will hurt the market for the inexpensive diamonds commonly used in fashion jewelry, CEO Bruce Cleaver (pictured) tells JCK. “I have heard that talk, largely out of India,” Cleaver says. “My view is, a large percentage of small goods go into all sorts of products, like watches. I don’t really see a one carat blue or pink really competing with melee. I see it competing with moissanite and lower-value ruby and emerald. So I don’t think there is a cannibalization there.” Of course, Lightbox, which will sell its first jewelry pieces online in September, will offer whites as well, but Cleaver believes consumers will gravitate to the blues and pinks.