South Indian city Chennai-based lab-grown diamond jeweller ‘Wondr Diamonds’ is planning to expand its footprint across south India by the end of 2021, amid growing traction for sustainable fashion and planet-friendly choices among millennials and Gen Z consumers. The diamonds offered by the company cost only one-third the price of the mined diamonds.
“Currently, we have one store in Coimbatore, and we have recently opened one in Chennai. We plan to expand across south India through a franchise model. We are looking at 10 stores by December 2021,” said Aishwarya Guptha, founder, Wondr Diamonds.
A lab-grown diamond, also known as earth-friendly diamond, is physically, chemically and optically identical to a mined diamond except that it is created in a lab environment by applying the same temperature and pressure that happen underneath the earth to a natural diamond seed.
“In mined diamonds, one can only ensure that it is ethically sourced, but they cannot reduce the impact on the earth whereas, in lab-grown diamonds, we can reduce the impact on earth right from the water consumption to electricity to saving human lives from mining, etc. Also, mined diamonds are non-renewable resources so lab-grown will be the future,” said gemologist and Wondr Diamonds co-founder Soundarya Guptha.
“Today, a lot of youngsters are convincing their parents to come and buy these diamonds. So, we are planning a lot of educational campaigns and are also collaborating with many influencers on social media to bring more awareness. We see a very big future for this segment,” Soundarya added.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
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