De Beers has abandoned its Lightbox lab-grown diamond (LGD) engagement ring trial.
The test, it said, enabled the business to comprehend LGDs and evaluate their evolving landscape and consumer perspectives.
The engagement ring test found that many LGD engagement ring arrangements are unsustainable, with retailers already requiring a quadrupling of LGD carat sales every two years to maintain a flat absolute gross margin.
De Beers said Lightbox will also not sell LGD engagement rings and will instead focus on cheap fashion jewellery and loose stones.
The most recent US and Chinese consumer survey by De Beers places natural diamonds among the top three luxury purchases made by women.
In the US, four in five women see natural diamonds as important and the greatest way to recognise a relationship milestone, while pricing drives LGD sales.
Four times as many clients of luxury jewellery would choose genuine diamonds over LGDs for special occasions, and over three and a half times as many would be proud to wear them.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
