De Beers to discontinue six-year lab-grown diamond jewellery initiative

De Beers will discontinue a six-year initiative that broke one of its oldest taboos by discontinuing a contentious attempt to market lab-grown diamond jewellery.

Bloomberg reports that even though the group had long possessed the capacity to create synthetic gems, it always declined to market them as jewellery due to concerns that they would diminish the appeal of natural stones. 

However, as man-made stones gained popularity and began to directly compete with natural diamonds, De Beers established its jewellery brand in 2018.
To reduce prices and establish a clear distinction in the minds of consumers, the company introduced Lightbox, which allowed it to offer synthetic diamonds at a substantial discount to its competitors. 

De Beers will not immediately cease the sale of its Lightbox stones. 

It will exhaust its current inventory, which will take approximately one year, and subsequently determine its course of action.
De Beers chief executive Al Cook is currently restructuring the diamond business, which Anglo American, its majority owner, is about to offload.
The group, which originated the phrase "Diamonds are Forever", will redouble its efforts to promote natural stones as it prepares for the separation.
"We know how to do it and we’re coming back," Cook was quoted as saying.

"All of this comes together under a big theme of differentiating natural diamonds from lab-grown."

De Beers will concentrate on category marketing, which involves the promotion of diamond jewellery in general, rather than solely its own branded gems. 
Additionally, it intends to broaden its retail presence by establishing its jewellery stores.

The company will also probe the possibility of polishing its stones, a process that is dominated by family-owned businesses in Belgium and India.
De Beers intends to achieve an annual core profit of $1.5 billion by 2028. 

The business generated a mere $72 million in revenue last year, although its profits have historically fluctuated between $500 million and $1.5 billion as the diamond sector experiences boom and busts.

Anglo became dissatisfied as a result of this instability because years of inconsistent performance reduced the benefits from more valuable commodities, such as copper.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished