It’s spending $94M on a US production facility.
LONDON — De Beers Group is launching a company called Lightbox Jewelry that will begin marketing laboratory-grown diamond jewelry.
Lightbox lab-grown diamonds will become available in September, retailong from $200 for a quarter-carat stone to $800 for a one-carat stone. The line will feature pink, blue and white lab-grown diamonds in a selection of earring and necklace designs, according to a press release.”
Lightbox will transform the lab-grown diamond sector by offering consumers a lab-grown product they have told us they want but aren’t getting: affordable fashion jewelry that may not be forever, but is perfect for right now,” said Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers Group. “Our extensive research tells us this is how consumers regard lab-grown diamonds – as a fun, pretty product that shouldn’t cost that much – so we see an opportunity here that’s been missed by lab-grown diamond producers.”
He said the line “will be a small business compared with our core diamond business.”
Lightbox will launch in the US and will initially be available to US-based consumers through the Lightbox e-commerce website, with retail partnerships to be announced later, according to the release.
Lightbox will be the only jewelry brand to source lab-grown diamonds from De Beers Group’s Element Six business. Lightbox lab-grown diamonds of 0.2 carats or above will carry a permanent Lightbox logo inside the stone.
To support Lightbox, De Beers Group is investing $94 million over four years in a new Element Six production facility near Portland, OR, adding to Element Six’s existing UK-based facilities. The plant will be able to produce upwards of 500,000 rough carats of lab-grown diamonds a year. Steve Coe, general manager of Lightbox Jewelry, said the company “brings innovation and a commitment to transparency to the lab-grown diamond sector.”
“We’ve learned from our research that there is a lot of confusion about lab-grown diamonds – what they are, how they differ from diamonds, and how they are valued,” Coe said. “Lightbox will be clear with consumers about what lab-grown diamonds are and will offer straightforward pricing that is consistent with the true cost of production.”
We will introduce more designs and colors as the range evolves, and the technological efficiency of our proprietary production process means we will always offer Lightbox at accessible prices.
“The Diamond Producers Association, which represents diamond mining companies, issued a statement on De Beers’ decision:
The Board of the Diamond Producers Association acknowledges the decision of De Beers Group to enter the synthetic diamond market through its subsidiary Element Six. The DPA’s objective is to promote long-term demand for diamonds as unique miracles of nature. The DPA Board, its members and its team remain fully dedicated to this important mission.
Stephen Lussier, Chairman of the DPA and Executive Vice President of Marketing for De Beers Group, commented: “De Beers Group’s commitment to the Diamond Producers Association is stronger than ever. I am looking forward to working with my fellow DPA Board members and with the DPA team for many years to come on the promotion of the Diamond Dream.”
Jean-Marc Lieberherr, CEO of the DPA commented on the announcement: “The DPA has always been clear that more fair and transparent practices need to be adopted by synthetic diamond producers. We are very confident that Element Six will set a new standard in disclosure and marketing of synthetic diamonds, which will in the end benefit consumers and bring much needed clarity to this new category. It is clear from the Lightbox positioning that they will market synthetic diamonds for what they are – low cost pretty stones and not for what they are not – real diamonds, rare, precious and inherently valuable.”