Lab-Grown Diamonds Poised for Growth, Says IGDA

The IGDA noted that lab-grown stones offered the potential to restore profit in the diamond trade, "Where margins have been shrinking under increasing pressure for years." That is enticing more players across the pipeline to embrace lab-grown diamonds The DPA found that 44% of respondents were unaware of "The significant differences in value, rarity, physical growth structure and origin" between natural and lab-grown diamonds The DPA argued that phrasing used in the survey could have misdirected respondents, including the use of the word "Identical" when referencing lab-grown and natural diamonds.

It further stessed that carbon emissions for lab-created diamonds were comparable to or greater than those of natural diamonds The IGDA sees the apparent growth in lab-grown diamonds as an opportunity that the entire industry must seize, urging the natural-diamond industry to work in tandem with lab-grown producers, not against them Both sectors must make a commitment to the continued growth and honest differentiation between diamonds mined below and those created above, the IGDA report concluded.

Image: The inside of a plasma reactor that generates heat to grow diamonds at a Diamond Foundry facility. . Source