World’s Biggest Diamond Company To Sell Non-Mined Diamonds
In a remarkable about-face, De Beers, the world’s largest diamond mining company revealed that it will start selling non-mined, laboratory-created gems, in the USA, under the brand name “Lightbox”.
Commenting on this development, Mr Len Gullan, founder and chief executive of Tru-Diamonds™ said; “This is a surprising, but very welcome, U-turn by De Beers as it vowed, for many years, that it would not sell gemstones created in a laboratory. We’re thrilled that it has finally recognized the importance of non-mined gems to today’s consumers.”
Announcing the move, Bruce Cleaver, De Beers CEO said: “Our research tells us this is how consumers regard lab-grown diamonds, as a fun, pretty product that shouldn’t cost that much.” Mr Gullan agreed with this but expressed surprise at De Beers pricing of $800 a carat. At this price he feels De Beers may be seen to be exploiting consumers in much the same way that the diamond mining industry has been accused of doing. He finds it hard to comprehend how a price $800 per carat can be justified for a “fun, pretty product that shouldn’t cost that much” and points out that Tru-Diamonds™ cost less than $100 a carat and are sold directly to consumers thus cutting out the mark-ups of dealers, retailers and middle-men who have inflated the costs of mined diamonds.
“Perhaps,” he says “they’ll endeavour to justify their pricing because their gems have the identical chemical structure to mined diamonds, but this completely ignores the interests of consumers who, research has shown, don’t care about chemical composition. They are concerned only with the look, physical properties and durability of the gems. Why would you pay an exorbitant price for a gemstone simply because of its chemical composition when you can show off an identical looking gem, with similar physical properties, at a fraction of the price.”
Tru-Diamonds™ has led the field in bringing consumers high grade simulated gems, in quality settings at easily affordable prices and Tru-Diamonds™ gems so closely resemble top-grade mined diamonds that even a jeweller won’t know. They are ice-white in colour, flawlessly clear and cut to perfect proportions. They’re also tough and durable enough to cut glass!
Most importantly, because they are manufactured in state-of-the-art laboratories, Tru-Diamonds™ are environmentally friendly and guaranteed conflict free. On the other hand, diamond mining requires over 250 tons of earth to be blasted and excavated in order to find just one carat of fine gem diamond. This causes massive damage to the environment and has been associated with child labour exploitation and the financing of conflict and illegal activities.
In today’s world, the movement towards non-mined gems is rapidly gathering momentum, says Mr Gullan. He is proud that Tru-Diamonds™ is at the forefront of this movement and that a company with the status and influence of De Beers has recognized that it is an idea whose time has come.