De Beers Group announced that 88% of US consumers believe it is better to invest in fewer, longer-lasting jewelry than short-term fashion trends.
The latest report from the Diamond Insight group analyzed changing opinions on lab-grown diamonds (LGDs), with 47% of respondents disagreeing that LGDs are “real”.
However, the report found that consumers would still consider purchasing LGDs due to their low cost and their “fun” and “trendy” perception.
The De Beers Group found that consumer trends differ between natural and lab-grown diamonds, with 60% of 5,000 respondents saying it was important for natural diamonds to be classified as “genuine”, compared to 6% for LGD.
Moreover, 41% cited “romantic” as a key word for natural diamonds and only 6% for LGD.
Commenting on the results, Steve Coe, CEO of Lightbox Jewelry, said: “We have always sold our lab-grown diamonds at a fair and transparent price based on a reasonable commercial margin in excess of the actual cost of production, rather than pegging it to the price of a natural diamond.
“The recent drop in LGD prices simply indicates that we are where others are likely to be tomorrow. Around $1,000 or less (£726). Exactly where the consumer wants us to be.”