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For an industry frantically trying to relate to millennials,
it’s striking that so many jewelers are skeptical about the movement that has
burst onto the scene promising an ethical, sustainable alternative to mined
diamonds. So far, it seems, the retail sector is still not convinced by the
phenomenon of synthetics.
Most retailers will “definitely or probably not” sell
synthetic diamonds in the coming year, according to a June survey commissioned
by the Diamond Producers Association (DPA). Store owners and their employees
gave a number of reasons for this, from the potential impact on their brand’s
reputation to the fear of plunging price points.
The trade doesn’t think lab-grown stones are about to
replace natural diamonds, if the survey is any indication. In fact, the numbers
suggest leaders in the natural-diamond industry are having some success in
persuading people that diamonds are only the real McCoy if they came from the
ground.
Jean-Marc Lieberherr, CEO of the DPA, believes only natural
stones deserve to be called “diamonds,” and he aims to shape both public and
industry opinion with that claim. While synthetics are chemically identical to
their natural counterparts, the value of a diamond comes from its billion-year
history, he argues.
“The fascination that man has had with diamonds started well
before diamond marketing started,” says the former Rio Tinto executive. “There
was always a mystery around the origins of a diamond, something divine about
it. They’re beautiful and hard, but were always much more than that.”
Get real
Synthetics, Lieberherr maintains, are reproductions of the
real thing, but cannot claim to be the same product. “To suggest that is to
suggest that a diamond gets its value from its molecular structure,” he
asserts.
Defending the natural-diamond trade is one of the raisons
d’être for the DPA, which a group of leading miners set up in 2015 as a
marketing body to enhance consumer demand. So far, its “Real Is Rare” video and
print campaigns in the US have tapped into millennial consumers’ desire for
natural and genuine products. The organization expects to intensify the US
print efforts in the fourth quarter, and to launch campaigns in India this
month and China next year.
As for policing the trade itself, the DPA is setting up a
testing program to evaluate synthetics-detection machines. It is also a
founding member of the International Diamond Monitoring Committee, which
launched in July at the India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) in Mumbai.
The committee works to ensure that natural and synthetic diamonds stay separate
throughout the pipeline.
Conflicting views
There are, however, threats to the natural-diamond business.
Synthetics companies aim to attract consumers by offering lower prices, and
claim to be selling a more sustainably sourced product. Suppliers such as
Diamond Foundry — which counts Blood Diamond star Leonardo DiCaprio among its
investors — have attempted to paint natural diamonds as unethical, and
lab-created stones as the alternative for the socially conscious. But these
claims lack basis, Praveenshankar Pandya, chairman of India’s Gem &
Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), said at IIJS.
“Natural diamonds are a much greener product,” Pandya
argued. “Conflict diamonds are no longer an issue. [The industry] supports
millions of jobs and livelihoods.”
Industry figures’ efforts to communicate the dangers
synthetics pose to the trade are still at an early stage, but are showing signs
of success, says the DPA’s Lieberherr.
“I’ve seen more and more people [in the industry]
concerned about the declining value of synthetics,” the marketing chief
observes. “It’s important we talk about our great product. I’m seeing a
change.”
