The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) has decided to recommend “synthetic” as the sole descriptor for non-mined diamonds, even as senior trade members urged it to add the term “laboratory-grown.”
The nomenclature debate was a hot topic on the final day of the 2026 CIBJO Congress, which ended Monday, the organization said in an update. Wesley Hunt, chair of CIBJO’s Laboratory-Grown Diamond Committee, told the congress he had received a letter earlier this month asking for a deferral of any final decision on the nomenclature.
Hunt also pointed out that the term “synthetic” remained the primary term used by consumers. However, the Laboratory-Grown Diamond Steering Committee had requested the use of one alternative phrase: “laboratory-grown.”
“The market is becoming increasingly segregated,” CIBJO explained. “France and Russia, for example, allow only the term “synthetic,” while “lab-grown” or “laboratory-grown” is used in the US and India.”
CIBJO first stated it wanted to repeal the term “lab-grown” from its Blue Book last year. In July, it said it would eliminate names other than “synthetic” at this year’s congress. Meanwhile, the London Diamond Bourse (LDB) said Sunday it was moving forward with the term “synthetic diamond.” The French government made the decision to refer to all stones other than natural diamonds as “synthetic” in 2024, followed by Russia in June of this year. Meanwhile, in May, the African Diamond Producers Association approved restrictions for lab-grown descriptors and weights as a means of protecting the integrity of natural diamonds.
Also in the discussion, Hunt revealed that more than half of engagement rings sold by volume in the US feature lab-grown diamonds, and that falling prices for those stones have “put pressure” on prices of natural.
Under CIBJO’s procedures, the final decision on nomenclature was made by the board following guidance from Sector A and the CIBJO General Assembly, which took place later Monday.
Image: Lab-grown diamonds. (Shutterstock)
