The Diamond Producers Council (DPC) has stated it will initiate proceedings against any jeweler who “deceptively” uses the term “synthetic” pertaining to lab-grown diamonds.
The organization launched recently to “challenge misleading diamond marketing and give lab-grown diamond producers a collective voice.” It has also rejected last month’s announcement from the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) that it has decided to recommend “synthetic” as the sole descriptor for non-mined diamonds, despite industry pushback.
“[CIBJO’s] 2026 Diamond Commission report calls for exploring ‘every way possible’ to restrict use of the 4Cs to natural diamonds, potentially preventing lab-grown diamonds from being described to consumers using the same familiar measures of carat, color, clarity and cut,” DPC said Tuesday.
However, DPC is urging jewelers to ignore CIBJO’s recommendation, calling it “biased” and “deceptive,” and pointing out that the term “synthetic” can suggest “imitation” rather than “diamond material.” The organization observed that CIBJO was not a government regulator, and any terminology in its Blue Books were merely voluntary recommendations that jewelers had no legal obligation to follow.
“In explaining the guides, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) discussed evidence that consumers associate ‘synthetic’ with imitations,” DPC said. “The FTC warned against using that term to imply falsely that a competitor’s lab-grown product is not a diamond.”
The organization noted that it would pursue “legal and regulatory remedies” when terminology rules or industry practices “could mislead consumers or distort competition.”
“Where misleading representations cause consumers to purchase substantially more expensive mined diamonds instead of lab-grown diamonds, DPC believes that the resulting consumer-price premium may constitute a substantial economic injury and should be considered in assessing available damages, restitution, and other remedies,” the group said.
“This applies to representations made in the US, and in other jurisdictions,” it added.
Image: Lab-grown diamonds. (Shutterstock)
