NDC Claps Back at Pandora’s Lab-Grown Claims

The Natural Diamond Council (NDC) has pushed back on Pandora’s claims its lab-grown diamonds have a 90% lower carbon footprint than natural.

The Danish jeweler based the comparison figure it used in its press release last week on a 2019 study from the Diamond Producers Association, which is now the NDC.

“Pandora’s latest campaign is another disappointing PR stunt that unfairly attacks the natural-diamond industry to promote synthetic diamonds,” the NDC said in an open letter to Pandora CEO Berta De Pablos-Barbier via a LinkedIn post last week. “This misleading narrative has real consequences for the tens of millions of people worldwide who depend on the natural-diamond industry.”

The organization points out that Pandora’s comparison is not valid, given the study is outdated, with some test cases going back to 2013. The jeweler also attributes the results, which monitored only a section of the trade, to the entire natural-diamond industry.

“Such comparisons are inaccurate and inconsistent with credible sustainability and responsible marketing standards,” the NDC said.

Pandora also failed to distinguish between two “fundamentally different” product categories, the NDC explained, noting that comparing a factory-made product that can be manufactured in “virtually unlimited quantities” to a “rare and finite product of nature,” solely on value, meaning or impact “misleads consumers” and “fuels misinformation.”

“If Pandora is serious about advancing sustainability and supporting the wider jewelry sector, the NDC encourages the company to reengage constructively in industry forums where both the natural and synthetic diamond sectors are working to strengthen environmental stewardship and social responsibility,” the organization added.

Image: Rough natural diamonds. (Shutterstock)