Signet Enters Lab-Grown Market

RAPAPORT… James Allen has launched sales of lab-grown diamonds,
marking parent company Signet Jewelers’ entry into the synthetics market.



The e-commerce business, which Signet acquired in 2017,
now gives consumers the option of “earth-created” or “lab-created” stones on
its retail page. James Allen is offering lab-grown as center stones
for engagement rings, promising “up to 30% more size for the same cost.” At
press time, the prices of lab-grown on the site ranged from $450 for a radiant,
0.52-carat stone to $48,350 for an emerald-cut, 4.49-carat diamond.


All its lab-grown diamonds will carry grading reports
from laboratories such as the International Gemological Institute (IGI) or the Gem
Certification & Assurance Lab (GCAL). The colors available on the James
Allen site range from D to J, while clarities span from internally flawless to
SI2.


Analysts were expecting Signet to move into the lab-grown
market, after Gina Drosos, its CEO, said last year it was assessing demand, and
would position itself to offer the category if consumers wanted it. It has
taken a different approach from De Beers, which launched its Lightbox fashion-jewelry
line a year ago with a standard price of $800 per carat and no grading reports.



Mined diamonds are still “the traditional choice,” James
Allen notes in the questions-and-answers section of its site. But it emphasizes
that its lab-grown stones are chemically identical and look the same as naturals, and
that they are graded to the same standards.


Signet views James Allen as an incubator for testing out
ideas, Drosos observed in an investor call in December. Late last year, it launched
a concept store for the brand in Washington, DC, featuring new retail
technology.


Image: A lab-grown diamond from the James Allen retail site. (James Allen)