David Sherwood, a retail jeweler and member of the Grown Diamond Trade Organization’s advisory board, shared his views on pressing issues in the synthetics industry on the latest episode of the Rapaport Diamond Podcast.
In conversation with Rapaport’s Joshua Freedman, Sherwood discussed lab-grown diamond grading and challenged the view that shoppers who buy man-made stones are missing out on the investment value of natural diamonds.
“I’m not going to predict what diamond prices — mined or lab — are going to do over time,” said the CEO of Daniel’s Jewelers in California. “But unless you tell me that the price is going to double over time, anyone who thinks that you’re going to buy a mined diamond in a mall retailer, and that’s going to be, quote unquote, an investment that’s going to increase in value over time is being a little bit silly.”
Sherwood told the story of how his grandfather founded the business and carved out a niche in the 1950s servicing aspirational Americans. He outlined its position as one of the US’s few credit-focused jewelers. He also spoke about the Grown Diamond Trade Organization and its new grading reports, which contain a “sustainability score.”
Listen to the episode here:
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