The success of lab-grown diamond and natural diamond sales is largely dependent on the marketing tactics employed by retail jewelers.
The growth in sales of lab-grown diamonds, is it driven by customer demand, or by the promotion of the product by jewelers? This was a question raised on an international diamond industry program earlier this year. The guest on the program was a Managing Director and Research Analyst at an investment bank in the UK, who analyzed the promotion of lab-grown diamonds and natural diamonds by different jewelers.
"I am disappointed by the level of misinformation being conveyed by retailers in selling lab-grown diamonds. They do not hesitate to portray natural diamonds as something harmful to the industry and, conversely, present lab-grown as the alternative ethical choice," he lamented, after visiting different jewelry stores. "What is particularly infuriating is that I have seen firsthand how mining has brought revenue to communities that previously had none. The industry is allowing this miscommunication to spread to a wide customer base, and if this idea takes root in the minds of consumers, it will be difficult to reverse.”
His words struck a chord. A jewelry store executive based in New York wrote an email, "I do believe the last few minutes of the program addressing the comparison between natural diamonds and lab-grown diamonds did miss some important, or misplaced, information... Your guest's point regarding the impact on consumer perception was truly keeping me up at night."
This conversation highlights the role of retail jewelers in driving the rapid growth of lab-grown diamond sales in recent years. Compared to natural diamonds, jewelers see greater potential profits from lab-grown diamonds, and this is no secret. Therefore, it is understandable that they promote lab-grown diamond products to customers through marketing. The CEO of a consulting service company that focuses on lab-grown diamonds said, "There are people willing to sell, and there are people willing to buy – that's capitalism."
Size Matters
Some people insist that the growth of lab-grown diamonds is driven by consumers; people's awareness and interest in lab-grown diamonds have rapidly increased, and jewelers are just responding to this demand for the product.
A jeweler specializing in lab-grown diamonds said, "If you look at the last five years, what I see is that consumers who are more conscious of social, environmental, and economic factors now have another option. They can choose to spend almost the same, or a little more, to buy a diamond that's about twice the size of what they could previously afford."
Recently retired US jewelry retailer CEO Beryl Raff also highlighted this point, stating at the Dubai Diamond Conference in March that "a 2-carat lab-grown diamond has become the new 1-carat natural diamond." Raff said that diamonds of this size produced by her former diamond brand in 2021 outsold equivalent natural diamonds by a factor of 50.
This sales trend is unexpected and has challenged predictions for the lab-grown diamond market. Rather than selling same-quality diamonds at lower prices to save consumers money, jewelers are using the attractiveness of larger lab-grown diamonds to increase consumer spending, particularly in the US. As local jewelers have observed, "size is king."
碎鑽面對的挑戰
把銷售重點轉向尺寸較大的培育鑽石，也偏離了最原來「培育鑽石的銷量會主要來自較小的石」的預測，當跟烏克蘭制裁俄羅斯的阿羅莎公司，有可能導致天然碎鑽短缺時，這更是明顯。 但是，目前市場上並未出現天然碎鑽的短缺，珠寶商亦沒有把銷售重點移向培育碎鑽。有鑽石顧問公司指出，天然碎鑽美觀，光是這點已足以吸引珠寶商，讓他們放棄細小的培育鑽石。他再補充，想找到穩定供應的培育碎鑽同樣是一個挑戰，特別是對珠寶首飾業來說，因為該業界需要經常用到這種尺寸的石。
此外，培育鑽石製造商在生產過程中，需要決定怎樣處理原石，而大部分製造商會偏向生產較大的石，因為那比較有經濟價值。
穩定的供應
事實上，節目嘉賓表示，想要穩定供應的培育鑽石，無論大小都有一定難度。
嘉賓解釋：「提供培育鑽石的主要珠寶零售商及生產商，要不停把存貨集合起來作大型推廣，故他們面對著供應持續性的挑戰。你需要提供優質的貨品，而且是定時每個月提供。」
他認為，培育鑽石缺乏穩定供應，使一些大型的零售商對這產品卻步。他解釋，生產商會迅速為大客戶或能付更多錢的客人提供度身訂做的貨品，那些貨品很快會被搶購一空，要追上對這些貨品有興趣的公司的需求，會是一件困難的事。
什麼的短缺？
但據他觀察，短缺的不只有培育鑽石，還有可以持續提供培育鑽石的科學家。要生產更多培育鑽石，可不是按一個按鈕這麼簡單。
「不是所有培育鑽石都平等的。」他說：「那些擁有最佳技術的實驗室沒有加入這門生意。業界正嚴重缺乏這方面的知識，而培育鑽石銷售的發展並沒有那些公司宣稱的那麼快。」
其中一名節目成員是一所國際培育鑽石品牌的商務總監，他承認在短期內培育鑽石的供求不相稱。雖然要建立供應鏈得花點時間，但他反駁到：「你要生產多少其實根本沒有限制。」
他認同當生產程序趨向完善後，你只需要考慮擴充和增加設備的速度。他補充，現有技術其實已提升了培育鑽的品質。在2016至2018年時，業界還在討論I至K色的培育鑽石，而今時今日的店舖已試著出售E至G色。
更大的佔有率
節目成員回想起月初一個讓他吃驚的發現，他說某珠寶商在替一對0.25卡的培育鑽石耳環標價時，竟附加註明「由於供應緊張，這對耳環可能含有天然鑽石」。
他在網上爭論，珠寶首飾中混著天然鑽石和培育鑽石主要是生意上的顧慮，但對消費者而言，把漂亮的、天然開採的鑽石跟人造的培育鑽石置於同一件首飾之上，是「完全沒問題」的。
目成員強調，商家要適度公開產品的資訊，跟顧客有效溝通，好讓他們知道正在買的是什麼，這有一定難度。International Gemological Institute (IGI) 北美分部的主席Avi Levy補充，那些評鑑實驗室在這個公開資訊的過程中，便佔了重要的一席位。
該節目的其中一個總結：「透明度、監管鏈、誠信，這些無論對培育鑽石業，還是天然鑽石業，都同樣重要。」
但是，天然鑽石及培育鑽石能混合在一起，其實表示兩種產品可以互補長短，而不一定要併過你死我亡。人們留意到天然和人造鑽石市場在2021年均有所增長，而這增長擴大了整個珠寶業界的市場。
不過，這種發展能否持續，今年或許會是其真正的考驗，因為2021年可算是例外，大部分鑽石珠寶銷售都出現了增長。很多人對升勢能夠維持倒是抱有信心，並指出有愈來愈多數據，可證明把培育鑽石引入市場，對業界有利，原因是那擴大了整個珠寶業市場的佔有率。
有節目成員呼籲業界以培育鑽石吸引新的顧客，而不要把生意標榜成一件產品跟另一件產品的比併。其他嘉賓亦表示認同；這位研究分析員強調，珠寶商最關鍵的工作，不過是選擇為消費者提供什麼產品敘述，特別是節日將至的時候。「有關培育鑽石的不實資訊需要點節制…很多零售商就天然鑽石所撒的謊，真的很令我沮喪。」他主張道：「培育鑽石和天然鑽石應該更融洽地相處，因為整體而言，它們同樣令市場有所增長。」