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De Beers Asserts Lab-Grown Diamond Retail Prices Remain High Despite Wholesale Slump August 02, 2023 (0 comments)
London, UK--Lab-grown diamond retail prices remain high, despite falling wholesale prices, suggests De Beers CFO Sarah Kuijlaars. In an interview with Rapaport News, she discussed De Beers' Lightbox, the company's synthetics brand, which recently began a trial for engagement rings intended to offer affordable prices.
[Representative image via Pexels]
"It's very good to see that the wholesale price is really coming down — halving and halving and halving again," Kuijlaars said, per the report. "That's healthy. But on the retail side, it's a bit more sticky and [the question is] how do we ensure that consumers are making informed choices in the store?"
In many cases, shoppers have "the intent of buying the natural, but they're being persuaded in-store to go to lab-grown," she said, per the report.
She added that Lightbox is aimed at helping consumers understand the cost makeup and sustainability credentials of lab-grown diamonds. The strategy discussion occurred with representatives from the Botswana government and parent company Anglo American.
"We knew that lab-grown would make inroads in the US," Kuijlaars said, per the report. "And I think against that tougher macro background, it's understandable that consumers [are] making different choices. But we still firmly…support the differentiation of the market."
Learn more in the entire Rapaport report.