DE BEERS is closing its lab-grown business after saying earlier it had stopped selling the stones as jewellery.
Citing the diamond company’s CEO Al Cook, Bloomberg News said on Thursday the move underlined the group’s commitment to natural diamonds.
The diamond miner announced last year that it would cease selling its own man-made gems, but was unsure what it would do with the Lightbox business that made them, said Bloomberg News. It’s discussing the sale of some assets — including inventory — with potential buyers, the newswire added.
Lightbox was introduced to sell synthetic diamonds at a steep discount to rival producers in an attempt to drag prices lower and create a clear divide in consumers’ minds between traditional and lab-grown products.
Synthetic diamond prices have now collapsed, though how much of that is down to De Beers rather than a flood of new supply from places like China is open to debate, said Bloomberg News. The problem for De Beers is that wholesale prices of lab-grown diamonds have now become much cheaper than those of Lightbox, undermining the reason for continuing with the brand, said Bloomberg News.
“The persistently declining value of lab-grown diamonds in jewelry underscores the growing differentiation between these factory-made products and natural diamonds,” Cook said in the group’s announcement. “The planned closure of Lightbox reflects our commitment to natural diamonds.”
De Beers is in the process of trying to cut costs as it navigates a crisis withing the diamond industry and prepares to be cast adrift by Anglo American, which is trying to sell the famous gem company.
