Africa-Press – Botswana. De Beers Group intends to close down its lab-grown diamond (LGD) jewellery brand, Lightbox, illustrating its commitment to natural diamonds.
A press release from De Beers Group, states that the company was discussing sales of certain assets, including inventory, with potential buyers.
The company states that Lightbox was established in 2018 and has highlighted that LGDs were a distinct product from natural diamonds, with different attributes and different value. “The business was launched with transparent linear pricing of US$800 (about P10 800) per carat.
Since then, LGDs prices in the jewellery sector have fallen 90 per cent at wholesale, tracking closer to a cost-plus model as they have diverged from natural diamond prices,” reads the press release.
Due to sharp price decline, De Beers has now made the decision to discontinue Lightbox business. “The evolution of LGDs values in the jewellery sector underpins De Beers Group’s core belief in rare, high-value, natural diamond jewellery as a separate category from low-cost, mass-produced LGD jewellery,” states the release.
It says the proposed closure of the Lightbox business reflects a key executional milestone in De Beers Group’s Origins Strategy, as set out in May 2024, to focus on high-return activities and streamline the business.
The release says the closure will enable De Beers Group to reallocate investment to initiatives focused on reinvigorating desire for natural diamonds through category marketing.
“De Beers Group will work closely with employees, retail partners, suppliers, and other stakeholders to ensure a smooth process over the coming months. Customers will continue to receive support for existing purchases, including warranties and after-sales services, during the closure process,” it says.
Meanwhile, Element Six, De Beers Group’s subsidiary that previously produced lab grown stones for Lightbox, will maintain its exclusive focus on industrial solutions using synthetic diamonds.
De Beers states that Element Six was well-positioned to seize the rapidly growing potential for synthetic diamond applications across a range of future-facing technologies and applications.
“By centralising chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthetic diamond production at its state-of-the-art facility in Oregon, US, Element Six will work with its growing global network of partners to accelerate cutting-edge technologies for high growth industries, such as semiconductors and quantum technologies.”
The release says with a track record of growth and profitability, Element Six is favourably positioned to drive the future of synthetic diamond solutions in industrial and high-tech applications.
Al Cook, Chief Executive Officer of De Beers Group, is quoted saying, “As we move towards becoming a standalone company, we continue to optimise our business, reduce costs and build a focused De Beers that is positioned for profitable growth.
The persistently declining value of lab-grown diamonds in jewellery underscores the growing differentiation between these factory-made products and natural diamonds.
Lightbox has helped to highlight the fundamental differences in value between these two categories. Global competition continues to intensify with more low-cost lab-grown diamond production from China. In the US, supermarkets are driving down lab-grown diamond jewellery prices.
“Overall, we expect both the cost and price of lab-grown diamonds to fall further in the jewellery sector,” said De Beers CEO
He said the planned closure of Lighbox reflected their commitment to natural diamonds and they were excited by the growing commercial potential for synthetic diamonds in the technology and industrial space.
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