De Beers Is Taking Lab-Grown Diamonds to Stores

De Beers, the world’s largest diamond distributor, is coming around to the idea that lab-grown diamonds are forever. This month, it’s piloting new sales partnerships for Lightbox, the lab-grown diamond brand it introduced in 2018.

De Beers will try to amp up its synthetic diamond collection with two department store collaborations.

• Select Bloomingdale’s and Reed’s department stores will carry De Beers’s Lightbox line in stores.
• The two department stores will also offer Lightbox diamonds through their websites.

Why it matters: Bringing its lab diamond arm to retail partners is a 250 carat investment—and De Beers hasn’t always viewed synthetic diamonds as a viable business. Just three years ago, De Beers fronted a “Real Is Rare” campaign encouraging consumers to shop mined diamonds.

But lab-grown diamonds are, well, growing popular. The lab-grown diamond market is expected to reach $15 billion by 2035, fueled by lower costs (one-tenth the price of a natural stone) and ethical production. And despite an $85 billion market value of their own, mined gems sales are under pressure due to global oversupply.