When lab-grown diamonds appeared on the market a few years ago, they seemed set to revolutionize the jewelry industry. Thanks to the popularity they gained from singer Frank Ocean, among others, with his own brand, they were considered a sustainable alternative to natural diamonds. However, their fame was short-lived and their prices are now falling dramatically, affecting the entire diamond market.

From sustainability to the supermarket

Artificial diamonds were originally presented as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional diamond mining, which is associated with environmental and ethical issues. However, as reality has shown, the production of diamonds in laboratories consumes enormous amounts of electricity and is far from being as environmentally friendly as originally claimed. What's more, the prices of artificial diamonds have fallen so much that you can now buy an engagement ring with a lab-grown diamond at Walmart for as little as $299, which has practically turned them into common jewelry.

The crisis has also hit the giant De Beers

The current situation has also hit one of the most famous diamond producers, De Beers, which is closing its lab-grown diamond jewelry brand, Lightbox, due to a dramatic drop in prices. According to De Beers CEO Al Cook, synthetic diamond prices have fallen 90 percent in the last few years due to massive production in China and India and technological advances that have made them cheaper to produce.

"The fact that you can buy an engagement ring for a few hundred dollars today would have been a victory for my predecessors," Cook told The New York Times. The problem, however, is that the low prices of artificial diamonds also reduce the appeal of natural diamonds, posing a serious threat to the entire diamond industry.

De Beers is therefore changing its strategy and focusing exclusively on natural diamonds again. Its current plan, called the "Origins Strategy," seeks to clearly separate artificial diamonds from natural ones and reemphasize the uniqueness and rarity of real stones. To this end, it is also using a new authentication system called DiamondProof, which should help customers distinguish between what is real and what is not.

Natural diamonds are making a comeback

Although lab-grown diamonds are unlikely to disappear completely – De Beers, for example, plans to use its Element Six technology for industrial and technological purposes – the jewelry market is clearly returning to natural stones. As it turns out, customers who buy luxury goods are not just looking for low prices, but above all prestige, rarity, and tradition, which artificial stones simply cannot offer.

According to a survey by The Knot platform, although up to 54% of respondents chose an engagement ring with a lab-grown diamond in 2024, this trend appears to have peaked. The future is likely to belong to natural diamonds, which are once again gaining ground as an investment and symbolic gemstone. The key now is how quickly and effectively the diamond industry can reestablish a clear distinction between natural and artificial stones. If it fails to do so, it will be suicide for the entire industry.