This year, there are 100 LGD producers and enterprises that make lab-grown diamond gems exhibiting. “This area of JCK continues to grow larger with each passing year,” observes Sarin Bachmann, Group Vice President – RX jewellery portfolio.
LGDs are becoming increasingly important. According to Tenoris, which develops trend analytic studies for the worldwide jewellery sector, the market share of lab-grown diamond sales has doubled in the last three years, from an average of 8.3% in 2020 to 17.3% in 2022. Furthermore, from 7.2% in January 2020 to 22.9% in February 2023, the share of loose lab-grown diamonds tripled. More evidence of lab-grown diamond’s ascendancy: loose lab-grown diamond unit sales held a 13.7% share in 2020. Since then, their market share has nearly tripled, reaching 33.8% in 2022. Unit sales of lab-grown diamonds reached 46.6% in February 2023. Clearly, the LGD sector is doing more than just disrupting the jewellery industry; it is questioning customers’ traditional perceptions of what a diamond is.
Smiling Rocks, which symbolises a socially and environmentally progressive company model by channelling 3 percent of every purchase of its products towards the 501 (c)(3) Smiling Rocks Foundation, is one of the most intriguing LGD brands on display at JCK. The buyer specifies that the donation be sent towards an educational, medical, or environmental charity.