30 May 2018

The world’s biggest diamond producer, De Beers, has ventured into the world of laboratory-grown diamonds through its subsidiary company, Lightbox Jewelry.

The US based company will offer consumers high-quality fashion jewellry designs at a lower price.

Briefing the media on Tuesday in Gaborone, De Beers’ executive vice president for corporate affairs, Mr David Prager said the move does not mean the company was deviating from natural diamonds.

Amongst the projects the company was currently undertaking is the Jwaneng Cut 8 and underground mine development in Venetia, South Africa.

Mr Prager said De Beers would always be a natural diamonds company, adding that last year the company produced 33 million carats of natural diamonds and  recorded US$82 billion in sales.

However, he said they do not want consumers to be confused as some companies marketed their synthetics as natural diamonds with no difference in pricing.

Botswana would benefit through the government’s 15 per cent stake in De Beers, and the country has been represented in the process.

Executive vice president, commercial and partnerships Ms Alessandra Berridge said the laboratory-grown diamonds would retail from US$200 (P2 000) for a quarter-carat stone to US$800 (P8 000) for a one-carat stone.

She said they would bring something new and innovative to the jewelry sector featuring pink, blue and white lab-grown diamonds in a selection of accessibly-priced earrings and necklace designs.

Lightbox would source its synthetics from De Beers Group’s Element Six, which has been in the lab-grown diamond technology for more than 50 years.

She said the lab-grown diamonds, also known as synthetics, were difficult to separate from natural diamonds with a naked eye, saying its synthetic diamonds would feature a permanent Lightbox logo inside the stone.

Ms Berridge said in addition, it would be a markup of quality and assurance, showing a synthetic diamond of high quality.

She said they were targeting a different segment of the market, adding that natural diamonds had more meaning than synthetics, and that they would remain appealing to consumers who still bought them for their weddings and other special events.

De Beers is investing US$94 million (P940 million) over four years in a new production facility near Portland, Oregon, adding to the company’s existing UK based facilities.

Ms Berrige said this was because the US was a huge market, adding that the process required uninterrupted power supply.

As De Beers leads the world in natural diamond production, the company, which has mines in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Canada, also hopes to have the largest share of the synthetic diamonds with 500 000 carats produced annually. ENDS