De Beers ditches man-made diamonds as it looks beyond Anglo
De Beers will ditch a controversial experiment to sell lab grown diamond jewelry, ending a six-year programme that broke one of its oldest taboos.
As part of a turnaround plan to fend off an approach from BHP Group, Anglo last month said it planned to sell or separate De Beers, ending an almost century-long relationship with the industry’s most famous name. As De Beers — which coined the slogan “Diamonds are Forever” — prepares for that split, it will renew its focus on promoting natural stones.
Still, while synthetic diamond prices have collapsed, they’ve caused significant collateral damage. Natural stones used in cheaper 1 to 2 carat wedding rings have tumbled under pressure from synthetics and have so far shown little sign of a sustained recovery. Unlike imitation gems such as cubic zirconia, diamonds grown in labs have the same physical characteristics and chemical makeup as mined stones. They’re made from a carbon seed placed in a microwave chamber and superheated into a glowing plasma ball. The process creates particles that can eventually crystallize into diamonds. The technology is so advanced that experts need a machine to distinguish between synthesized and mined gems.
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