Editor’s Note
South Korea’s KDT Diamond is expanding its reach by building its first overseas facility in India, aiming to produce 100,000 carats of lab-grown diamonds annually. This strategic move highlights the growing global shift toward sustainable diamond alternatives.
KDT Diamond, South Korea’s sole manufacturer of lab-grown diamonds, is establishing its first overseas diamond manufacturing and polishing plant. Once completed next year, the facility is projected to produce 100,000 carats annually. This marks the emergence of a diamond export company from South Korea, a country without diamond mines, as it accelerates its foray into the rapidly growing lab-grown diamond market.
KDT Diamond announced on the 26th that it will commence construction of a 2,000㎡ lab-grown diamond manufacturing and polishing plant in India this November. The company stated that upon completion in early March next year, the plant will be capable of producing 36,000 carats in its first year of operation, scaling up to an annual production of 100,000 carats of lab-grown diamonds thereafter.
KDT Diamond succeeded in manufacturing lab-grown diamonds domestically for the first time in 2021. Currently, only eight countries, including South Korea, the United States, and India, possess lab-grown diamond production technology.
KDT Diamond’s origins trace back to Gang Bo-seok, a jewelry store of just over 10㎡ in the Jamsil underground shopping mall in Seoul. Kang Seung-ki, CEO of KDT Diamond, is a jewelry expert with over 30 years of experience, having opened Gang Bo-seok in 1987. KDT Holdings, founded by Kang in 2012, is the predecessor of KDT Diamond.
While engaged in a business importing and distributing natural diamond rough stones, Kang encountered lab-grown diamonds. In 2019, he began research in collaboration with Professor Song Oh-seong from the Department of New Materials at the University of Seoul. After two years, by the end of 2021, they succeeded in producing lab-grown diamonds, becoming the first in South Korea and the eighth in the world to do so.
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KDT Diamond produces lab-grown diamonds using the Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) method. This process involves placing a diamond seed in a vacuum chamber and injecting gases like methane and argon/oxygen to build up thin layers on the seed. This method is evaluated as having higher production efficiency compared to the High-Pressure High-Temperature (HPHT) method.
KDT Diamond is currently focusing its capabilities on the lab-grown diamond business. In March, it launched its dedicated lab-grown diamond brand, Alord, at the Hyundai Department Store Trade Center branch in Seoul, marking a full-scale entry into sales. The proportion of lab-grown diamonds in the company’s revenue is increasing. The ratio between lab-grown and natural diamonds, which was 5:5 last year, reversed to 8:2 starting this April.
KDT Diamond anticipates that the growth in sales will accelerate further upon the completion of the Indian plant next year.