【Germany】Gems from the Factory: Lab-Grown Diamonds Are Shaking Up the Market

At first, it’s just a glimmer. Then you recognize the leaf shape, formed from three small stones—ear studs, ring, pendant, all in delicate gold settings. As small as these blossoms are, for Gellner they represent a major step. For the first time, the jewelry manufacturer from Pforzheim has launched two lines (“Soho” and “Bolero”) that use exclusively lab-grown diamonds. These are gems that were not formed over millions of years inside the earth, but are cultivated.

Correspondingly delicate and youthful are the jewelry lines with lab-grown diamonds. For his other collections, where extra-rare and extra-large pearls play the main role, he does not want to forgo the aura of rarity and continues to use natural diamonds. The stones from the lab are more of a glimpse into the future, where both have a place. Gellner’s collection can be seen as representative of the entire fine jewelry industry. It is in a state of upheaval since lab-grown diamonds have been shaking up the market. And one can currently witness firsthand how values are shifting—both literally and figuratively.

Synthetic diamonds, like natural ones, consist of pure carbon. Their production simulates the conditions within the earth—heat (up to 1600 degrees Celsius) and high pressure (60 kilobars). It just happens much faster. After about 14 days, a stone is finished that has the same physical and chemical properties as a rough diamond and can be cut and processed in the same way. The process has existed since the 1950s, and such diamonds have long been used in industry. But only in recent years has the technology become so refined that their quality is also suitable for high-quality jewelry. Since then, their market share has been growing relentlessly; in 2023, it was already over twelve percent worldwide, with an upward trend—experts predict annual growth in the double-digit range.

The stones are not viewed as surrogates but are actively celebrated with their own lines, as with Gellner, or even with new brands whose founders often come from jewelry dynasties. Like Jean Dousset, great-great-grandson of Cartier founder Louis-François Cartier, who, after stints at Chaumet, Boucheron and Van Cleef & Arpels, made a name for himself as a celebrity jeweler in Los Angeles in 2010 and has been creating his high-end collection entirely with lab-grown diamonds for a year. The parents of Akshie Jhaveri, in turn, are third-generation jewelers in Mumbai; the daughter created the brand Grown Brilliance in New York in 2020, which today is one of the big players in the young business. But also Homer, the cool jewelry label of singer-songwriter, rapper and photographer Frank Ocean, works only with synthetic diamonds. All pieces are always available online, quickly accessible, and at prices that are on average well over 60 percent below those of natural diamonds.

However, price alone does not explain the success of the new jewelry. It is also important that it promises a clear conscience. The production of lab-grown diamonds enables a socially compatible, environmentally and climate-friendly production entirely without earthmoving. Many brands position themselves as a sustainable alternative to natural diamonds mined from mines.

This particularly resonates with Millennials and Generation Z. They see themselves as conscious consumers who are interested not only in the product but also in its creation and its impact on the planet.

For the sake of fairness, it should be said that the conventional diamond industry has had a system for about 20 years with the Kimberley Process, which certifies the origin of mined stones and makes unethical trade very difficult. On the other hand, the production of lab-grown diamonds requires enormous amounts of energy and can only be as clean as the energy sources themselves.