Editor’s Note
Lab-grown diamonds are reshaping the luxury market, offering identical physical properties to natural stones at a fraction of the cost. This report examines their disruptive impact on the traditional diamond industry.
【April 5 AFP】There are two glittering diamonds. However, there is a significant difference between them. One is a natural diamond formed over a billion years. The other is a man-made lab-grown diamond, abbreviated as “lab diamond.”
Lab diamonds are created in laboratories in a short period and are priced at less than half the cost.
These synthetic diamonds are bringing a major transformation to the global diamond market, valued at $89 billion (approximately 13.5 trillion yen). Particularly impacted is Surat in Gujarat state, western India, which handles 90% of the world’s diamond processing.
“Greenlab Diamonds,” a manufacturer of lab-grown diamonds, has been in the diamond business for three generations. Its representative, Smit Patel, stated:
Lab diamonds are manufactured by applying immense pressure to a seed crystal, the “seed” of the diamond. Equipment that can artificially replicate the high-pressure conditions found deep within the Earth is used.
At Greenlab Diamonds, a lab diamond is completed from a raw seed crystal in eight weeks. It is almost indistinguishable from a natural diamond. Patel says:
According to the latest data, India’s exports of lab diamonds tripled between 2019 and 2022. Export volume also increased by 25% from April to October 2023.
As told to AFP by a market analyst in New York, the global market share of lab diamonds has surged from 3.5% in 2018 to 18.5% in 2023. It is projected to exceed 20% this year.
Meanwhile, the existing diamond market, already struggling with geopolitical issues and weak demand, is facing additional pressure.