Editor’s Note
**Editor’s Note:** Pandora expands its lab-grown diamond collection into Spain and Italy, opening flagship stores in Barcelona and Milan. The company touts a 90% lower carbon footprint versus natural diamonds, a claim contested by the Natural Diamond Council.
Pandora introduced lab-grown diamonds in Spain and Italy with new flagship stores opened in Barcelona on June 12 and Milan on June 26.
The Barcelona store is the only Pandora location in Spain to carry lab-grown diamonds, while the Milan flagship and 40 other Italian stores offer the collection.
Pandora claims its lab-grown diamonds have a 90% lower carbon footprint than natural diamonds, adding a ‘fifth C’ for carbon footprint, a claim challenged by the Natural Diamond Council.
Pandora is expanding its synthetic-diamond jewelry collections to Spain and Italy, where their debut will coincide with the opening of new flagship stores in Barcelona and Milan.
The move “marks another step in Pandora’s ambition to democratize diamond jewelry,” the Danish jeweler said last week.
Pandora opened the Barcelona store, its third flagship, on June 12, while the Milan store launched on June 26. It also has flagships in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Las Vegas.
The Barcelona location, located on the fashion avenue Passeig de Gracia next to Gaudí’s Casa Batlló, spans 175 square meters. It will be the only Pandora store in Spain to carry lab-grown diamonds, the jeweler explained. Meanwhile, the Milan shop, on the corner of Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and Piazza San Babila is 250 square meters and comprises two levels. In Italy, the collection is available at the new flagship and in 40 stores across the country, as well as online.
Pandora first introduced lab-grown diamonds in 2021, to appeal to a wider audience and make its jewelry more affordable, it said. The first collection had a small trial in the UK before launching in North America. In 2024, the company expanded into Europe. With this new release, Pandora will have synthetics lines in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Spain and Italy.
Last month, Pandora released a report claiming the carbon footprint for its lab-grown diamonds was 90% lower than natural, and stating it was adding a “fifth C,” for carbon footprint, alongside the traditional 4Cs: cut, carat, color and clarity. Following that, the Natural Diamond Council (NDC) pushed back, questioning the comparison figures Pandora used to support that claim.
Images: Pandora lab-grown diamonds and jewelry (top left); Pandora’s new Barcelona store (bottom left); Pandora’s new Milan shop (right). (Pandora)
