Lab-grown Diamonds 1. GIA publishes observations on CVD Lab-grown diamonds GIA (Gemological Institute of America) recently published a report on CVD Lab-grown diamonds, including the ‘statistical data and distinctive identification features’ by reviewing data of CVD Lab-grown diamonds examined by it from 2003 to June 2016. While 2003 to 2008 was a pre-commercialization era for CVD diamonds, from 2008 onwards the product improved in terms of color and quality and went into commercial production. 75% of the samples surveyed for this review date 2013 or later. Though in the pre-commercialization era, most of the samples were of 0.5 carat and below, in recent few years, the trend has changed. In the Jan – June 2016 samples, close to 50% of the diamonds weighed more than 1 carat. Read more…2. New sparkling entries in the Lab–grown diamonds market It’s no longer a secret that diamond jewelers are jumping the bandwagon to sell Lab-grown diamonds. Oregon based company – Gold and Gems Fine Jewelry now has invested in advanced research and development in Lab-grown diamonds and launched its own new brand – DIAMONNATM. Since over 30 years, the company has been maintaining a reputation for high-quality mined diamonds and its service. Few years ago, it observed the shift in the consumer buying preferences towards Lab-grown diamonds and aligned itself with this shift in quite a short period of time. Besides, a Colorado based lifestyle jewelry brand – Liberti Diamonds has launched a new product line – ‘Return to Love’, a third product line of the eco-fashion brand and first of its kind – Conflict-free, Lab-created. The line features nine gold and silver pieces made using Lab-grown diamonds. Read more… Sustainability 3. EthicMark promoting sustainability in other sectors, announces 2016 award winners Ethical Market Media, which promotes sustainable, socially responsible, ethical and environment friendly initiatives worldwide, had earlier this year started a new initiative through EthicMark® Gems standard, asking consumers to pledge to never purchase a mined gem and instead look for sustainable options like Lab-created diamonds. To further promote sustainability and set appropriate standards in other sectors as well including investing, finance and advertising, Ethical Markets Media recently announced its winners of 2016 EthicMark® Awards. Tata Capital from India and UN Women campaign from Egypt are the winners of this year for their advertising and media campaigns. Read more… Trends 4. Some interesting consumer driven shifts in diamond and jewelry purchases 18-35 demography is marrying later and are also known to spend lesser in their twenties. When they decide to settle down, bride’s choices in jewelry purchases now aren’t the same as they used to be, with the mass-produced identical ring lines even from a big-name diamond retailer losing luster and instead consumers looking for colorful gemstones. Millennials want something that no one else has and something they can identify with. 28% of eBay’s engagement ring market is held by antique rings in last 3 years. According to a BankAm-ML June report, diamond retail sales will grow only 2% this year, while on eBay, ring market has grown 58% in last 5 years. Even De Beers, a global diamond mining giant is offering its online auction platform to 3rd party polished diamond sellers. Read more…5. Hottest jewelry this Christmas – New predictions by Karus Chains Using Google’s forecast tool, Karus Chains – an online jewelry retailer specializing in gold chains for men, has mined data and published some interesting trends. They used 22,674 keywords related to 4 categories of jewelry and jewelry brands and thus based on over 48 million searches, have made predictions of most popular jewelry this Christmas. While the most popular jewelry accessory is Engagement rings, Pandora tops the list of most popular designer accessory with its Princess rings and Charm bracelets. For necklaces, Tiffany is the most popular brand. Read more…Technology and applications6. Technology to help diamond evaluation and diamond materials to help future manufacturing Sarine Technologies has invented a machine that will grade a polished diamond, based on clarity and color, instantly. Thus, solutions offered by the company, ‘Sarine ColorTM’ and ‘Sarine ClarityTM’ are expected to bring in new standardization norms. Diamond grading has been a subjective and inconsistent process and is also largely dependent on human skill. This new technology will be a time saver for appraisers.
While, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane based scientist anticipates, based on his research, that Diamond Nano-Threads (DNT) will be as ubiquitous as plastic in future. Diamond Nano-Threads, like carbon nano-tubes are hollow cylinders, 10,000 times thinner than human hair but stronger than steel and brittle. The scientist, Dr. Haifei Zhan has been modeling DNT and has now come up with a technique to enhance its flexibility. Thus, making DNT the most suitable material available for numerous applications. Read more… |
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