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De Beers Surrenders, Begins Selling Lab-Grown Diamonds

posted by martyb on Thursday May 31 2018, @06:05AM   
from the if-you-can't-beat-'em... dept.

takyon writes:

De Beers admits defeat over man-made diamonds

The world's largest diamond miner is doing the unthinkable: Selling stones produced in a laboratory. De Beers launched a new jewelry brand on Tuesday that features synthetic diamonds, a major reversal for a company that had implored consumers to stick with "real" stones.

The brand, called Lightbox, will offer synthetic diamonds at a fraction of the price it charges for stones pulled out of the earth. De Beers framed the move as a response to consumer demands. "Lightbox will transform the lab-grown diamond sector by offering consumers a lab-grown product they have told us they want but aren't getting: affordable fashion jewelry that may not be forever, but is perfect for right now," said De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver.

[...] De Beers had been an outspoken critic of synthetic diamonds. Company executives vowed never to sell artificial stones, and it participated in the diamond industry's "real is rare" campaign. It even developed a machine that spots lab-grown stones.

Also at Bloomberg and TechCrunch.

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Original Submission

• ''so that they can continue to control the message ''so that they can continue to control the message (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 31 2018, @07:14AM (4 children)

  by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 31 2018, @07:14AM (#686631)

  ...and from TFS:
  implored consumers to stick with "real" stones

  ...because, obviously, the man-made stuff was available from other sources.

  De Beers has done everything possible (legal and illegal) to establish and maintain a monopoly.
  So, why continue to support their foul business model?

  -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

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• Re:''so that they can continue to control the mess Re:''so that they can continue to control the mess (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 31 2018, @01:57PM (2 children)

  by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 31 2018, @01:57PM (#686728)

  So, why continue to support their foul business model?

  This has been the US position for decades. The question has always been why does the rest of the world put up with them?

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  • Re:''so that they can continue to control the mess (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 31 2018, @07:33PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 31 2018, @07:33PM (#686886)

    Guns, bombs, and economic hitmen

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  • Re:''so that they can continue to control the mess (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 31 2018, @11:35PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 31 2018, @11:35PM (#686984)

    It's apparently not the position of a lot of people in the US, who subsidize this company by buying their overpriced rocks and pretend that doing so is "love."

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• Re:''so that they can continue to control the mess (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday May 31 2018, @03:07PM

  by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Thursday May 31 2018, @03:07PM (#686766) Homepage

  I wonder whether this movement implies that the "blood diamonds" and other negative publicity they've garnered (garniered? snigger!) has actually had some effect on their traditional business. I do hope so. Having the monopoly on a product considered increasingly toxic would certainly worry a company, and make them diversify. (C.f. Philip Morris (rebranding to "Altria" and ownership of Kraft/Nabisco/SABMiller) et al.)

  --
  Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves

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