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.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by mhajicek on Thursday May 31 2018, @04:30PM (3 children)
The woman who wants the diamond will be more expensive in the long run.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 3, Insightful) by MostCynical on Thursday May 31 2018, @08:32PM (2 children)
They are all expensive in the long run.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 31 2018, @11:43PM (1 child)
Then maybe you're the issue.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday June 01 2018, @03:19AM
Western society is something you live in. Opt out, choose which bits you don't want to "get" in return.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex