Inside the fourth quarter, Lightbox dropped the worth of its commonplace lab-grown diamonds (G-J shade and VS readability) from $800 per carat to $600 per carat.
Its “Finest” differ was diminished to $1,000 per carat, down from $1,500 per carat. Finest are Lightbox’s top-quality diamonds, colorless (D-F) and VVS readability.
Lightbox moreover has a line of faint shade (Okay-M), SI readability diamonds it sells as “Fundamentals” for $600 per carat. It did not lower prices on this stuff.
The value trial occurred inside the fourth quarter and resulted in January, the mannequin confirmed.
Lightbox talked about it will proceed to test lower prices with completely different promotions as a result of it evaluates the outcomes of the fourth-quarter test to find out on a model new, eternal price development for its lab-grown diamonds.
“Our clear purpose, from the beginning, has been to produce our lab-grown diamonds at a very good and low cost price,” Lightbox CEO Antoine Borde talked about in an announcement to Nationwide Jeweler. “To remain aggressive in a shortly altering panorama and go our worth efficiencies onto customers, we have been conducting evaluation to align on the most effective price for the mannequin.”
Consumers can anticipate new prices from the company inside the coming months, he talked about.
Lightbox’s fourth-quarter price test gained consideration closing week after De Beers mum or dad agency Anglo American known as it out in its preliminary financial outcomes for 2023.
Inside the outcomes, the company well-known that lab-grown diamonds took market share from pure diamonds closing yr nonetheless talked about it doesn’t depend on that improvement to proceed as the value of artificial diamonds retains falling.
“After sturdy demand in 2021 and 2022, world robust diamond demand fell significantly in 2023. With polished diamond inventories rising and can enhance in inflation and charges of curiosity, jewelry retailers took a cautious technique to purchasing new stock,” Anglo American talked about.
“U.S. consumer demand for pure diamonds was impacted by macro-economic challenges along with rising present of lab-grown diamonds.”
The company continued, “However, whereas product sales of lab-grown diamonds to customers elevated, wholesale lab-grown prices continued to fall sharply … these price declines are anticipated to lead to extra substantial reductions in retail prices (with De Beers’ Lightbox mannequin testing significantly lower prices for its merchandise).
“It should extra reinforce customers’ understanding of the fundamental variations between lab-grown and pure diamond jewelry.”
De Beers’ full product sales in 2023 fell 35 % year-over-year to $4.3 billion. Powerful diamond product sales had been down 37 % to $3.63 billion, as beforehand reported.
Anglo American wrote down the value of De Beers by $1.6 billion.