De Beers who has dominated the diamond industry and has appealed the value of "natural stone" to jewelry sales of "synthetic diamond"

Make, distribute, process, wholesale diamondsDe BeersBut in the futureSynthetic diamondThe company plans to sell its products. De Beers has been pointed out that it has been selling large quantities of natural diamonds with value and is therefore a major policy conversion.

De Beers to Sell Diamonds Made in a Lab - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-29/de-beers-is-said-to-make-u-turn-by-selling-man-made-diamonds

De Beers to start selling man-made diamonds
http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/29/news/companies/de-beers-man-made-diamonds/index.html


De Beers is said to have built a diamond cartel since 1880, and the image "Diamond is a symbol of eternity and love" was made by De Beers of the time. With De Beers marketing that uses diamonds as a wedding celebration in the movies or posts stories that recruit celebrities and recall the romantic aspect of diamonds in magazines and newspapers, the value of diamonds is artificially lifted To sayAn indication is also done.

On the other hand, synthetic diamonds have been studied since the 1870's, and it is said that the first synthesis was successful in the 1950's. Synthetic diamond is used for abrasives, cutting tools, heat sinks (heat sinks), etc. because it has better hardness, thermal and electrical conductivity, and electron mobility than natural ones,Quantum Computing ResearchIt is also used.

De Beers has been manufacturing synthetic diamonds used for drilling and machining for a long time, but until now, we have never used synthetic diamonds made in the laboratory as jewelry. De Beers avoided the sale of synthetic diamond jewelry to convince that the customer is "buying the real thing", rather it was in a position to convey the difference between the natural stone and the synthetic product for many years.

De Beers "Diamonds are eternal brilliance" CM 1996 De Beers - YouTube


The background of De Beers' policy change is seen as being based on the existence of competing companies that sell jewelry using synthetic diamonds and consumer needs. The target layer of synthetic diamonds is a young generation who is resistant to buying expensive jewelry, and by the shift of De Beers policy, the diamond industry is "natural diamond decorated with high quality rings such as engagement rings"Millennial generationSynthetic diamond as a fashion item attached "also pointed out that it is divided into two.

De Beers Synthetic DiamondCubic zirconiaUnlike artificial stone which is said to be "close to diamonds", it is said to have physically same properties as natural diamonds. In the synthesis of diamond, the method of "converting carbon into plasma state by applying energy by microwave to a carbon sheet and heating under high pressure" is adopted. This means that particles will crystallize as diamond within a week. The completed synthetic diamond seems to be indistinguishable from natural diamond unless the expert uses identification equipment.

Synthetic diamonds are sold by De Beers under the name "Lightbox" and the price in the US is expected to be 1 carat 800 dollars (about 87 thousand yen). Natural diamonds are about 1/8 carat dollars (about 867,000 yen), so it is about a tenth of the price.

De Beers' CEO Bruce Cleaver said, "Diamonds made at the laboratory are not special, they are not real or unique, they can make the same things over and over again," he said of the difference between natural stone and synthetic products , I will clarify my intention to mainly sell natural stone from now on. Synthetic diamond sales are intended to "create small businesses with high profitability" and do not confuse existing synthetic diamond manufacturers. It also reveals that grading done on natural diamonds is not done for synthetic diamonds.