Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

Re:Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems by ce4 on Friday March 09, 2018 @09:20AM (#16551883)

I wouldn't be so quick to say that they won't succeed - their marketing has been managing the public opinion about diamonds for 7 decades. Neither blood diamonds, environmental issues nor the (false) perception of scarcity has brought them down yet.

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Re:Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems by abritinthebay on Friday March 09, 2018 @10:45AM (#16552491)

Managing yes, but managing a decline. Their one lever to keeping prices up has been the (artificial) scarcity.

With that gone they have very little to play with. Fashion, possibly, but that’s strongly fickle & temporary.

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Re:Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems by cptskippy on Saturday March 10, 2018 @01:36PM (#16559581)

It's only been in the last couple decades that those things have come into the public consciousness. It can take decades to change perception, especially with something like diamonds that aren't usually purchased by or for kids.

Those kids growing up in the 90s who heard about all the shit DeBeers did and continues to do are now of the age where they would be a customer and they aren't buying. The up and coming generations certainly don't value diamonds either.

I would bet that in 15-20 years the market will decline significantly further and the artificial diamonds are only going to hasten that decline.

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