De Beers intends to shut its lab-grown diamond jewelry business, Lightbox, the company announced Thursday.
“The planned closure of Lightbox reflects our commitment to natural diamonds,” said De Beers CEO Al Cook. “We are also excited at the growing commercial potential for synthetic diamonds in the technology and industrial space.”
The mining giant is discussing the sale of certain Lightbox assets, including inventory, with potential buyers, it noted. It will work closely with employees, retail partners, suppliers and other stakeholders to ensure a smooth process over the coming months, it said. Customers will continue to receive support for existing purchases, as well as warranties and after-sale care, during the closure process. Lightbox currently has a 20% discount promotion on its website.
Lightbox launched in 2018 to disrupt the synthetics sector, offering fixed, linear per-carat pricing and presenting it as a fun, colorful product rather than one fit for an engagement ring.
Since then, lab-grown prices in the jewelry sector have fallen 90% at wholesale, coming close to a “cost-plus” model, De Beers estimated.
“The persistently declining value of lab-grown diamonds in jewelry underscores the growing differentiation between these factory-made products and natural diamonds,” Cook continued. “Lightbox has helped to highlight the fundamental differences in value between these two categories.”
Global competition continues to intensify in the space, with China increasing its production and US supermarkets driving down retail prices, De Beers explained. “Overall, we expect both the cost and price of lab-grown diamonds to fall further in the jewelry sector,” the executive added.
The decision comes amid De Beers’ move toward becoming a stand-alone company, Cook noted. Current owner Anglo American is seeking a buyer for De Beers and simultaneously starting preparations for an initial public offering (IPO).
In that context, De Beers is optimizing its business, cutting costs and building a “focused” company, Cook elaborated.
About a year ago, De Beers said it would stop producing synthetic diamonds for jewelry, focusing instead on technological applications.
Element Six, De Beers’ synthetic-diamond production unit, will continue to focus exclusively on industrial solutions using lab-grown. De Beers is centralizing these operations at its Element Six production facility in Oregon, US.
Image: A Lightbox pop-up store in New York in 2018. (Lightbox)
