Art diamond threatens diamond dealers

- They are becoming frugal times for many diamond dealers and miners. Companies that continue to ban the artificial laboratory diamond, will find it difficult in a market where prices due to these pebbles pressed out of carbon fall sharply.

That is what ABN Amro Economisch Bureau observes on Monday after research of the sector.

A clear signal for the turnaround in this luxury market is according to economist Georgette Boele the launch as of May 29 of such a laboratory diamond at De Beer, by far the largest supplier and traditionally an innovator in this sector.

De Beer stepped under pressure from suppliers who only work with these cheap stones. It does not end with an experiment: the jewelery brand immediately launched its own line, the Lightbox, with stones that are often 40% cheaper.

The market will get a lot of uncertainty due to these stones in the coming period. Many producers are faced with the step of deciding which direction they want with the diamonds, according to ABN Amro.

The choices of diamond houses have major consequences for suppliers in this sector. 'The consumer is the winner', concludes the analyst for diamonds and precious metals at the bank.

The traditional miners and diamond dealers who promote the original diamonds as 'real' are losing ground. Their market leadership has been threatened by the makers of the lab diamond.

Initially, the original diamonds were extra appreciated when batches of stones were mixed with artificial diamonds.

With the arrival of increasingly sophisticated sorting machines, which compressed stones are almost all taken out, that fear has diminished.

But the lower prices have not left consumers untouched. It is a trend that will continue to be affected for a long time, says ABN Amro.

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