For the ring finger, for every finger, I put them everywhere… diamonds, diamonds, diamonds, diamonds,” sings a diverse and strikingly beautiful group of models, actors, and fashion influencers to jazzy music and the lyric “love and happiness” in the background on repeat.
Love and happiness are never enough, continues the advertisement, and “neither is one diamond” is its underlying message. “A girl’s best friend?” asks Pamela Anderson, and “diamonds are for everyone” and “for all the right reasons,” comes the answer, before Vogue magazine’s iconic creative director at large Grace Coddington concludes, “Diamonds for all,” and the tagline reveals: “Pandora: lab-grown diamonds.”
For many, Pandora’s aggressive push into the lab-grown space over the past two years is a sign of things to come. The industry is entering a new phase in which fashion-jewelry collections and brand development will stimulate growth, note several industry consultants and executives. “You’re seeing a lot more fashion product being introduced, whereas before it was so heavily concentrated on bridal,” observes Sherry Smith, director of business development at Edge Retail Academy, a jewelry industry advisory.
While the bridal segment has been a boon for the lab-grown market in the past three years, driving sales during a period of hyper-adoption by retail jewelers, fashion is about to explode, predicts Amish Shah, founder of lab-grown wholesaler Altr Created Diamonds.