Lab Grown Vs Natural Diamond, One Has Resale Value, The Other Does Not

Demand for lab-grown diamonds has rapidly risen in the past five years, as consumers drawn to the idea of getting a bigger, better quality diamond for their budget are buying into a diamond product that has the same chemical and optical properties as natural diamond.

Claims by lab-grown diamond producers and sellers that a diamond is a diamond no matter its origin seem to suggest that diamonds made in a lab and naturally occurring diamonds are equal in all respects, including market value.

What consumers who have bought or might buy lab-grown diamonds may not know, is that if they decide to sell it back into the market, they will likely get nothing in return, as lab-grown diamonds have virtually zero resale value.

Diamond market analyst Paul Zimnisky, founder of Diamond Analytics, wrote in a 2020 opinion piece for the precious metals and mining news KITCO that the essential thing that sets a natural diamond apart

Got Antique Jewelry Worth Something? Here’s How to Sell It!

Perhaps you have inherited or obtained antique or period jewelry that doesn’t suit your style and hasn’t seen the light of day, taking up space in your jewelry box.  

It may be worth more than you think, certainly worth your time to assess its value and how you might sell it, giving it new life to a collector who would love it.

It’s important to understand some of the jargon and what it means when discussing “antique,” “estate,” “vintage,” and “period” jewelry. In the secondhand market estate jewelry means pre-owned, whether it's five years old or 105. Jewelry historian Anna M. Miller, author of the book, “The Buyer’s Guide to Affordable Antique Jewelry,” considers “vintage” another term for pre-owned or estate. Some sources classify jewelry as “vintage” after 20 years, some cite 30 years, and others say at least 50 years old.

The term antique is definitely defined as jewelry that is at least 100 years old. Period jewelry,

Jewelry Designers Find Great Value In Recycled Diamonds & Partnering With Suppliers Like White Pine

Jewelry designers have a lot to manage when developing their brand, whether newbie or veteran in the business. Creating compelling designs and customer engagement demand their full attention for success.

For new designers, especially those who are not generational in the traditionally family run diamond and jewelry industry, it can be challenging to make connections and find vendors who will work with you, especially when you’re new on the scene.

New York City jewelry designer Lauren Goodmay found that to be the case when she started over two years ago to build her brand, Good May Come, which launched in February, and is available online and at Studio Mega in Soho. “If you’re not a generational jeweler, I think it's hard to get places to take you seriously, especially when you’re starting off.”

Goodmay was delighted to find as one of her first vendors White Pine Wholesale, which

Key Insights for Buying & Selling Estate Jewelry 

Jewelers who buy and sell estate jewelry provide relationship-building customer service, as well as an additional profit center for their business.

Offering estate jewelry services can attract both existing and new customers. They can sell unwanted items they don’t know what to do with, support recycling, shop styles from different eras; and take advantage of price savings, sometimes 30% to 40% less than new products.

In addition to offering value to consumers, buying and selling estate jewelry can be profitable for jewelers, establishing them as the full-service jewelry expert in their community.

Partner with Trusted Suppliers

There are several ways jewelers can provide estate jewelry services to their customers. Experts in the field advocate that those interested in getting into or expanding their business in this category to partner with a finite group of suppliers who have deep knowledge of and buying expertise in the

Why Outsourcing Certain Diamond & Jewelry Jobs Makes Good Business Sense for Jewelers

Outsourcing always makes good business sense for companies, both big and small. Generally speaking, outsourcing improves efficiency, reduces costs, and allows companies to focus on their core business.

Not only does contracting out specific tasks save time and money, resulting in lower overhead and staff labor costs, it also allows businesses to tap high-caliber talent for project-specific work. Outsourcing allows a business to expand its team temporarily and strengthen areas of expertise as needed.

Outsourcing empowers jewelers to benefit from the latest technology by leveraging the equipment and expertise of trusted production partners who do these tasks regularly, without jewelers having to make those capital investments.

Farming out specific skilled tasks also eliminates the need for time-consuming training in-house, ensures the work is done correctly, and helps businesses achieve their primary

Test Recycled Diamonds, Offer As Design Option & Extension Of The Estate Case

Over the past couple of years fashion-minded shoppers have placed an even bigger emphasis on sustainability, with fine jewelry topping their wish lists. In particular, recycled diamonds are becoming increasingly important for jewelers, as the global diamond-mining yield continues to diminish, reports Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) in August 2021.

The popularity of recycled diamonds has increased dramatically since the pandemic, with many engagement ring shoppers asking for recycled stones. Jay Moncada, owner of Perpetuum Jewels, told WWD that before the pandemic four out of 10 engagement ring shoppers inquired about recycled diamonds, and now that number is closer to seven.

Jeweler Jean Prounis of Prounis Jewelry told WWD that 100% of her custom engagement ring clients have requested recycled stones. “These diamonds are being reset over and over. It’s nice to work with what already exists — it also goes to show

Pre-Owned Jewelry Market is Booming,  Jewelers Should Get Their Share 

Luxury goods are made to last, and the trend for purchasing pre-owned fine jewelry and watches has been on the rise.

The trend in the secondary market is growing for many reasons, among them an increase in online sales, changing consumer preferences, and rising concern about the sustainability of luxury goods, particularly among younger consumers, finds the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). These trends were well underway before COVID-19 hit, but the pandemic, and the economic slowdown it created, has accelerated them.

Published September 2020, BCG’s report on the hard luxury market shows that the market for secondhand hard luxury items, primarily watches and pre-owned/estate jewelry, is worth over $22 billion worldwide and growing annually at 8%, which is much faster than the luxury industry overall. 

In a BCG survey of 12,000 luxury consumers from 10 countries conducted with Altagamma in 2020, 62% said they

Good As New, Overcoming Recycled Diamonds’ Inferiority Complex

Diamond is the hardest mineral on the planet, so it’s no wonder it’s regarded as the ideal product for recycling. Because of its strength and durability, diamond can be used more than once without trace-of-wear.

Recycled diamonds actually offer the perfect story of sustainability — averting the need to mine or grow in a lab a new diamond product. Recycled diamonds also deliver on natural diamond’s “forever” promise, by maintaining their value as a precious, finite gemstone, and as an enduring symbol of love.

Yet, the perception exists that if a product is recycled/reclaimed/repurposed it may not be of superior quality. 

Recycled diamonds, while not a new concept, is a category that many jewelers, designers, and small manufacturers may never have considered before because they perceive that what is available on the market is of inferior cut and quality to newly manufactured stones.

What they may not know is that

What’s Driving Rising Prices for Small Diamonds in 2022?

High demand for diamonds throughout 2021, coupled with less natural diamonds being produced and manufactured, is causing the rise in diamond prices that is impacting retail in 2022.

The increase in prices is driven by strong demand for jewelry in the United States and China, set against limited supply, as diamond mining and cutting remain low, finds recent research by the market intelligence platform, IndexBox.

Natural diamond prices are increasing dramatically because of the high demand and limited supply that is due to the fixed number of diamond manufacturers and the cost of manufacturing. Some areas of diamond supply are becoming increasingly more difficult to source, mostly smaller sizes in commercial quality, particularly melee (less than 0.20 in carat weight).

But perhaps recycled natural diamonds are best positioned to be a reliable and profitable source for savvy jewelers and designers to incorporate in their business

Recycled Diamonds Vs Lab-Grown - Which Are More Sustainable? 

The lab-grown diamond category has exploded on the consumer market in the last decade, particularly the past few years, positioning itself as an eco-friendly, sustainable alternative to natural diamonds.

But are lab-grown diamonds a more sustainable diamond option than using recycled natural diamonds?

Lab-grown diamond producers market their products as “less of a threat” to the environment than natural diamond mining. They point to the fact that their processes use less water, emit fewer greenhouse gasses, and do not disrupt the earth to bring a diamond to market, as compared to mining diamonds. 

Yet they speak little of the enormous energy needed to grow diamonds. Diamonds are grown in factories using High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) or Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) processes. HPHT produces more diamonds per cycle, CVD allows the grower to better control quality, which is especially important for diamonds