DE BEERS GROUP TO LAUNCH NEW FASHION JEWELRY BRAND WITH LABORATORY-GROWN DIAMONDS

De Beers Group have launched of a new company called Lightbox Jewelry that will begin marketing a new brand of laboratory-grown diamond jewelry under the Lightbox name in September, offering consumers high-quality, fashion jewelry designs at lower prices than existing lab-grown diamond offerings.

Lightbox lab-grown diamonds will retail from US$200 for a quarter-carat stone to US$800 for a one-carat stone. The line will bring something new and innovative to the jewelry sector, featuring pink, blue and white lab-grown diamonds in a selection of accessibly-priced earring and necklace designs.

“Lightbox will transform the lab-grown diamond sector by offering consumers a lab-grown product they have told us they want but aren’t getting: affordable fashion jewelry that may not be forever, but is perfect for right now,” said Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group.

Lightbox Jewelry will offer consumers something new: sparkle and colors, at a very accessible price. In addition to a deep understanding of what consumers want, Lightbox brings innovation and a commitment to transparency to the lab-grown diamond sector. Lightbox will be clear with consumers about what lab-grown diamonds are and will offer straightforward pricing that is consistent with the true cost of production. Lightbox will launch in the US and will initially be available to US-based consumers through the Lightbox e-commerce website, with retail partnerships to be announced in due course.

A subsidiary of De Beers Group, Lightbox will be the only jewelry brand to source lab-grown diamonds from De Beers Group’s Element Six business, a world leader in lab-grown diamond technology for more than 50 years. Any Lightbox lab-grown diamonds of 0.2 carats or above will carry a permanent Lightbox logo inside the stone. Invisible to the naked eye but easily identified under magnification, the logo will clearly identify the stone as lab-grown and also serve as a mark of quality and assurance that it was produced by Element Six.

To support Lightbox, De Beers Group is investing a total of US$94 million over four years in a new Element Six production facility near Portland, Oregon, adding to Element Six’s existing UK-based facilities. Once fully operational, the plant will be capable of producing upwards of 500,000 rough carats of lab-grown diamonds a year.

For more information, visit www.lightboxjewelry.com.