Lightbox Jewelry, the De Beers-owned lab-created diamond jewelry business, has confirmed it has been selling lower-quality diamonds at a significantly reduced price.
The Lightbox Basics collection sets lab-created white diamonds in a sterling silver setting with a minimum standard of SI clarity, faint colour, and a ‘very good’ cut.
Loose diamonds from the collection have been available since February.
According to reporting by Rapaport News, a Lightbox spokesperson confirmed that diamonds from the collection have been sold for as low as $US600 ($AU895).
“True to Lightbox’s mission – to make the sparkle of a diamond available to more people, more often – Lightbox Basics offers a still-beautiful stone at a lower price, giving consumers the opportunity to get the most sparkle for their budget,” the spokesperson said.
In the past, Lightbox has highlighted $US800 as a crucial price point. Per the company’s website:
“Many lab-grown diamonds are priced just like natural diamonds, misleadingly suggesting size plus quality equals rare and expensive. At Lightbox, high quality comes as standard. The price just reflects the carat weight.
“Our leading technology also means we can create lab-grown diamonds in colors that are extremely rare in nature, like blush pink and soft blue. And the price? No difference. Always $US800 a carat.”
Lightbox was launched in 2018 and operates out of Portland, Oregon, producing more than 200,000 diamonds each year.
In June of this year, Steve Coe stepped down from his position as CEO. Coe joined the Lightbox project in 2017 after spending more than two decades working with De Beers synthetic diamond manufacturing unit.
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