Udaipur : Lab grown diamonds are making a prominent presence in India and are becoming increasingly popular worldwide. Lab grown diamonds are not only real but also friendly on the pocket and to the environment. With the sparkling rise of lab-grown diamonds across the world and India being the world’s largest producer of Type IIA CVD diamonds – India once again is regaining its claim to fame of being the world’s leading producer of the finest quality diamonds.
With its increasing awareness and significant price hike in gold and naturally mined diamonds, consumers are favouring affordable alternatives of lab-grown diamonds this season. Looking at the rising demand from millennials for diamond jewellery in Udaipur, Limelight Lab-Grown Diamonds, India’s largest sustainable luxury brand will now be available at Pristine Diamonds Jewellery store situated at Ashok Nagar, Udaipur. Pristine Diamonds will be offering all Limelight’s lab-grown CVD diamond studded jewellery at their store counter.
Leading the lab-grown diamond initiative in the consumer space, Limelight Diamonds specializes in sustainable lab-grown CVD diamond studded solitaire jewellery. Limelight has its stand-alone stores in Mumbai & Kolkata and availability across 25 cities including Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Surat, etc., the brand continues to penetrate strongly in the Indian jewellery market.
“India, in my view, not only carries the potential of establishing itself as the production hub for lab- grown diamonds but also emerging as the largest consumer base too. Awareness on lab-grown diamonds is spreading fast in India. Consumers are now more educated on these diamonds. The unique & independent personality of lab-grown diamonds as a sustainable & environmentally friendly yet affordable gemstone is extremely well accepted in the millennial consumers and is increasingly reflecting in the sales of lab-grown diamond studded jewellery across India,” says Mrs. Pooja Sheth Madhavan, MD & Founder of Limelight Lab-Grown Diamonds.
Speaking about the popularity of lab-grown diamonds, Mrs. Loma Suhalka, Owner of Pristine Diamonds, says, “We are witnessing a sweeping consumer shift towards lab grown diamonds. Customers are partially aware and are eager to know more about these eco-friendly diamonds. As a result, we thought, we should offer our clients the best-in-class lab grown diamond studded jewellery by Limelight. These sustainable diamonds will recreate the standards of beauty and they are now the identity of the youth of tomorrow.”
Lab grown diamonds (LGD) are exactly the same as mined diamonds but just grown in labs instead of growing below the earth. Just like the concept of test-tube babies and naturally born babies where the process is different but the output is exactly the same, LGDs are 100% real diamonds that are grown by exactly replicating the diamond creation process which occurs below the surface of the earth. As a result, LGDs have the same chemical, thermal, optical and physical characteristics as a mined diamond.
There are two types of lab-grown diamonds — CVD and HPHT. India particularly specialises and leads in the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) technology that is certified as Type IIA – the purest type of diamonds, which is a rarity to find even in mined diamonds. HPHT diamonds on the other hand are developed in China and contain metal impurities.
The rising demand in lab-grown diamonds has translated into rapid growth in export collections for India. In FY 2022, lab-grown diamond export figures reached $1.3bn and FY 2023 is expected to touch close to $2bn, a 54% jump y/y. Moreover, of the roughly 8,000 diamond polishing units in India, over 20-25% have begun polishing of lab-grown diamonds and 15% polish only lab-grown diamonds exclusively.
Overall, the LGD industry in India is self-assured for a continued growth and expansion determined by both domestic and international demands.