By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-13 21:28:56 | Updated at 2026-08-13 23:24:38
9 hours ago
Forget waiting for Prince Charming – women are increasingly buying their own jewellery thanks to the rise in lab-grown diamonds, the chief executive of Swarovski has revealed.
In recent years there has been a boom in the availability of gems that have been grown in a factory.
These are cheaper than traditional mined diamonds but appear completely identical to the naked eye.
This growing popularity of cut-price gems is encouraging more women to walk into jewellery shops and purchase items for themselves, CEO Alexis Nasard said.
Describing the trend as ‘endearing and encouraging’, he said it represents a step forward compared to traditional circumstances, ‘where in most instances it was a man offering a ring to a woman’.
‘Today, a woman comes into our store. She sees it. She’s beautiful. She tries it and says, “You know what? Let me get it [for] myself. I’ve earned this”,’ he told the Financial Times.
He said the trend could soon become even more widespread, adding that more than 60 per cent of stones in diamond engagement rings in the US are already lab-grown.
‘I can very easily see that coming to 80 per cent in the next two years,’ he said. ‘So the train left the station.’
This growing popularity of cut-price gems is encouraging more women to walk into jewellery shops and purchase items for themselves, Swarovski CEO Alexis Nasard said
Lab-grown diamonds, which are primarily produced in China and India, are made by replicating the conditions in which natural diamonds form.
Experts use advanced technology to create stones with essentially the same chemical composition and crystal structure as mined diamonds.
The most common method involves a tiny diamond’s ‘seed’ being placed in carbon and subjected to extremely high pressures and temperatures – mimicking the conditions deep inside Earth.
The carbon melts and gradually crystallises around the seed, forming a diamond.
In another method, a diamond seed is placed inside a chamber filled with a carbon-rich gas, usually methane.
The gas is heated until it breaks down allowing carbon atoms to settle onto the seed layer by layer and grow into a diamond.
Lab-grown diamonds in the UK are significantly cheaper than natural diamonds, typically costing 60 to 85 per cent less for stones of comparable size and quality.
For example, a 1-carat natural diamond often ranges from £2,500 to £6,000+, whereas a matching lab-grown alternative ranges from £500 to £1,750.
The synthetic gems have also become more affordable as production has increased.
‘The price has consistently come down in a fashion similar to other manufactured products, whether it be LED lightbulbs or flat-panel TVs,’ said diamond market analyst Paul Zimnisky.
Lab-grown diamonds could provide a long-term alternative to blood diamonds – also known as conflict diamonds – which are mined in war zones and sold to finance ongoing war efforts.
It could also replace diamond mining which can destroy the surrounding land and release harmful chemicals.
