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Strong Growth Ahead (with Lab-grown diamonds)
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Joelton
Supreme |
27-Jan-2022 10:02
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Metech: Obtaining Exclusive Rights of a Patent to Use and Replicate PECVD Machine, And Technology to Produce High Thermal Conductivity Diamond and Aluminium Composite Materials
> The composite material of diamond and aluminium is a low-k dielectric material that is used in semiconductor manufacturing
> Low-kappa dielectric material implementation is one of several strategies used to allow continued scaling of microelectronic devices, colloquially referred to as extending Moore' s law.
> With its unique physical and electrical properties, there is growing interest in diamond for optical and thermal applications, and for new applications in semiconductor devices
> A lab-grown diamond is a diamond: chemically, physically and optically identical to a mined diamond, hence without the need for mining, lab-grown diamonds are a sustainable source of this important material
Singapore, 27th January 2022 SGX-listed Metech International Limited is pleased to announce that its joint venture company, Asian Eco Technology Pte. Ltd. (" AET" ) (" 亚 洲 易 高 生 态 科 技 有 限 公 司 " ) has obtained exclusive rights of a patent to use and replicate the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition machine (the " PECVD Machine" ) for producing low-k dielectric constant materials, and a type of production technology for manufacturing high thermal conductivity diamonds and aluminium composite materials. These materials are used in semiconductor manufacturing.
Semiconductors are all around us. Without them, the technology that we count on every day would not be possible. Semiconductors are an essential component of electronic devices, enabling advances in communications, computing, healthcare, military systems, transportation, clean energy, and countless other applications. Developments in semiconductor technology during the past 50 years have made electronic devices smaller, faster, and more reliable.
While more widely known to be used in jewellery, diamond possesses an impressive combination of chemical, physical and mechanical properties that are ideal for a wide array of industrial applications.
In addition, there is increasing commercialisation of scientific discoveries for the industrial applications of diamond in the next generation of semiconductors, aerospace, electric vehicles, medical equipment, among others.
Since the announcement on 24 September 2021 in relation to the establishment of a joint venture in the business of lab-grown diamonds between Asian Green Tech Pte. Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, and X Diamond Capital Pte. Ltd., the Company has made various announcements detailing the development of this lab-grown diamond business.
The Company has obtained shareholders approval for the diversification of its core business to include the manufacturing and distribution of lab-grown diamonds and such other related activities at an extraordinary general meeting held on 11 January 2022.
Ms. Samantha Hua, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Metech, said: " With. the exclusive rights of this patent, AET can leverage on the PECVD Machine and Technology for the purpose of lab-grown diamonds business and produce low-k dielectric material that is used in semiconductor manufacturing. We will continue to share key milestones of our progress as we move ahead."
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For_The_Next_Leg
Veteran |
18-Jan-2022 10:36
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$MetechIntl(V3M.SI)
This will indirectly positively affect the lab-grown diamond prices as well. Because if everyone " follows the leader" and raise prices, this is positive for Metech.
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/1/17/bling-ka-ching-de-beers-aggressively-hikes-diamond-prices
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LowLow12
Elite |
14-Jan-2022 19:43
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Memiontec Kena already.
Metech better be careful I throw to you you throw to me I throw to him he throw to her left to right right to left doesn?t work. Sgx knows. Did you notice share price recently weak on Low volume recently? Smart players lie low. Don?t be the dying hero |
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Joelton
Supreme |
11-Jan-2022 09:11
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' Strong potential' in lab-grown diamond market: Metech International
THE lab-grown diamond market has " strong potential" given that consumers today are more concerned about the environmental, sustainability and ethical impacts of mined diamonds, said Catalist-listed Metech International
The company was responding to shareholders' queries about its lab-grown diamond business ahead of its upcoming extraordinary general meeting on Jan 11.
Metech added that in a bid to attract consumers, the price points of lab-grown diamonds will be lower than mined ones.
This is possible thanks to the lower production costs of lab-grown diamonds. It also a more sustainable way of producing diamonds, said Metech.
Apart from being identical to mined diamonds, lab-grown diamonds and other super hard materials are found to be 10 times more durable, said Metech.
This means that equipment manufactured with these materials for industrial applications will also be " extremely effective" at polishing, cutting and drilling.
Plans are underway to promote the sustainable development of the lab-grown diamond market in China via new initiatives with China' s Guangzhou Diamond Exchange, said Metech.
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For_The_Next_Leg
Veteran |
21-Oct-2021 12:10
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$MetechIntl(V3M.SI) New developments!
With all the collaboration globally, the company has lease an industrial building and will expected to commence by the end of December 2021 and the labgrown diamonds will be produced on a bi-weekly basis!
Looking forward!
https://links.sgx.com/1.0.0/corporate-announcements/8EDOSU85ZS5LIMDY/6ab130107f318305df597652a572b25ad15daa6ac14e2013459e089d51f3107a
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spursfan
Elite |
18-Oct-2021 12:56
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PRESS RELEASE Collaboration with Ningbo Crysdiam, a Specialised, High-Tech Manufacturer of Large-sized Lab-Grown Diamonds and Diamond-related Industrial Tools and Equipment - A lab-grown diamond is a diamond: chemically, physically and optically identical to a mined diamond - Diamond is one of the strongest materials in the world and it is also one of the best thermal conductors known, hence diamond is also commonly used for various industrial applications in medical equipment, aerospace, semiconductors, among others. - Lab-grown diamonds are considered as a sustainable source and perfect substitute of mined diamond Singapore, 18 th October 2021 &ndash SGX-listed Metech International Limited (&ldquo Metech&rdquo or the &ldquo Company&rdquo , &ldquo 铭 泰 国 际 &rdquo and together with its subsidiaries, the &ldquo Group&rdquo ), is pleased to announce that its joint venture company, Asian Eco Technology Pte. Ltd. (&ldquo AET&rdquo or &ldquo 易 高 生 态 科 技 有 限 公 司 &rdquo ) has entered into a collaboration with Ningbo Crysdiam Industrial Technology Co. Ltd. (宁 波 晶 钻 工 业 科 技 有 限 公 司 ) (&ldquo Ningbo Crysdiam&rdquo ), which AET will procure lab-grown diamonds from Ningbo Crysdiam as part of its supply chain and production strategy in this specialised and niche market. Ningbo Crysdiam was established in 2013 and it is one of the first company to specialise in the production of large-sized lab-grown diamonds as well as manufacture diamondrelated industrial tools and equipment. Ningbo Crysdiam has set up a R& D centre for labgrown diamonds with Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering, Chiense Academy of Sciences. In addition, Ningbo Crysdiam has established various long-term strategic partnerships and collaboration with several overseas business partners, universities and research institutions. For more information on Ningbo Crysdiam, please visit their website: http://www.crysdiam.com/ https://links.sgx.com/1.0.0/corporate-announcements/6CMHTA5F02TZIOB5/687115_PR%20-%20Collaboration%20with%20Ningbo%20Crysdiam.pdf |
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For_The_Next_Leg
Veteran |
15-Oct-2021 10:19
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$MetechIntl(V3M.SI)
Another press release! Wow....and its really going globally.
" entered into a collaboration agreement to supply Swiss-based Selene Jewelry Sà rl (&ldquo Selene Jewelry&rdquo ) with its lab-grown diamonds (approximately 10,000cts to 20,000cts per annum). In addition, Selene Jewelry will be appointed as the main distributor of its lab-grown diamonds in Europe.
Located at the Swiss French Riviera region-Montreux, Switzerland, Selene Jewelry represents brands of various independent jewellery designers. Focusing on natural diamonds and lab-grown diamonds business, Selene Jewelry has established an omni-channel jewellery business in Europe with a presence in Switzerland and covering other European Union countries such as Greece, Italy and France"
https://links.sgx.com/1.0.0/corporate-announcements/TJRY8ZE109LWWMI8/228da4f0946d00e15e0d312d2d119857277d201696b97331594635baabff169c
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WBdisciple
Master |
14-Oct-2021 09:16
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https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200207-the-sparkling-rise-of-the-lab-grown-diamond The sparkling rise of the lab grown diamond Diamonds are now widely seen as the ultimate expression of love thanks largely to clever marketing by the industr 10th February 2020 Young people are falling out of love with mined diamonds because of their high environmental and humanitarian costs. How do their alternative, lab-made diamonds, measure up? On a grey January morning in 2019 Meghan Markle emerged onto a London street on her way to a meeting. She wore a smart coat and heels, but it was not her clothing that caught the attention of the world. It was a pair of glittering drop earrings embedded with diamonds that had been grown in a lab. It took just five days to grow the diamonds adorning Markle&rsquo s ears according to Sidney Neuhaus, co-founder of Kimaï , the company that made them. Based in Antwerp, the capital of the world&rsquo s diamond business, both she and her co-founder Jessica Warch grew up in diamond families. Nauhaus&rsquo s father owns a diamond jewellery shop, and her grandfather worked for De Beers, making his career in diamonds after World War Two. Despite their illustrious family histories in the trade, Neuhaus and Warch chose to break away from conventional diamonds because of the environmental and humanitarian toll of extracting them. Millennials and now Generation Z &ndash who together are the main purchasers of diamonds for engagement rings &ndash are moving away from conventional diamonds, with nearly 70% of millennials considering buying a lab grown alternative. (Read more about the rise of guilt free gems.) So what are lab grown diamonds, and are they really a more sustainable alternative to traditional mined diamonds? You might also like: &bull Can we heat buildings without fossil fuels? &bull The quest to make a material harder than diamonds &bull How does Future Planet count carbon? First up, a lab-grown diamond is a diamond: chemically, physically and optically identical to a mined diamond. Naturally occurring diamonds are forged in the crushing pressure and immense heat of the Earth&rsquo s mantle around 100 miles underground. Most were formed between 1bn and 3bn years ago at a time when our planet was hotter than it is today. There is little to differentiate lab grown diamonds from those that occur naturally other than the way they are made (Credit: Getty Images) There is little to differentiate lab grown diamonds from those that occur naturally other than the way they are made (Credit: Getty Images) Lab-grown diamonds are also created using extreme pressure and heat, but inside a machine rather than the bowels of the Earth. There are two ways to grow a diamond. Both involve starting with the &ldquo seed&rdquo (a flat slither) of another diamond. The first lab diamond was made using a High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) system, where the seed is then placed amidst some pure graphite carbon and exposed to temperatures of about 1,500C and pressurised to approximately 1.5 million pounds per square inch in a chamber. More recently, another way to grow a diamond was discovered, called Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). This involves putting the seed in a sealed chamber filled with carbon-rich gas and heating to around 800C. Under these conditions the gases begin to &ldquo stick&rdquo to the seed, growing a diamond carbon atom by atom. Lab-grown diamonds are created using extreme pressure and heat inside a machine rather than the bowels of the Earth The technology behind lab diamonds has made crucial advances in recent years, allowing companies to grow higher quality diamonds more rapidly and more cheaply. It has meant growing competition between lab diamond and mined diamond companies. Today, it costs $300 to $500 per carat to produce a CVD lab-grown diamond, compared with $4,000 per carat in 2008, according to a report commissioned by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC). Lab-grown diamonds are a rapidly growing trend in the industry. Young diamond-buyers are drawn to them by price, transparency and for environmental reasons, with this segment of the market increasing by between 15% and 20% annually, according to the AWDC report. The growth is expected to continue as more jewellers start to sell lab diamonds and more labs are launched. Environmental credentials But lab diamonds are not without fault. A distinct lack of transparency makes it difficult to source accurate data to compare the carbon footprints of mined and lab diamonds, but the energy needed to produce a lab diamond is significant. One report on the topic, commissioned by the Diamond Producers Association, suggests that the greenhouse gas emissions produced mining natural diamonds is three times less than those created when growing diamonds in a lab. It&rsquo s worth noting that the DPA represents seven of the world&rsquo s largest diamond miners, including De Beers, Alrosa and Rio Tinto. Extremely high temperatures are needed to grow diamonds in the laboratory, which uses a large amount of energy (Credit: Getty Images) Extremely high temperatures are needed to grow diamonds in the laboratory, which uses a large amount of energy (Credit: Getty Images) However, some lab diamond companies have been warned by the Federal Trade Commission in the US to be careful when presenting themselves as &ldquo eco-friendly&rdquo without evidence to substantiate these claims. Companies including Ada Diamonds and the Leonardo DiCaprio backed Diamond Foundry in the US were among them. However, the latter says that it is certified as carbon neutral by the third party Natural Capital Partners and uses only renewable energy. Figures published by Diamond Foundry suggest that the total environmental footprint of mined diamonds is much higher than lab diamonds. &ldquo It takes an entire factor more energy to extract an underground diamond from Earth than it takes to create one above ground... On top of this, the energy used in mining is generally dirty diesel versus renewable energy in our above-the-ground production,&rdquo says a blog post on their website. An estimated 250 tonnes of earth is shifted for every single carat of diamond. For context, 148 million carats were mined in 2018. Indeed, some mines are now so huge they can be seen from space using Nasa&rsquo s Terra satellite. A 2014 report by consulting firm Frost & Sullivan also showed that mined diamonds require twice as much energy per carat than those grown in a lab. It estimated that 57kg of carbon are released into the atmosphere for every single carat mined, but claimed lab grown diamonds release barely more than a few grams, but this assumes renewable energy is used and some in the industry have cast doubt on the reliability of the report. An estimated 250 tonnes of earth is shifted for every single carat of diamond The figure is far less than that estimated by another consultancy Trucost, which produced the previously mentioned report for the Diamond Producers Association. They put the carbon emissions from lab grown diamonds at 510kg CO2 per polished carat and those from mined diamonds at 160kg CO2 per polished carat. Researchers at Anglo American, the parent company of De Beers, have also been working on a project to reduce the carbon footprint of mined diamonds by capturing carbon dioxide inside a porous mined rock known as kimberlite. Led by the company&rsquo s geologist Evelyn Mervine, they have been developing a process called &ldquo mineral carbonation&rdquo as a way of off-setting the greenhouse emissions that come from the mining process. Diamond mining can involve the removal of vast amounts of earth and rock which creates holes so big they can be seen from space (Credit: Alamy) Diamond mining can involve the removal of vast amounts of earth and rock which creates holes so big they can be seen from space (Credit: Alamy) But the environmental damage from diamond mining goes further than simply its carbon emissions. Diamond mining has been linked to pollution of water sources used by local people due to acid mine drainage. This occurs when minerals from the mined rocks seep into the water supply. The University of Waterloo in Canada describes it as &ldquo one of the mining industries top environmental liabilities&rdquo . Although acid mine drainage is not exclusively a problem for the diamond industry &ndash it occurs at many metal and coal mines too &ndash researchers at the University of Waterloo have been working with the Diavik diamond gem mine in Canada&rsquo s Northwest Territories to reduce this pollution from waste rock. Mining has also caused the destruction of habitats in Canada and beyond. In 2016, The Wall Street Journal reported that De Beers had killed over 18,000 fish draining a Canadian lake for diamond mining. In India, diamond mines have been blamed for placing highly endangered tiger populations under further pressure. Diamond mining has been linked to pollution of water sources used by local people due to acid mine drainage So, while neither lab diamond nor mined diamond industries are perfect, the wider environmental price from the latter can be higher. Indeed, the former Tiffany chief executive Michael J. Kowalski wrote in a 2015 New York Times opinion piece, &ldquo few industries in the world have a larger environmental and social footprint than mining&rdquo . Flawed origins Indeed, the environmental and humanitarian harms from diamond mining are closely intertwined. Some diamond mines employ miners on low wages in unsafe conditions. Even diamonds extracted in accordance with the Kimberley Process, established in the early 2000s to reduce the trade in conflict diamonds, can have obscured origins. A source in the conflict resources team at the non-governmental organisation Global Witness, who wishes not to be named to protect their identity, says that there are many holes in the process. &ldquo The definition of a &lsquo conflict diamond&rsquo as the Kimberley Process sees it is a diamond which is funding an armed group which is trying unseat a legitimate government,&rdquo she says. Over the years, the links between mined diamonds and human rights abuses have evolved far beyond that definition. &ldquo The Kimberley Process has failed to keep up,&rdquo she adds. She gives an example of a huge discovery of diamonds in Zimbabwe in the mid-2000s that led to the deaths of hundreds of civilian miners. The diamonds found here were traded in Antwerp and Dubai, &ldquo circulating freely on international markets&rdquo , according to a Global Witness report. Diamond mining provides employment in developing countries but is also surrounded by humanitarian concerns (Credit: Getty Images) Diamond mining provides employment in developing countries but is also surrounded by humanitarian concerns (Credit: Getty Images) Further down the supply chain, things get murkier still, as once a stone is cut and polished it is no longer traced by the Kimberley Process. Diamonds pass through multiple trading hubs on their journey from mine to shop, and often end up mixed with diamonds from other countries of export. The result is that even among diamonds with Kimberley Process certification, many companies cannot trace the diamonds they use back to their country of origin. A 2018 report from Human Rights Watch, which investigated major jewellers including Buglari, Pandora, Cartier and Tiffany & Co, says, &ldquo None of the companies can identify all of their diamonds&rsquo individual mines of origin.&rdquo But there is also concern that the demand for lab diamonds could take away jobs from resource-rich developing countries. Brad Brooks-Rubin, previous special advisor on conflict diamonds to the US Department of State and now managing director at The Sentry/Enough Project, an organisation that aims to end mass atrocities in Africa&rsquo s deadliest conflict zones, asks, &ldquo is it ethical to guide people away from buying diamonds from developing countries, where a million people or more rely on the work?&rdquo Giving back The humanitarian questions around lab and mined diamonds remain knotty, but there is one way that lab diamonds come out on top in terms of environmental impact. Diamonds for jewellery make up only 30% of the market, with the rest sold for use in drilling, cutting and grinding. It&rsquo s in this area that lab diamonds can actually be used for environmental benefit. A thin coating of diamond has also been shown to reduce friction in moving mechanical parts, from windmills to cars One of their industrial uses is disinfecting polluted water sources. This is done by adding the mineral boron during the diamond-growing process to create a &ldquo boron-doped diamond&rdquo , which is able to conduct electricity. By then applying current to the diamond it oxidises otherwise toxic organic compounds in a process called mineralisation, which turns them into a biodegradable form. Jason Payne, chief executive of Ada Diamonds, argues that lab diamonds can also significantly reduce the carbon footprints in communications and transport. The reason lab diamonds have the edge on mined diamonds here is down to their purity and hardness, with lab-grown diamonds found to be ten times more durable than natural diamonds. Diamonds are among the hardest materials on the planet, which means the only way to polish a rough diamond is with another one (Credit: Getty Images) Diamonds are among the hardest materials on the planet, which means the only way to polish a rough diamond is with another one (Credit: Getty Images) &ldquo A diamond is the ultimate known semiconductor&hellip far superior to silicon or other materials,&rdquo says Payne. Using lab diamonds in transistors reduces the energy lost as heat as electricity is conducted from the power plant to devices such as your mobile phone as it charges. The US Department of Energy reports that diamond-based components reduce these losses by up to 90%. A thin coating of diamond has also been shown to reduce friction in moving mechanical parts, from windmills to cars. Nissan reported a reduction in friction between engine parts of approximately 40% when using diamond film. In contrast with lab diamonds, mined diamonds &ldquo do not have the purity required for many of these applications,&rdquo argues Payne. The diamond illusion In the past, when faced with existential threat, the mined diamond industry has advertised its way out of trouble. Indeed, the reason many of us are so fond of diamonds stems from a clever advertising campaign launched by De Beers in 1947. The company forever changed culture when it convinced us that &ldquo a diamond is forever&rdquo , and that a diamond ring is a quintessential part of getting engaged. The idea that diamonds are rare is also a carefully crafted marketing illusion. In fact, excessive supply of diamonds has recently led to speculation that De Beers will reduce its number of contracted buyers. The company has confirmed it will review the contracts of its rough diamond customers when they expire at the end of this year. But as lab diamonds grow in popularity, the usual rebranding effort doesn&rsquo t appear to be working for mined diamonds. The industry faces issues of oversupply and a slump in demand across the globe &ndash particularly in China, the world&rsquo s second largest diamond market, where sales declined by 5% in 2019. At an industry meeting on the rooftop of a fancy London hotel at the end of November, Simon Forrester, chief executive of the UK&rsquo s National Association of Jewellers told an audience that, &ldquo as an industry we are suffering, [due to] lacking consumer confidence&rdquo . The diamond behemoth De Beers recently announced it cut production by 15% in late 2019 due to weak prices. Demand for diamonds is declining in many parts of the world at a time when the industry has an oversupply of the gemstones (Credit: Getty Images) Demand for diamonds is declining in many parts of the world at a time when the industry has an oversupply of the gemstones (Credit: Getty Images) As environmental sustainability and social welfare rise on consumers&rsquo agenda, Neuhaus says she has noticed a change in atmosphere in Antwerp. &ldquo When I was younger [Antwerp was] super dynamic. Business was flourishing for everyone. Now when I go back you can feel there is another mood&hellip there is less money than before,&rdquo she says. Neuhaus&rsquo s story of splitting away from her traditional family business into the more high-tech world of lab-grown diamonds is symbolic of this change in the air. With clients like Meghan Markle on her books, her lab diamond business is thriving. When it comes to jewellery, Neuhaus says that the real value in diamonds, mined or lab-grown, is not really about price or rarity. &ldquo It&rsquo s more about the emotional value,&rdquo she says, fingering a long gold necklace with a green pendant on it hanging around her neck. &ldquo This was the first piece of jewellery I made for myself.&rdquo For this reason, as long as diamonds hold their emotional resonance, jewellers will continue to sell them, both lab-grown and mined. |
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WBdisciple
Master |
13-Oct-2021 09:43
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More to come??? More Lab-Grown Diamond Jewelry In Stores And A 2022 Wedding Boom Is Formula For Explosive Growth Pamela N. Danziger Forbes 2022 will be the year of the wedding. According to The Wedding Report, some 2.5 million couples will tie the knot next year, following a two-year lull when only 1.3 married in 2020 and 1.9 million in 2021. That will break a previous record for marriages set in 1984. Not only will a historic number of couples wed next year, they will spend more on their weddings. The average cost will reach $24,300, up 8% from the $22,500 spent in 2021. This will be welcome news for the many businesses that rely upon the wedding trade, like reception venues and caterers, photographers, planners, florists, bridal fashions, tuxedo and limousine rental services. But most especially jewelers will benefit from the wedding boom, since couples spend more on their engagement ring &ndash $5,500 in 2020 plus $900 for a woman&rsquo s wedding band and $500 for men&rsquo s &ndash than on any other category after direct costs associated with the reception, such as venue rental, food and beverage, according to The Knot. Unlike other service businesses serving the bridal market, jewelry retailers won&rsquo t have to wait till 2022 to enjoy the largesse. Their season will begin this fourth quarter, as December is the peak month to get engaged. That means couples will start shopping for their engagement ring and wedding jewelry in October and November. Another choice this year Buying a diamond engagement ring is often approached with trepidation. Understanding the complexities of the 4Cs &ndash Cut, Color, Clarity, Carats &ndash and translating that into price is confusing to an individual or couple buying a diamond for the first time. And deciding where to make this life-changing purchase adds even more complexity. While e-commerce jewelry retailers, like Blue Nile and James Allen, have been capturing a greater share of the diamond engagement market, only 11% of couples bought their engagement ring online last year, according to The Knot. The vast majority still prefer to go to a jewelry store and make their purchase there. When they show up at the jewelry store counter this year, they will have another decision to make that they wouldn&rsquo t have confronted just two years ago: whether to buy a natural mined diamond or a lab-grown one. For years, lab-grown diamond jewelry has existed in an alternative online universe. Traditional jewelers and brands have shunned the category, so the only place to buy them was online, sight-unseen. But the tide is turning. Crossing over into physical retail More digital-first jewelry brands are now making the move into brick-and-mortar retail, such as Brilliant Earth now with 14 showrooms and Diamond Foundry&rsquo s jewelry brand VRAI just opened its first U.S. store front in Los Angeles. And about half of the nation&rsquo s independent jewelers will be stocking them this year, according to Marty Hurwitz of MVEye, including major regional chains like Michael&rsquo s and Reeds. But most importantly, Signet, the nation&rsquo s largest jewelry company with its Kay, Zales and Jared stores and the world&rsquo s largest diamond retailer, now offers lab-grown diamonds too, after first testing the category&rsquo s appeal online under its James Allen banner beginning in 2020. &ldquo As a consumer-inspired company, we offer both natural and lab created diamonds to our new and loyal customers at Signet. We have expanded offerings within our Kay, Zales and Jared locations,&rdquo shares Tonia Zehrer, senior vice president and chief merchandising officer. &ldquo While natural diamonds continue to have great appeal for customers, lab-created diamonds offer an additional popular choice with customers looking for larger stones and qualities at fantastic price points,&rdquo Zehrer continues. Signet&rsquo s decision to sell lab-grown diamonds in its stores is a turning point for the industry&rsquo s acceptance of this emerging category. &ldquo Now that Signet is in it, other jewelers will have to take a hard look at this category or lose out on it,&rdquo Hurwitz says. &ldquo There remain a lot of diehard diamond traditionalists, like Tiffany and Cartier, that continue to resist it. But who wouldn&rsquo t want to carry the most in-demand thing in their store?&rdquo Seeing is believing Crossing over from the digital world into physical retail is a natural progression for an innovative product, like lab-grown diamonds, for an emotional-led, high-ticket purchase, like engagement rings. &ldquo Consumers are looking for an experience and jewelry is an experiential product. A fine piece of jewelry is sold across the counter, not by a picture. It&rsquo s all about how it feels when he or she has it on,&rdquo explains Amish Shah, president of ALTR Created Diamonds, part of R A Riam Group, a family owned business specializing in both natural and lab-grown diamonds. &ldquo When you are buying a $5,500 engagement ring, you want to have someone to go back to for service. The consumer wants to walk through the door and feel taken care of,&rdquo Shah continues. It&rsquo s in the store where the customer can see in-person how much further their $5,500 budget goes buying a lab grown compared with a mined diamond that the decision becomes easier. All boats rise with this tide Dollar for dollar, a customer can get a bigger stone and comparable, if not better quality, with a lab-grown diamond, which is exactly the same chemically and structurally as a natural one. This is most meaningful when consumers consider an engagement ring where the center stone is the star, but the greater affordability of lab growns is also expanding the overall diamond jewelry market. &ldquo Today retailers can carry four karat lab-grown diamond stud earrings that would have been price prohibitive before. And it is expanding the bracelet and necklace business further,&rdquo Shah maintains. &ldquo Lab growns have expanded the bandwidth of the jewelry market and their market share is growing many times faster than the jewelry market as a whole.&rdquo Brittany Lewis, chief marketing officer for WD Lab Grown Diamonds, one of the nation&rsquo s leading diamond growers, believes adoption of lab-grown diamonds by brick-and-mortar retailers will unlock even faster growth for the category going forward. &ldquo It&rsquo s about consumer education and retailer adoption is the main driver of growth there,&rdquo she maintains. &ldquo Consumers are also intrigued by the sustainability story, but not all are grown to WD&rsquo s certified climate neutrality level. As consumers learn more, compare the price-value relationship, and come to understand the sustainability certification we offer, it becomes the deciding factor. Consumers want to buy from a retailer they trust, where they&rsquo ve built a relationship or are part of a community.&rdquo MVEye research confirms lab growns&rsquo comparative appeal. Jewelers that carry lab growns report a closing ratio between 60% to 80% once customers learn more about the product. To date the only limiting factor in lab-grown&rsquo s growth has been limited supply, especially for larger-karat, higher-quality Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) stones. Lewis shares her company just completed a large research study that found 70% of the jewelers surveyed experienced first-hand supply constraints in lab-grown diamonds. Her company is answering that by driving greater production and efficiency through its Washington, DC facility. &ldquo There is so much more demand than any diamond producer can supply,&rdquo Lewis says. However, MVEye&rsquo s Hurwitz reports the industry is rapidly overcoming its supply limitation with over a dozen large prime growers, like WD, working overtime to meet demand. All aboard For the remaining 50% of independent jewelers still on the fence about carrying lab growns, Hurwitz has one final factoid that should make the decision easier: better margins. Over three-fourths of jewelers MVEye surveyed reported margins in lab-grown diamonds were 16% to 40%+ better than mined diamonds. &ldquo It&rsquo s not an either/or choice, but both,&rdquo he says. &ldquo There isn&rsquo t a lot of cannibalization going on. Rather lab growns are growing the whole jewelry diamond pie, expanding the market and bringing in new customers.&rdquo Even though awareness is high &ndash 80% of jewelry consumers have heard about lab-grown diamonds &ndash until this year, they have had little opportunity to see them and experience them in real life. Rather, they had to rely on the often inadequate displays on the computer screen. Getting to compare lab growns side-by-side with mined diamonds could unleash an even greater boom in lab-grown sales, especially as the wedding jewelry market takes off starting this fourth quarter. &ldquo Lab growns are rapidly becoming mainstream,&rdquo Hurwitz reports. &ldquo It&rsquo s not one versus the other, just a new category for consumers to choose from. Lab growns have a very attractive story for consumers. This fourth quarter is when we start to see the category really evolve.&rdquo |
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WBdisciple
Master |
13-Oct-2021 07:49
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3 Tie-Ups in One Day and they are major players in the diamond and jewellery industry!!! been reading up on lab-grown diamonds...the prospects are very strong...forbes articles on lab-grown articles are very good.. https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2021/02/14/lab-grown-or-natural-diamonds-the-choice-is-getting-clearer-for-consumers-and-retailers/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2021/05/06/lab-grown-diamonds-gain-even-more-credibility-with-pandora-and-diamond-foundry-news/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2020/10/30/lab-grown-diamonds-need-to-be-on-every-jewelry-stores-shopping-list/ |
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tedlim
Senior |
13-Oct-2021 07:44
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Another big name tie-up...KDT Diamond is HUGE in Korea...
Collaboration with KDT Diamond, one of the Largest Diamond Distribution and Manufacturing Companies in Korea &bull A lab-grown diamond is a diamond: chemically, physically and optically identical to a mined diamond
&bull AET has the technological capabilities to produce the highest grade of lab-grown diamonds that are used for jewellery
&bull Established since 1986, KDT Diamond is the largest diamond company in Korea with a few hundred retail stores in the country and it has also developed various online sales channels for its diamond and jewellery business activities
&bull There is a growing trend of jewellery manufacturers and retailers adopting lab-grown diamonds as consumers make more informed and conscious decisions on their jewellery purchases
Singapore, 12th October 2021 &ndash SGX-listed Metech International Limited (&ldquo Metech&rdquo or the &ldquo Company&rdquo , and together with its subsidiaries, the &ldquo Group&rdquo ), is pleased to announce that its joint venture company, Asian Eco Technology Pte. Ltd. (&ldquo AET&rdquo ) has entered into an agreement with KDT DIAMOND Co.,Ltd (&ldquo KDT Diamond&rdquo ).
Established since 1986, KDT Diamond is one of the largest diamond distribution and manufacturing companies in Korea with hundreds of retail stores in the country and it has also developed various online sales channels for its diamond and jewellery business activities.
For more information on KDT Diamond, please visit https://www.diakorea.co.kr/.
Under the agreement, AET will provide a steady supply and minimum quantity of rough and polished lab-grown diamonds to KDT Diamond annually. At the same time, both companies will explore joint venture arrangement to develop the lab-grown diamond business in Korea.
Ms. Samantha Hua, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Metech, said: &ldquo KDT Diamond is the most prolific jeweller in Korea and our ability to supply them with our jewellerygrade lab-grown diamonds reflects our technological capabilities in this specialised market.
Sales of jewellery with lab-grown diamonds has grown significantly and we believe that this trend will continue as consumers make more informed and conscious decisions on their jewellery purchases.&rdquo
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TheMatrix
Elite |
12-Oct-2021 15:41
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Price dropped after halt trade lifted.. Lab made diamond, no good meh? |
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WBdisciple
Master |
12-Oct-2021 14:54
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Forbes: Lab-Grown Diamonds Gain Even More Credibility As Pandora And Diamond Foundry Ditch Mined Gems https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2021/05/06/lab-grown-diamonds-gain-even-more-credibility-with-pandora-and-diamond-foundry-news/?sh=3f56c1c8258a Lab-grown diamonds, the manmade alternative to naturally-grown diamonds, have faced an uphill battle to be recognized by the jewelry industry as an acceptable alternative to mined diamonds. Now Pandora, the world&rsquo s largest jewelry company by volume, and Diamond Foundry, one of the nation&rsquo s leading producers of lab-grown diamonds, are out with news that prove the staying power and skyrocketing demand for a modern, affordable alternative to mined diamonds. After years of being denounced by many as synthetic, fake and artificial, the industry&rsquo s trash talk was forced to end in 2018 when the FTC removed the word &ldquo natural&rdquo from its previous definition of a diamond: &ldquo a natural mineral consisting essentially of pure carbon crystallized in the isometric system.&rdquo Now both lab and naturally grown &ldquo pure carbon crystallized stones&rdquo can be called diamonds. The only hitch is manmade diamonds must be clearly identified as such in advertising and labeling to distinguish them from the natural kind. All the while, consumers have been clamoring for the stones that the industry rejected. Awareness of lab growns grew from virtually nil in 2004/2005, when MVEye conducted its first U.S. consumer study, to 80% in 2020. And in a just-released report, Europe isn&rsquo t far behind, with 77% awareness in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Great Britain. The consumer appeal is clear. Lab-grown diamonds are in every way, chemically and compositionally, the same as mined diamonds and they are graded by the same 4Cs industry standard &ndash color, clarity, cut and carat weight. But &ndash and this is the best part for consumers &ndash they typically retail at a 30% or more discount off their natural diamond equivalent. Lab-Grown Diamonds Need To Be On Every Jewelry Store&rsquo s Shopping List &ldquo Consumers already accept lab-grown diamonds in all channels,&rdquo remarks Marty Hurwitz, CEO of MVEye. &ldquo The roadblock to the success of this category has never been the consumer it has been the trade.&rdquo Seeing the writing on the wall, the industry has finally begun to open the doors to lab growns. DeBeers, the mined-diamond powerhouse that has exercised near-monopolistic control of supply and prices, launched its Lightbox Jewelry lab-grown collection aimed at the fashion jewelry market, but reserved its mined-diamonds for engagement, wedding and anniversary jewelry, the market&rsquo s cash-cow. Signet Jewelers SIG -4%, the largest U.S. jewelry retailer and the world&rsquo s largest retailer of diamond jewelry, now sells them side-by-side with mined diamonds in its stores, including Zales, Jared, James Allen, and Kay Jewelers. And in the last week, more barriers of resistance broke down. Pandora, the Danish jewelry manufacturer and retailer and the world&rsquo s largest jewelry producer by volume, though it trails Cartier and Tiffany in sales, just announced it would use only lab-grown diamonds worldwide by 2022, following an introduction of its first Pandora Brilliance lab-grown diamond collection in the U.K. this week. Pandora is famous for its collectible charm bracelets. This follows news Diamond Foundry, one of the nation&rsquo s leading producers of lab-grown diamonds, secured $200 million in Series C funding from Fidelity, raising the company&rsquo s valuation to $1.8 billion. The investment will be used to ramp up production to &ldquo mining scale,&rdquo CEO Martin Roscheisen told the Financial Times. The company aims to raise production to 5 million carats to meet increased demand for semi-conductors and its Vrai jewelry business. Supply, not demand, has been an ongoing challenge for the lab-grown business. Commenting on these two major lab-grown diamond industry announcements, Hurwitz says, &ldquo It&rsquo s a resounding affirmation of the category and it all happened in a seven-day time frame.&rdquo Pandora follows its customers into a new category Described on its website as positioned in the &ldquo affordable luxury segment of the fine jewelry market,&rdquo Pandora is taking &ldquo one small step&rdquo for the company, but a &ldquo giant leap&rdquo for the jewelry industry by committing to lab-growns for its future. Before, diamonds never fit into the company&rsquo s promise to its customers, or in corporate-speak, it&rsquo s business model. &ldquo We are very clear with the values that underpin the Pandora brand proposition &ndash collectability, personalization and desirability. All three drive the idea of us helping people express themselves and whenever we branch out or stretch the brand, it has to fulfill these criteria to a degree,&rdquo Pandora CEO Alexander Lacik says. &ldquo If you look to mined diamonds, their price points don&rsquo t fit the affordability metric,&rdquo he continues. &ldquo But now, with lab growns, their affordability allows us to present the allure of diamonds and broaden the access for many people. We talk a lot about democratizing the jewelry space in general and this gives us a way to execute that in an interesting way.&rdquo Lacik foresees the Pandora Brilliance lab-grown diamond collection expanding its reach to the next generation of Pandora customers, all the while offering a sparkling new reason for its current customers to add to their collections. Previously, the company offered only a single charm with a very small mined diamond because of price constraints. &ldquo We&rsquo ve been selling on average 50,000 pieces of this a year, but compared with the 50 million charms we sell, it was a fraction of a fraction of a fraction,&rdquo Lacik shares. Now Pandora will be able to offer bigger stones in a wider range of jewelry pieces, including rings, bangles, necklaces and earrings set in sterling silver or solid 14K yellow or white gold. The new collection will be themed around the infinity symbol, allowing the pieces to be collected and layered together. And the infinity symbol is wholly appropriate for the vision Lacik has for the new collection. &ldquo We are trying to take the concept higher. It&rsquo s not so much about the stone itself, but rather the idea of infinite possibilities it represents,&rdquo he expresses. The company&rsquo s commitment to sustainability is another factor that made lab-grown diamonds a compelling choice for the current moment. &ldquo When I joined the company about two years ago, the sustainability agenda was not well articulated, though our founder [Per Enevoldsen in 1982] had it in his genes and to quite a large extent, our activities always were in the spirit of sustainability,&rdquo Lacik shares. At the start, the company&rsquo s diamonds will be grown using 60% renewable energy, but with the goal to be 100% next year. It also is committed to using more recycled silver and gold. Diamonds for all Looking across the competitive landscape, Lacik sees Pandora&rsquo s move into lab-grown diamonds as opening the market up and exposing consumers to diamonds in a new way. &ldquo I think this can lead to more interest for diamonds and help grow the whole category,&rdquo he says, noting that the purchase occasion for a Tiffany diamond engagement ring, for example, is very different from that for a piece of Pandora jewelry. &ldquo We are not a niche proposition. We are a mass proposition,&rdquo he maintains. In response to the mined-diamond interests emerging favorite argument against lab growns &ndash that they don&rsquo t maintain investment value &ndash Lacik counters that it&rsquo s important to recognize where the real value of any jewelry piece is in the eye of the consumer. And that is in the emotional value and personal meaning of the jewelry item to the individual, not the monetary sum of its parts. Since its founding, Pandora has been all about creating jewelry items rich with emotional meaning at an affordable price. &ldquo Take a bag of 100 grams of gold dust and a beautiful piece of jewelry that contains the same 100 grams of gold. The melting value of both are the same, but the associations that comes with beautiful jewelry is where additional value is created,&rdquo he says. And Lacik has some final advice for the entire diamond jewelry industry, both lab grown and mined: &ldquo Diamonds have been a business that have been purely mined for centuries. Then all of a sudden, there&rsquo s an alternative. It constitutes a threat and people start dressing up arguments to deal with the threat. But it&rsquo s safe to say that lab-created diamonds are here to stay. So we better figure out a way to coexist in a positive way together.&rdquo |
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tedlim
Senior |
12-Oct-2021 14:52
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For_The_Next_Leg $MetechIntl(V3M.SI) Was working with India' s companies. And now working with China' s companies. Getting involved with 2 of the biggest economy in the world. Amazing. Snippets of the Press Release today. Strategic Collaboration with National Testing Centre for Gold and Silver Jewellery (Tianjin) & bull AET has the technological capabilities to produce the highest grade of lab-grown diamonds that are used for jewellery & bull National Testing Centre for Gold and Silver Jewellry (Tianjin) provides professional and independent assessment and certification of precious metals, jewellery and gemstones & bull China& rsquo s jewellery market was valued at $100 billion in 2020 however China is a distant second in terms of the global retail lab-grown diamond market Strategic Collaboration Agreement with Guangzhou Diamond Exchange to Further Develop and Promote the Lab-Grown Diamond Market in China & bull Guangzhou Diamond Exchange is the only diamond trading platform approved by the People& rsquo s Government of Guangdong Province and it is one of only two diamond exchanges in China that is recognised as an affiliated member of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses(1) & bull In the first half of 2021, Guangzhou recorded RMB 7.6 billion of diamond processing imports, an increase of 130% year-on-year, with RMB 9.95 billion of jewellery exports, up 95.2% from the previous year, according to data released by Guangzhou Municipal Commerce Bureau in July 2021(2) & bull The price-value relationship and sustainability features of lab-grown diamonds are attracting new consumers as they make more informed and conscious decisions on jewellery purchases |
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tedlim
Senior |
12-Oct-2021 14:12
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National Testing Centre for Gold and Silver Jewellery (Tianjin) and Guangzhou Diamond Exchange are HUGE names in China' s jewellery industry... Shows the strengths of their JV company as well the potential of lab-grown diamonds |
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WBdisciple
Master |
12-Oct-2021 14:09
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https://links.sgx.com/FileOpen/Metech-PR-NTGS.ashx?App=Announcement& FileID=686390 Strategic Collaboration with National Testing Centre for Gold and Silver Jewellery (Tianjin) &bull A lab-grown diamond is a diamond: chemically, physically and optically identical to a mined diamond &bull AET has the technological capabilities to produce the highest grade of lab-grown diamonds that are used for jewellery &bull National Testing Centre for Gold and Silver Jewellry (Tianjin) provides professional and independent assessment and certification of precious metals, jewellery and gemstones &bull China&rsquo s jewellery market was valued at $100 billion in 2020 however China is a distant second in terms of the global retail lab-grown diamond market SGX-listed Metech International Limited (&ldquo Metech&rdquo or the &ldquo Company&rdquo , and together with its subsidiaries, the &ldquo Group&rdquo ), is pleased to announce that its joint venture company, Asian Eco Technology Pte. Ltd. (&ldquo AET&rdquo ) has entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with 国 家 金 银 饰 品 质 量 监 督 检 验 中 心 (天 津 ) (National Testing Centre for Gold and Silver Jewellry (Tianjin) ) (&ldquo NTGS&rdquo ), whereby NTGS will provide independent assessment and certification of AET&rsquo s lab-grown diamonds that are marketed and sold in China. China&rsquo s jewellery market was valued at $100 billion in 2020 according to an article published in July 2021 by Jing Daily, the leading digital publication on luxury consumer trends in China. Most of the retail lab-grown diamond market is currently concentrated in the US, while China is a distant second. Providing professional and independent assessment and certification for precious metals, jewellery and gemstones in China, NTGS is authorised and recognised by various state agencies and organisations in China, namely the 中 华 人 民 共 和 国 国 家 质 量 监 督 检 验 检 疫 总 局 (General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People&rsquo s Republic of China), 中 国 国 家 认 证 认 可 监 督 管 理 委 员 会 (Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People&rsquo s Republic of China) and 中 国 合 格 评 定 国 家 认 可 委 员 会 (China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment). Under the agreement, NTGS and AET aims to combine their resources and networks to further develop and expand the market of lab-grown diamonds in China. NTGS will grade and certify AET&rsquo s lab-grown diamonds using the same process as mined diamonds. With the certification from NTGS, buyers of AET&rsquo s lab-grown diamonds in China will have the key details (cut, clarity, colour, and carat) of each diamond. Ms. Samantha Hua, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Metech, said: &ldquo China' s giant middle class is still growing and they are increasingly conscious of the environmental and ethical impact of their purchases, hence we believe there is strong potential for lab-grown diamonds to gain more market share within China&rsquo s jewellery market with its lower price points and sustainability attributes. Creating jewellery-quality diamonds is one of AET&rsquo s core technological capabilities and with the rising popularity of lab-grown diamonds used in jewellery, the certification by National Testing Centre for Gold and Silver Jewellry (Tianjin) will be important to assure Chinese consumers of its quality in terms of cut, clarity, color, and carat, similar to a mined diamond.&rdquo |
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WBdisciple
Master |
12-Oct-2021 14:08
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https://links.sgx.com/FileOpen/Metech-PR-GZDE.ashx?App=Announcement& FileID=686392
Strategic Collaboration Agreement with Guangzhou Diamond Exchange to Further Develop and Promote the Lab-Grown Diamond Market in China > A lab-grown diamond is a diamond: chemically, physically and optically identical to a mined diamond
> AET has the technological capabilities to produce the highest grade of lab-grown diamonds that are used for jewellery > Guangzhou Diamond Exchange is the only diamond trading platform approved by the People&rsquo s Government of Guangdong Province and it is one of only two diamond exchanges in China that is recognised as an affiliated member of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses > In the first half of 2021, Guangzhou recorded RMB 7.6 billion of diamond processing imports, an increase of 130% year-on-year, with RMB 9.95 billion of jewellery exports, up 95.2% from the previous year, according to data released by Guangzhou Municipal Commerce Bureau in July 2021 &bull The price-value relationship and sustainability features of lab-grown diamonds are attracting new consumers as they make more informed and conscious decisions on jewellery purchases SGX-listed Metech International Limited (&ldquo Metech&rdquo or the &ldquo Company&rdquo , and together with its subsidiaries, the &ldquo Group&rdquo ), is pleased to announce that its joint venture company, Asian Eco Technology Pte. Ltd. (&ldquo AET&rdquo ) has entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with Guangzhou Diamond Exchange (广 州 钻 石 交 易 中 心 ) wherein both AET and Guangzhou Diamond Exchange will utilise their respective resources and networks to further develop and promote healthy and sustainable development of the lab-grown diamond market in China through international trade, standardisation, R& D collaborations, among others.
Located at Shawan Jewellery Industrial Park, Panyu District, Guangzhou Diamond Exchange was established in July 2015, with the support of the People' s Government of Guangdong Province, by Guangdong Exchange Holding Group in association with state-owned enterprises such as SFUND (Guangzhou Fund), renowned jewellery brands like Chow Tai Fook and Lukfook.
Guangzhou Diamond Exchange is at the center of the world' s jewellery processing and manufacturing industry where there are more than 2,800 diamond jewellery firms from more than 30 countries and regions around the world, employing nearly 100,000 people. The processing volume of gold and silver jewellery in Panyu district accounts for more than 70% of the re-export trade volume of Hong Kong, and 30% of the entire global market.
Guangzhou Diamond Exchange is an established specialised diamond trading platform that provides for the import and export of rough diamonds, polished diamonds and diamond jewellery as well as a comprehensive range of services such as financing, international trade and professional training, among others.
Ms. Samantha Hua, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Metech, said: &ldquo China is currently the second-biggest consumer of diamonds in the world. With the price-value relationship and sustainability features of lab-grown diamonds, we believe that the lab-grown diamond market in China has strong potential ahead as consumers make more informed and conscious decisions on jewellery purchases.
Guangzhou Diamond Exchange is an internationally-recognised diamond exchange and we are pleased to collaborate together with the aim to drive deeper collaborations across the industry and create new value propositions within the lab-grown diamond market in China.&rdquo
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WBdisciple
Master |
04-Oct-2021 15:49
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https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200207-the-sparkling-rise-of-the-lab-grown-diamond This is another good article... The sparkling rise of the lab grown diamond Young people are falling out of love with mined diamonds because of their high environmental and humanitarian costs. How do their alternative, lab-made diamonds, measure up? On a grey January morning in 2019 Meghan Markle emerged onto a London street on her way to a meeting. She wore a smart coat and heels, but it was not her clothing that caught the attention of the world. It was a pair of glittering drop earrings embedded with diamonds that had been grown in a lab. It took just five days to grow the diamonds adorning Markle& rsquo s ears according to Sidney Neuhaus, co-founder of Kimaï , the company that made them. Based in Antwerp, the capital of the world& rsquo s diamond business, both she and her co-founder Jessica Warch grew up in diamond families. Nauhaus& rsquo s father owns a diamond jewellery shop, and her grandfather worked for De Beers, making his career in diamonds after World War Two. Despite their illustrious family histories in the trade, Neuhaus and Warch chose to break away from conventional diamonds because of the environmental and humanitarian toll of extracting them. Millennials and now Generation Z & ndash who together are the main purchasers of diamonds for engagement rings & ndash are moving away from conventional diamonds, with nearly 70% of millennials considering buying a lab grown alternative. (Read more about the rise of guilt free gems.) So what are lab grown diamonds, and are they really a more sustainable alternative to traditional mined diamonds? First up, a lab-grown diamond is a diamond: chemically, physically and optically identical to a mined diamond. Naturally occurring diamonds are forged in the crushing pressure and immense heat of the Earth& rsquo s mantle around 100 miles underground. Most were formed between 1bn and 3bn years ago at a time when our planet was hotter than it is today. Lab-grown diamonds are also created using extreme pressure and heat, but inside a machine rather than the bowels of the Earth. There are two ways to grow a diamond. Both involve starting with the & ldquo seed& rdquo (a flat slither) of another diamond. The first lab diamond was made using a High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) system, where the seed is then placed amidst some pure graphite carbon and exposed to temperatures of about 1,500C and pressurised to approximately 1.5 million pounds per square inch in a chamber. More recently, another way to grow a diamond was discovered, called Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). This involves putting the seed in a sealed chamber filled with carbon-rich gas and heating to around 800C. Under these conditions the gases begin to & ldquo stick& rdquo to the seed, growing a diamond carbon atom by atom. Lab-grown diamonds are created using extreme pressure and heat inside a machine rather than the bowels of the Earth The technology behind lab diamonds has made crucial advances in recent years, allowing companies to grow higher quality diamonds more rapidly and more cheaply. It has meant growing competition between lab diamond and mined diamond companies. Today, it costs $300 to $500 per carat to produce a CVD lab-grown diamond, compared with $4,000 per carat in 2008, according to a report commissioned by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC). Lab-grown diamonds are a rapidly growing trend in the industry. Young diamond-buyers are drawn to them by price, transparency and for environmental reasons, with this segment of the market increasing by between 15% and 20% annually, according to the AWDC report. The growth is expected to continue as more jewellers start to sell lab diamonds and more labs are launched. Environmental credentials But lab diamonds are not without fault. A distinct lack of transparency makes it difficult to source accurate data to compare the carbon footprints of mined and lab diamonds, but the energy needed to produce a lab diamond is significant. One report on the topic, commissioned by the Diamond Producers Association, suggests that the greenhouse gas emissions produced mining natural diamonds is three times less than those created when growing diamonds in a lab. It& rsquo s worth noting that the DPA represents seven of the world& rsquo s largest diamond miners, including De Beers, Alrosa and Rio Tinto. However, some lab diamond companies have been warned by the Federal Trade Commission in the US to be careful when presenting themselves as & ldquo eco-friendly& rdquo without evidence to substantiate these claims. Companies including Ada Diamonds and the Leonardo DiCaprio backed Diamond Foundry in the US were among them. However, the latter says that it is certified as carbon neutral by the third party Natural Capital Partners and uses only renewable energy. Figures published by Diamond Foundry suggest that the total environmental footprint of mined diamonds is much higher than lab diamonds. & ldquo It takes an entire factor more energy to extract an underground diamond from Earth than it takes to create one above ground... On top of this, the energy used in mining is generally dirty diesel versus renewable energy in our above-the-ground production,& rdquo says a blog post on their website. An estimated 250 tonnes of earth is shifted for every single carat of diamond. For context, 148 million carats were mined in 2018. Indeed, some mines are now so huge they can be seen from space using Nasa& rsquo s Terra satellite. A 2014 report by consulting firm Frost & Sullivan also showed that mined diamonds require twice as much energy per carat than those grown in a lab. It estimated that 57kg of carbon are released into the atmosphere for every single carat mined, but claimed lab grown diamonds release barely more than a few grams, but this assumes renewable energy is used and some in the industry have cast doubt on the reliability of the report. The figure is far less than that estimated by another consultancy Trucost, which produced the previously mentioned report for the Diamond Producers Association. They put the carbon emissions from lab grown diamonds at 510kg CO2 per polished carat and those from mined diamonds at 160kg CO2 per polished carat. Researchers at Anglo American, the parent company of De Beers, have also been working on a project to reduce the carbon footprint of mined diamonds by capturing carbon dioxide inside a porous mined rock known as kimberlite. Led by the company& rsquo s geologist Evelyn Mervine, they have been developing a process called & ldquo mineral carbonation& rdquo as a way of off-setting the greenhouse emissions that come from the mining process. But the environmental damage from diamond mining goes further than simply its carbon emissions. Diamond mining has been linked to pollution of water sources used by local people due to acid mine drainage. This occurs when minerals from the mined rocks seep into the water supply. The University of Waterloo in Canada describes it as & ldquo one of the mining industries top environmental liabilities& rdquo . Although acid mine drainage is not exclusively a problem for the diamond industry & ndash it occurs at many metal and coal mines too & ndash researchers at the University of Waterloo have been working with the Diavik diamond gem mine in Canada& rsquo s Northwest Territories to reduce this pollution from waste rock. Mining has also caused the destruction of habitats in Canada and beyond. In 2016, The Wall Street Journal reported that De Beers had killed over 18,000 fish draining a Canadian lake for diamond mining. In India, diamond mines have been blamed for placing highly endangered tiger populations under further pressure. Diamond mining has been linked to pollution of water sources used by local people due to acid mine drainage So, while neither lab diamond nor mined diamond industries are perfect, the wider environmental price from the latter can be higher. Indeed, the former Tiffany chief executive Michael J. Kowalski wrote in a 2015 New York Times opinion piece, & ldquo few industries in the world have a larger environmental and social footprint than mining& rdquo . Flawed origins Indeed, the environmental and humanitarian harms from diamond mining are closely intertwined. Some diamond mines employ miners on low wages in unsafe conditions. Even diamonds extracted in accordance with the Kimberley Process, established in the early 2000s to reduce the trade in conflict diamonds, can have obscured origins. A source in the conflict resources team at the non-governmental organisation Global Witness, who wishes not to be named to protect their identity, says that there are many holes in the process. & ldquo The definition of a & lsquo conflict diamond& rsquo as the Kimberley Process sees it is a diamond which is funding an armed group which is trying unseat a legitimate government,& rdquo she says. Over the years, the links between mined diamonds and human rights abuses have evolved far beyond that definition. & ldquo The Kimberley Process has failed to keep up,& rdquo she adds. She gives an example of a huge discovery of diamonds in Zimbabwe in the mid-2000s that led to the deaths of hundreds of civilian miners. The diamonds found here were traded in Antwerp and Dubai, & ldquo circulating freely on international markets& rdquo , according to a Global Witness report. Further down the supply chain, things get murkier still, as once a stone is cut and polished it is no longer traced by the Kimberley Process. Diamonds pass through multiple trading hubs on their journey from mine to shop, and often end up mixed with diamonds from other countries of export. The result is that even among diamonds with Kimberley Process certification, many companies cannot trace the diamonds they use back to their country of origin. A 2018 report from Human Rights Watch, which investigated major jewellers including Buglari, Pandora, Cartier and Tiffany & Co, says, & ldquo None of the companies can identify all of their diamonds& rsquo individual mines of origin.& rdquo But there is also concern that the demand for lab diamonds could take away jobs from resource-rich developing countries. Brad Brooks-Rubin, previous special advisor on conflict diamonds to the US Department of State and now managing director at The Sentry/Enough Project, an organisation that aims to end mass atrocities in Africa& rsquo s deadliest conflict zones, asks, & ldquo is it ethical to guide people away from buying diamonds from developing countries, where a million people or more rely on the work?& rdquo Giving back The humanitarian questions around lab and mined diamonds remain knotty, but there is one way that lab diamonds come out on top in terms of environmental impact. Diamonds for jewellery make up only 30% of the market, with the rest sold for use in drilling, cutting and grinding. It& rsquo s in this area that lab diamonds can actually be used for environmental benefit. A thin coating of diamond has also been shown to reduce friction in moving mechanical parts, from windmills to cars One of their industrial uses is disinfecting polluted water sources. This is done by adding the mineral boron during the diamond-growing process to create a & ldquo boron-doped diamond& rdquo , which is able to conduct electricity. By then applying current to the diamond it oxidises otherwise toxic organic compounds in a process called mineralisation, which turns them into a biodegradable form. Jason Payne, chief executive of Ada Diamonds, argues that lab diamonds can also significantly reduce the carbon footprints in communications and transport. The reason lab diamonds have the edge on mined diamonds here is down to their purity and hardness, with lab-grown diamonds found to be ten times more durable than natural diamonds. & ldquo A diamond is the ultimate known semiconductor& hellip far superior to silicon or other materials,& rdquo says Payne. Using lab diamonds in transistors reduces the energy lost as heat as electricity is conducted from the power plant to devices such as your mobile phone as it charges. The US Department of Energy reports that diamond-based components reduce these losses by up to 90%. A thin coating of diamond has also been shown to reduce friction in moving mechanical parts, from windmills to cars. Nissan reported a reduction in friction between engine parts of approximately 40% when using diamond film. In contrast with lab diamonds, mined diamonds & ldquo do not have the purity required for many of these applications,& rdquo argues Payne. The diamond illusion In the past, when faced with existential threat, the mined diamond industry has advertised its way out of trouble. Indeed, the reason many of us are so fond of diamonds stems from a clever advertising campaign launched by De Beers in 1947. The company forever changed culture when it convinced us that & ldquo a diamond is forever& rdquo , and that a diamond ring is a quintessential part of getting engaged. The idea that diamonds are rare is also a carefully crafted marketing illusion. In fact, excessive supply of diamonds has recently led to speculation that De Beers will reduce its number of contracted buyers. The company has confirmed it will review the contracts of its rough diamond customers when they expire at the end of this year. But as lab diamonds grow in popularity, the usual rebranding effort doesn& rsquo t appear to be working for mined diamonds. The industry faces issues of oversupply and a slump in demand across the globe & ndash particularly in China, the world& rsquo s second largest diamond market, where sales declined by 5% in 2019. At an industry meeting on the rooftop of a fancy London hotel at the end of November, Simon Forrester, chief executive of the UK& rsquo s National Association of Jewellers told an audience that, & ldquo as an industry we are suffering, [due to] lacking consumer confidence& rdquo . The diamond behemoth De Beers recently announced it cut production by 15% in late 2019 due to weak prices. As environmental sustainability and social welfare rise on consumers& rsquo agenda, Neuhaus says she has noticed a change in atmosphere in Antwerp. & ldquo When I was younger [Antwerp was] super dynamic. Business was flourishing for everyone. Now when I go back you can feel there is another mood& hellip there is less money than before,& rdquo she says. Neuhaus& rsquo s story of splitting away from her traditional family business into the more high-tech world of lab-grown diamonds is symbolic of this change in the air. With clients like Meghan Markle on her books, her lab diamond business is thriving. When it comes to jewellery, Neuhaus says that the real value in diamonds, mined or lab-grown, is not really about price or rarity. & ldquo It& rsquo s more about the emotional value,& rdquo she says, fingering a long gold necklace with a green pendant on it hanging around her neck. & ldquo This was the first piece of jewellery I made for myself.& rdquo For this reason, as long as diamonds hold their emotional resonance, jewellers will continue to sell them, both lab-grown and mined. |
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tedlim
Senior |
04-Oct-2021 15:44
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https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56972562 Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever BBC News The world' s biggest jeweller, Pandora, says it will no longer sell mined diamonds and will switch to exclusively laboratory-made diamonds. Concerns about the environment and working practices in the mining industry have led to growing demand for alternatives to mined diamonds. Pandora' s chief executive, Alexander Lacik, told the BBC the change was part of a broader sustainability drive. He said the firm was pursuing it because " it' s the right thing to do" . They are also cheaper: " We can essentially create the same outcome as nature has created, but at a very, very different price." Mr Lacik explains they can be made for as little as " a third of what it is for something that we' ve dug up from the ground." In 2020, worldwide lab-grown diamond production grew to between 6 and 7 million carats. Meanwhile the production of mined diamonds fell to 111 million carats last year, having peaked at 152 million in 2017, according to a report from the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) and the consultancy Bain & Lab-grown diamonds The coronavirus pandemic has had a major impact on the diamond industry. De Beers, which produces about one-fifth of the world' s mined diamonds, says production fell 18% last year. Economic uncertainty and lockdowns led to a slump in demand and falling prices, although there has been something of a recovery since. Sales boost? Pandora' s lab-made diamonds are being made in Britain, and the UK is the first country where they will be sold. The new diamond jewellery will start at £ 250 ($350). Although diamonds have traditionally only been a very small share of the 100 million pieces Pandora sells worldwide each year, Mr Lacik believes that will be boosted by lower prices. " Pandora jewellery today is much more of an everyday type of jewellery, even though a large proportion of it is gifted. The way the diamond industry has kind of been created to a large degree has been very much about gifting, and in particular around when people get engaged or married" . Pandora CEO Alexander Lacik " We' re trying to open up this playing field and say, you know, with the type of value equation that we offer, you can use this everyday if you want." He expects people to buy gifts more often for themselves instead. " What might very well happen is actually that the total demand for diamonds is going to increase. So it may actually not be a question of, we steal somebody else' s lunch" . Olya Linde, the lead author of the Bain report, agrees that there is room for both. " I believe that natural diamonds and lab grown diamonds can wonderfully coexist and grow the overall diamond market. There' s clear demand for each type of product." Better design and lower prices are, says Ms Linde, the top reasons why customers pick lab-made diamonds over their naturally occurring counterparts. Concerns about the environmental, sustainability and ethical impact of mined diamonds didn' t make the top five. Changing tastes However, Bain' s survey found that concerns about sustainability were more important to " Millennials" and " Gen-Z" than older age groups when buying diamond jewellery. One problem with lab-made diamonds, though, is that they can take a lot of energy to produce. Between 50% and 60% of them come from China, where they are made in a process known as " high-pressure, high-temperature technology" . The use of coal powered electricity is widespread. Media caption, Laboratory-made diamonds are today all but indistinguishable from the real thing However in the United States, the biggest retail market for lab-grown diamonds, there is a greater focus on using renewable energy. The largest US producer, Diamond Foundry, says its process is " 100% hydro-powered, meaning zero emissions" . Both types are chemically and physically identical to mined diamonds. But conflict-free production is still a big concern for customers across different age groups, according to Bain. It' s now more than 20 years since the Kimberley Process came into force. The UN-backed process aims to stop diamonds being used to fuel conflicts after years of that happening in countries such as Angola, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Last year, a report by Human Rights Watch found that some major jewellery companies were doing better at sourcing mined diamonds, " but most cannot assure consumers that their jewellery is untainted by human rights abuses" . It found that Pandora was one of the best performers, having taken significant steps towards responsible sourcing. But for the World Diamond Council (WDC), which represents the mined diamond industry, lab-made diamonds are not the answer. It says any suggestion they " would have a role in preventing trade in conflict diamonds is spurious and not based on fact" . The WDC adds that for people living in artisanal and small-scale diamond mining communities stopping the mining of diamonds " would remove a primary source of income" and " would have devastating impacts on their livelihoods, causing poverty and further unrest" . Pandora chief Mr Lacik says the long term is what matters when it comes to the company' s approach to sustainability. " Whether consumers are buying more or less today, right now is actually not the key driver," he says. " We want to become a low-carbon business. I have four children, I' m leaving this earth one day, I hope I can leave it in a better shape than maybe what we' ve kind of created in the last 50 years or so." |
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tedlim
Senior |
29-Sep-2021 08:59
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Metech Enters Into Joint Venture to Manufacture and Distribute Lab-Grown Diamonds
&bull A lab-grown diamond is a diamond: chemically, physically and optically identical to a mined diamond
&bull Strong market prospects in lab-grown diamonds that are driven by environmental, sustainability and ethical concerns of mined diamonds
&bull New business venture is aligned with Metech&rsquo s environmental and sustainability business model and creates new growth drivers for the Group
Singapore, 26 September 2021 &ndash SGX-listed Metech International Limited (&ldquo Metech&rdquo or the &ldquo Company&rdquo , and together with its subsidiaries, the &ldquo Group&rdquo ), is pleased to announce that its whollyowned subsidiary, Asian Green Tech Pte. Ltd (" AGT" ), has entered into a joint venture agreement (" JVA" ) with X Diamond Capital Pte. Ltd. (" XDC" ) on 24 September 2021 to establish a joint venture,
pursuant to which AGT and XDC (collectively, the &ldquo Parties&rdquo ) will incorporate a joint venture company (" JV Company" ) in Singapore to carry out the business of manufacturing and distribution of lab-grown diamonds (the " Joint Venture" ).
Under the JVA, AGT shall operate and manage the JV Company while XDC shall provide technical support to the JV Company.
The Rising Popularity and Applications of Lab-Grown Diamonds
A lab-grown diamond is a diamond: chemically, physically and optically identical to a mined diamond.
While diamonds are more widely known to be used in jewellery, diamonds are also commonly used for industrial applications as they are extremely effective at polishing, cutting, and drilling.
Furthermore, lab diamonds have the edge on mined diamonds with regards to their purity and hardness, with lab-grown diamonds found to be ten times more durable than natural diamonds. The US Department of Energy reports that diamond-based components reduce energy losses by up to 90%(1).
According to figures published by Diamond Foundry, the total environmental footprint of mined diamonds is much higher than lab diamonds.
In May 2021, the world&rsquo s largest jewellery, Pandora, says it will no longer sell mined diamonds and will switch to exclusively laboratory-made diamonds due to concerns about the environment and working practices in the mining industry.
Lab-grown diamond production has ballooned in recent years, with 6-7 million carats produced in 2020 alone, though still a tiny industry compared to diamond mining, which peaked at 152 million carats in 2017 and currently stands around 111 million carats. But lab-grown diamonds are increasingly pitched as the sustainable choice to price- and planet-conscious young consumers. In addition to Pandora, De Beers, Vrai and Kimaï have begun selling lab-grown diamonds as well as or in place of mined ones.
According to Statista, the market size of lab-grown diamonds is forecasted to increase its value to approximately US$29.2 billion by 2025 and grow to nearly 19.2 million carats by 2030
The Joint Venture is aligned with the Group' s strategy to expand further into the environmental and sustainability business.
As lab-grown diamonds are created without the need for mining, they are a more sustainable production of diamonds and there are also opportunities to integrate renewable energy in such manufacturing activities, hence it is aligned with the Group' s environmental and sustainability business model.
Ms. Samantha Hua, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Metech, said: &ldquo With better technology and declining production costs, lab-grown diamonds will be a sustainable solution to the declining supply of mined diamonds.
In addition, the millennial generation are also more conscious about the environmental, sustainability and ethical impact of mined diamonds.
With our joint venture, we have the capabilities to create our own quality diamonds in Singapore and establish new channels to make it accessible to a wider consumer base.
I believe that we are in the early stages of this emerging consumer trend and we are excited about the opportunities ahead.&rdquo
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