Pandora Is Ditching Mined Diamonds, Moving To Sustainable Lab-Made Alternatives Only [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Johannes Van Zijl
By Johannes Van Zijl
10 MAY 2021, 16:13

Pandora, one of the world's largest jewelry suppliers, has announced that it will be ditching selling mined diamonds as it launches the company's first-ever lab-created diamonds.

Alexander Lacik, Pandora CEO, told the BBC that this shift was part of a broader sustainability drive at the company. The launch of the sustainably acquired diamonds "marks a new milestone for Pandora as it will no longer be using mined diamonds," the company said in a statement. "Going forward, mined diamonds will no longer be used in Pandora’s products."

Lab-made diamonds are cheaper than traditional diamonds but identical to those dug up from the ground in terms of optical, chemical, thermal, and physical characteristics. They are also graded by the same standards: cut, color, clarity, and carat.

Mined diamonds on the other hand come with environmental and ethical considerations, as they are finite resources that can take billions of years to form and are often found in countries without the infrastructure to ensure conflict-free production.

A 2020/2021 Bain report found that "Sustainability, transparency, and social welfare are priority issues for consumers, investors, and the value chain," once a growing issue but now firmly part of the industry, retail, and consumers decision-making process. That lab-made diamonds come in at a lower cost without the concern for where the diamond was sourced is a large appeal for younger customers, the report found.

More:
https://www.iflscience.com/environment/pandora-is-ditching-mined-diamonds-moving-to-sustainable-labmade-alternatives-only/