De Beers Group, a South African-British diamond mining company, is closing its artificial diamond jewelry business, Lightbox. This is reported in a De Beers press release.
De Beers has decided to switch to natural gemstones and has engaged consultants to sell some assets, including inventory.
De Beers, which developed the technology to produce synthetic gemstones, had previously refused to sell them as jewelry, but when artificial gemstones became more popular and began to compete directly with natural diamonds, De Beers launched its own jewelry brand, Lightbox, in 2018.
Lightbox was created to sell synthetic diamonds to competing manufacturers at a steep discount in an attempt to lower prices by highlighting the difference between natural diamonds and lab-grown diamonds. At the moment, wholesale prices for artificial diamonds have become much lower than Lightbox diamonds, and continuing to work with the brand has become unprofitable.
De Beers is trying to cut costs by overcoming the crisis in the diamond industry, taking into account Anglo American Plc's plans to sell the company.
De Beers is a South African-British corporation engaged in the extraction, processing and sale of natural diamonds, as well as the production of synthetic diamonds for industrial purposes. In 2011, Anglo American increased its stake in De Beers to 85%, buying out 40% of the shares of the Oppenheimer family for $5.1 billion. The headquarters is located in Johannesburg (South Africa) with branches in 25 countries around the world.
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