Image: swarovski-createddiamonds.com – Swarovski lab-grown diamonds
Swarovski is introducing its Created Diamonds collection to 200 stores in the United States and Canada, according to a report in WWD, quoting CEO Alexis Nasard.
The news follows a successful pilot in select U.S. stores, he said.
The Swarovski lab-grown diamonds collection will feature diamonds 0.25 ct. and up, and will include earrings, rings, necklaces, and bracelets. They will also be sold online at Swarovski.com, beginning in November, the company said in a statement.
The United States is the company’s largest market, representing 18% of its sales, according to WWD.
When asked about the large amounts of energy used to make the Swarovski lab-grown diamonds, Nasard said that it was working to offset that, and its diamonds are “certified climate neutral.”
Nasard joined the company in June. He is Swarovski’s first permanent CEO outside its founding family and was appointed after an ongoing power struggle between family members led to its first-ever appointment of an outsider.
Before coming to Swarovski, Nasard was as a consultant for McKinsey & Co. From December 2020 to June 2021, he served as CEO of Kantar, the London-based data and analytics company.
Swarowski lab-grown diamonds have been available in EU for a while now
Lady Gaga has dazzled in them, Meghan Markle is a fan, and Penelope Cruz has created her own collection using them; yes, lab-grown diamonds have definitely reached A-list status.
Swarovski lab-grown diamonds are made, as the name suggests, in a laboratory under simulated conditions that mimic the heat and pressure carbon requires to turn into a girl’s best friend in the wild. Just as in nature, certain tweaks can be made to create colored diamonds, and Swarovski has had a collection of chromatic lab-grown diamonds in the EU for a while now
Swarovski first launched its own lab-grown diamonds – or Swarovski Created Diamonds, as it prefers to call them – in 2018, starting with colorless gems. Set in ethically sourced gold, and sprinkled with some stardust thanks to a design collaboration with Penelope Cruz, the gems were presented at Paris Couture Week through its brand Atelier Swarovski to huge fanfare.
At Paris Couture Week in 2020, the next phase of Swarovski Created Diamonds was unveiled, and it was a fiesta of colour. The offering included an assortment of colors, with fantastical names such as Surrealist Butter, Electric Arctic and Draped Fire, all offered exclusively in cushion cuts to accentuate the colour.
Inspired by what Swarovski calls the “four man-made wonders” of fashion, art, music and architecture, there are four hero colors of Swarovski Created Diamonds, from which numerous gradients of the shades derive. These are Androgyny Flamingo (pink), Cubist Sky (blue), Heavy Metal Cherry (red) and Gothic Cognac (orange).
What makes these colored Swarovski lab-grown diamonds particularly exciting from a financial perspective, is that the savings could be even bigger, as many shades of natural colored diamonds – such as the pink, red, orange and blue in the Swarovski Created Diamonds debut offering – are incredibly rare, and therefore much more expensive than colorless diamonds. This could open up the possibility for many who might not have the budget for a mined colored diamond, to own a lab-grown colored diamond .
“Swarovski is probably most known for our precision-cut crystals, but as a company we are increasingly focused on exploring new materials,” said Markus Langes-Swarovski, member of the Swarovski’s executive board. “Swarovski Created Diamonds are the marriage of art and science, with a touch of magical realism. It’s also a true celebration of human ingenuity and creativity.”
Swarovski Created Diamonds are part of the Austrian company’s Conscious Luxury programme of ethical jewellery. Each diamond, which has a microscopic laser inscription to guarantee authenticity, is “a conscious choice, produced according to the utmost environmental, safety and labour standards,” it promises.
“I’d like to think that these stones have endless potential and are able to bring any idea to life,” says Langes-Swarovski. “The colors, cuts and sizes are created to inspire jewellery that has never been made or even dreamed of. It’s a toolbox of unlimited creativity.”
