New York Times 2021 - Man-Made Diamonds Grow, but Not on Watch Brands
Production has increased sharply in recent years, yet just two new timepieces include the gems.
By Nazanin Lankarani
Many watch brands are using alternate materials like recycled plastics and cardboard packaging. But only recently have a couple of brands turned to decorative gem-quality diamonds produced in a laboratory, a change that has been a long time coming.
Still, not every brand envisages lab-grown stones in its future.
The Regent Duchess from Backes & Strauss, which does not use man-made diamonds.
“People tell us why not use lab-grown diamonds for your small pavé settings,” Vartkess Knadjian, founder and chief executive of Backes & Strauss, a British jewelry watchmaker, said from Geneva. “We are purists; we will not go down that path.”
“For some watch brands, diamonds are an afterthought,” Mr. Knadjian said. “But we thrive on our diamond heritage, it is important to emphasize the cut and quality of our diamonds.”
Despite market growth, mainly in the jewelry sector, lab-grown diamonds continue to “evoke mixed associations,” according to the Bain report, which said most consumers still considered them “artificial” or “affordable.”
Watch brands hesitate, Mr. Mallen said, because they fear that a conversation about lab-grown diamonds would open the door to questions about their sourcing of other materials, like gold, steel and leather.
“Brands worry about being criticized for all the things they don’t do,” Mr. Mallen said.
If a shift does come in watchmaking, lab-grown and mined diamonds will coexist, not as competitors but as two parallel markets, like in the jewelry sector, Mr. Knadjian said.
“At the moment, there is a sense of wait-and-see about lab-grown diamonds in the watch industry,” he said. “If one major brand decides to use them, others would follow.”
“But even then, people would buy the watch, not for its lab-grown diamonds,” Mr. Knadjian said, “but for the watch itself.”