Lab-Made Diamonds for Less: Why De Beers's Plan Worries Rivals
- Diamond giant announced plan in May to sell lab-grown gems
- Rival producers of man-made stones say pricing is predatory
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De Beers hasn’t even opened its first synthetic diamond store, but its looming entry into the market for man-made gems has already shaken the industry.
The unit of Anglo American Plc said three months ago that it plans to sell lab-grown diamonds at a fraction of the going rate, undercutting rivals like Chatham Created Gems Inc. and Diamond Foundry Inc. That’s already cut the price of man-made gems, furthering De Beers’s aim of increasing the premium paid for the diamonds it mines in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Canada.