Lightbox Jewelry is DeBeers’s way of shaking up the diamond industry, both mined and man-made. They recently announced that their subsidiary (Lightbox) will be selling jewelry up to 1 carat in white, pink and blue. These are chemically diamonds, they are not simulates, not crystal, not cubic zirconia. Without specialized equipment, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for a jeweller to tell they are not mined. They explain, “Every stone over 0.05 carats carries a tiny laser inscription as certification of our quality criteria.”

The pendant below features a one-carat pink stone set in sterling silver; it will retail this fall for USD$900. This is many thousands of dollars below the cost of a natural, mined pink stone.

This has shaken up the man-made diamond industry, which was pricing stones at about 20 per cent below mined/natural diamonds. These will be significantly less and of course, if the buyer does not like a sterling silver or 10k gold setting (the only ones to be offered) they can always have a jeweller remove the stone and place it in a different setting of their choice.

I know I’m intrigued by these and can see buying for myself. What are your thoughts?