Lab-grown diamonds are carving out an ever-growing niche in the luxury sector and news that Selfridges in London will feature a key brand in-store can only help that trend.
The retailer has struck a deal with The Diamond Lab that will mean it becomes the very first lab-grown diamond brand to appear in the Selfridges Wonder Room.
It follows Selfridges earlier this year adding pieces from lab-grown diamond jewellery brand Vrai to its offer online.
But a presence in the ultra-valuable space in-store is a much bigger endorsement of lab-grown gems targeting the luxury shopper rather than shoppers simply looking for cheaper options.
Professional Jeweller reported that the in-store offer will cover three collections that retail between an accessible £375 and an ultra-luxury £350,000 price tag. The offer will also include a limited-edition Selfridges Yellow Diamond line in line with the Selfridges house colour.
As is usually the case these days for any big step from Selfridges in its physical stores, it will come with a whole layer of experiences. They include shoppers being able to join jewellery design workshops by invitation in order to create custom jewellery from The Diamond Lab or even design their own pieces.
If that all sounds like a long-drawn-out process, the free in-store consultation and creation of a final design should take no more than two hours and the pieces should be ready to collect within a week.
With a huge amount of negative publicity around the diamond trade, lab-grown diamonds are now in the spotlight and even De Beers has entered the sector after earlier vowing to never sell such products. The vastly superior quality of modern lab-grown stones and their more ethical back story means the development syncs very well with the separate Selfridges goal of making its business a much more sustainability-focused one while also reinforcing its luxury positioning.
