Marty Hurwitz,
CEO, The MVEye

As more jewelry retailers globally begin offering lab-grown diamonds to their customers, it’s important to note one critical difference that separates those that are doing well from those that are doing sensationally well.

Holistic Training

While it’s important to train every sales associate, it is equally important to train the entire store team on this revolutionary new category. In a tradition bound industry, that rarely introduces anything new, lab-grown diamonds have the potential to reshape jewelry retailing. Everyone needs to be on board with a shift of this magnitude.

It is not about the tradition of mined diamonds versus the newness of lab-grown diamonds. And it is certainly not about which is better. It’s all about the choice that consumers would like to be presented.

Every day those consumers are learning about lab-grown diamonds organically and walking into jewelry stores, asking for this product. Our job is to present them with a choice that is clear, concise, and objective about the options and let them select the diamond that is best for them.

I recently spoke with David Garrick, President and CEO of DeVons Jewelers in Sacramento California and he shared his unique perspective on holistic training for lab-grown diamonds:

“We introduced lab-growndiamonds into our stores in 2016, well before much of the industry, and when very little was known about them. We understood at the outset that it was essential for management to properly train our staff, who despite having many years of diamond experience, were unfamiliar with the new technology. We immediately established multiple training sessions utilizing both internal staff as well as representatives from various growers to provide them the knowledge necessary to communicate to customers the many advantages of lab-grown diamonds both in terms of beauty and cost. DeVons has been extraordinarily successful in adding lab-grown inventory into all our jewelry categories and continues to maintain our in-store training.”

Holistic training in the stocking, marketing, and selling of lab-grown diamonds should include the following key touch points.

Who are the Lab-Grown Diamond Consumers?

THE MVEYE’s research has identified three (3) general segments of lab-grown diamond jewelry consumers.

1. The In the Know segment is generally younger (25-35 years of age), well educated, well read and digitally native. They will present individually or as a couple, who have heard about lab-grown diamonds from friends, family, or stories in social media. They have higher budgets for their engagement ring purchases, because of higher discretionary spending power. They love tech innovation in all consumer goods they purchase.

2. The In the Dark segment is also generally younger (25- 45 years of age), a bit less educated but still digitally native and may have heard something about lab-grown diamonds but need an introduction and an objective presentation about the choice of diamonds available today. They also love a good tech story.

3. The Upgraders segment is generally older (50 years of age and older) and not digitally native. But they couldn’t necessarily afford a large center stone when they first got engaged. Now in their senior years they would like to upgrade.

The Size to Value Equation

Everyone shops with a budget.

Our job is to figure out what the consumer’s budget is and make sure we have in-stock product to show them and well-practiced stories to tell them.

The size to value equation is one of the most compelling value drivers in closing lab-grown diamond sales. It takes so much less talking (which no one likes) and so much more showing (which everyone loves). A couple comes into a store with a $5,000 budget. You want to show them a choice of mined diamonds and lab-grown diamonds in their budget range. You do not want to reduce their budget for them. You want to give them more value for their budget and achieve greater profit margin for the store.

For their $5,000 budget they are presented a 1carat mined diamond FG color and VS1 clarity and a 1.35 carat lab-grown diamond of similar (or better) quality.7 out of 10 consumers gravitate to the larger diamond.

If their budget is $10,000 (or higher), the size to value equation grows even stronger in their favor and the store’s margin grows as well.

We are in the Love Business

We are not in the investment business; we are in the love business.

We sell a product whose sole value is the emotional attachment the giver and the recipient embody in it. There are many value drivers that go into every purchase. Price is certainly important, but it does not stand alone in a jewelry transaction. The Next Gen consumer strongly values the technology that goes into a lab-grown diamond and the sustainable future it represents to them.

Here’s what Robin Gambhir, Owner of Fairtrade Jewellery in Toronto, feels about his customers and the sustainability of lab-grown diamonds:

"We don't treat lab-grown diamonds any differently from natural diamonds-they're just diamonds with a different origin. Our customers are interested in them from a sustainability perspective, which is why we're shifting all of our lab diamond sales to the SCS Certified Sustainability Rated goods because those are certified to be climate neutral. And there are, at present, no natural diamonds that can be independently certified as climate neutral."

Store Owners Must Keep in Touch with Lab-Grown Diamond Tech

Technology is always progressing. And this is certainly true in the lab-grown diamond space. The technology that leading growers are using today is very far advanced from what was common place just a few years ago.

It is important for jewelry retailers to keep in touch with what is happening with the technology in lab-grown diamonds because their customers are interested in learning about it.

Jeffrey Debs Jeweler and Gemologist of Philadelphia put it in perspective when he said:

“If you desire success in selling lab-grown diamonds, you must first have a strong belief in the product as a serious contender, one that's only now gaining considerable traction and offer it at the same time as earth-mined stones, not as an afterthought.

You must also be spending a good amount of time educating yourself on the history, science, and methods of production for the product and constantly keep up on the ongoing development of lab grown diamonds and the ever-changing value story.”

Two New Training Platforms for Lab-Grown Diamonds

Two new, high-quality platforms have recently been released to help jewelry retailers present a holistic labgrown diamond training program to the entire store team.

One is from IGI and if you are a member of the International Grown Diamond Association (IGDA) you can get this training for free.

The second is from the USA based prime grower, WD Lab- Grown Diamonds, and is full of detailed materials and support for jewelry retailers. It is available in the WD Resource Center.

I highly recommend you consider both of these resources to help you train your team holistically and grow your labgrown diamond business to a sensational level.

Marty Hurwitz became a third-generation jewelry retailer when he partnered with a childhood friend in a store in 1984. He founded MVI Marketing LLC (THE MVEye) in 1989, together with his wife Liz Chatelain, and grew THE

MVEye into an internationally recognized organization. THE MVEye provides consumer and trade market research along with strategic consulting services to a global client list in the gem, jewelry and watch industries. In 2004 THE MVEye completed its first consumer research study on awareness and acceptance of lab-grown diamonds. Each year since, THE MVEye has monitored the progress of the lab-grown diamond category with consumers and trade organizations globally.

Marty is considered a subject matter expert on lab-grown diamonds and the technologies and processes currently operating and in development in the prime growing sectors. He also publishes the highly regarded Lab-Grown Diamond Market Intel Report.