Pandora will not use mined diamonds in its jewelry anymore; instead, it will manufacture diamonds in its labs.
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May
5, 2021
2 min read
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Pandora said on Tuesday that it will no longer use mined diamonds as it plans to adopt affordable and sustainable solutions to manufacture its jewelry.
Instead, the Copenhagen-based company will manufacture diamonds in laboratories, according to its statement.
The company’s decision comes as it attempts to save costs and acquires new technology that will enable Pandora to make diamond jewelry affordable for more consumers, Pandora’s spokesperson Johan Melchior told Entrepreneur.com.
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It also aligns with the company’s plans to be carbon neutral and use only recycled materials in its products by 2025, Melchior added.
Pandora is releasing its first collection of lab-made stones called Pandora Brilliance. The collection includes rings, bangles, necklaces and earrings, with each featuring a lab-created diamond handset within sterling silver and gold.
The lab-made diamonds in the collection, which will be available in the U.K. starting Thursday, have been grown with over 60% renewable energy on average, the company said. The collection will be made with 100% renewable energy, when it launches globally in 2022.
“It’s a new collection of beautifully designed jewelry featuring lab-created diamonds. They are as much a symbol of innovation and progress as they are of enduring beauty and stand as a testament to our ongoing and ambitious sustainability agenda,” Alexander Lacik, Pandora’s CEO, said in a statement. “Diamonds are not only forever, but for everyone.”
According to Bloomberg, the jewelry market has been impacted by reports of human rights abuses in mines and factories, but Melchior would not confirm whether the issue influenced the company’s new direction. He told Entrepreneur.com that Pandora would prefer not to have an opinion on the matter.
Last year, Pandora said in a company statement that it would stop using mined silver and gold entirely by 2025.
The jewelry company would “only buy from recycled sources. This will cut carbon emissions by two thirds for silver and by more than 99% for gold,” the statement read.
Global diamond sales fell 15% in 2020 due to a global lockdown, according to a report by Bain & Company. Sales in the diamond industry declined the most during the first and second quarters of 2020.