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Ethical Bling: Pandora will no longer use carved diamonds Business and Economic News

Pandora, which makes more jewelry than other jewelry in the world, has an ethical stance against diamond mining and uses only those manufactured in laboratories.

Pandora A / Sk, which makes more jewelry than any other company in the world, will no longer use cut diamonds, throwing in another raw material contaminated by ethical concerns.

The founder of cheap trinkets will now use diamonds manufactured in laboratories after saying he will stop using newly crafted gold and silver last year. While mined diamonds were added to about 50,000 Pandora pieces last year – among the roughly 85 million items – the move reflects a greater demand for sustainability.

Copenhagen’s Pandora said it will release its first collection on Tuesday using laboratory-made stones in the UK, and that it will move to other markets in 2022.

“Especially in millennia, knowing what a lab-produced diamond is is significantly greater than with the older generations, so it’s also a matter of education,” Alexander Lacik, CEO of Pandora, said in a telephone interview. “Aspects of sustainability are more of a concern.”

Despite decades of reform, the jewelry market continues to suffer from human rights violations in mines and factories. To address these concerns, last year Tiffany & Co. recently supplied customers and began providing details on individually registered diamonds until the stone’s path returned to the mine. The number of diamond-grown sellers and manufacturers in the laboratory has increased in recent years, offering sustainable stones that are cheaper than mined ones.

Global diamond sales fell 15% in 2020 due to blockages, travel restrictions and economic uncertainty, according to a research report by Antwerp World Diamond Center and Bain & Co., rough diamond production fell by 20% in 2020 and prices fell by 11%.

Diamond sales – and prices – have bounced back this year, with De Beers selling more than $ 1.6 trillion in rough diamonds, most since 2018. De Beers, according to the largest diamond company in the world, keeps the younger ones loyal to the extracted stones. about two-thirds of global demand.

The diamonds made by Pandora in the lab grow with more than 60% renewable carbon energy, which will rise to 100% next year.

The growing Bling segment

Pandora’s commitment to stop relying on gold and silver renewed last year means that its entire production will only use recycled precious metals by 2025, part of a plan to make carbon neutral after four years.

But the report shows that the laboratory-generated stone market is seeing double-digit growth, with young customers particularly keen to identify sustainable producers. He also saw sustainability, transparency and social welfare as “priority issues” for consumers and investors.

It’s not just customers who focus on sustainability. Nordea’s asset management unit recently said it intends to keep only securities that meet environmental, social and governance standards in all its portfolios.

Pandora also stressed the price behind his decision. The stones made by the lab cost about a third of what they extracted and the switch said it will make gem diamonds available to more consumers.

“We’ve done a lot of research around the world to make sure that this proposal can be grounded with the customer base we really have,” Lacik said. “They really love making diamonds available to them.”

Pandora said the diamonds made in the lab will have the same physical characteristics as the stones carved. The new collection will include rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings, he said.

Pandora’s focus on sustainable production methods has coincided with a significant increase in market value. In the last year alone, the company’s shareholders have seen the value of the investment triple. And this week, Pandora has raised earnings guidelines to reflect faster sales growth expected.

Shares of the Danish company rose to 7%, trading a higher 5.6% from 12:03 in Copenhagen.

(Adds the CEO’s comments starting with the fourth paragraph.)
–With the help of Kim Bhasin and Thomas Biesheuvel.




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