Pandora to drop mined diamonds as part of its broader strategy

Bloomberg

Pandora A/S, which makes more pieces of jewellery than any other company in the world, will stop using mined diamonds as part of a broader strategy to drop raw materials associated with unethical production methods.
Despite decades of reform, the global jewellery market remains tainted by reports of human rights abuses at mines and factories. To address such concerns, Tiffany & Co last year started providing customers with details of newly sourced, individually registered diamonds that trace a stone’s path all the way back to the mine.
Pandora, which is based in Copenhagen, said on Tuesday it will now only use diamonds manufactured in laboratories. The company is set to release its first collection using lab-made stones in the UK, and will turn to other markets in 2022.
While diamonds represent a small fraction of Pandora’s sales, the move reflects greater demand for sustainability in the broader market and comes as jewelry faces stiff competition from other luxury goods, such as travel and iPhones, especially with younger consumers.
A host of lab-grown-diamond makers and retailers have sprung up in recent years, keen to target customers with more affordable stones that aren’t marred by the same ethical and environmental issues as mined diamonds.
Global diamond sales fell 15% in 2020 due to lockdowns, travel restrictions and economic uncertainty, according to a research report by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre and Bain & Co. Production of rough diamonds fell 20% in 2020 and prices declined by 11%.
Pandora’s lab-made diamonds are grown from carbon with more than 60% renewable energy on average, a ratio that’s set to rise to 100% next year.