US diamond and engagement ring retailer Blue Nile has started selling jewellery featuring lab-created diamonds alongside natural diamonds after years of resistance.
Blue Nile has sold jewellery featuring lab-created diamonds for many years, produced by De Beers’ Lightbox Jewelry brand, however the company did not offer lab-created options for engagement rings until recently.
“Blue Nile’s inventory appears to be a little different than some of its competitors. It seems to offering a large number of D-colour diamonds, likely because they were produced with the high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) method, which is considered better at producing high-colour diamonds than the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. Most HPHT diamonds are grown in China,” reports Rob Bates of JCK Online.
“Blue Nile also appears to be selling them primarily with GIA reports, in keeping with its longstanding practice. Though GIA has been grading lab-grown diamonds since 2020, the leading lab for natural diamonds has not been widely embraced among lab-grown diamond companies.”
The change in sales approach comes following Blue Nile’s purchase in August by rival Signet Jewelers in a $US360 million cash deal.
Blue Nile was founded in 1999 by Mark Vadon and is based in Seattle. The business was formed in a bid to capitalise on the rise of online shopping and within 10 years was one of the largest diamond and diamond engagement ring retailers in the US.
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