The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled against Skydiamond following a complaint filed by the Natural Diamond Council (NDC). The complaint concerned an advertisement aired in February 2023, in which Skydiamond made several claims about its product, including being “the world’s first and only diamond made entirely from the sky” and featuring the world’s “rarest diamonds.” However, the NDC challenged whether these claims adequately conveyed that Skydiamond was selling lab-grown diamonds, not natural ones. The ruling, issued on April 10, found in favor of the complaint.
Skydiamond, owned by Dale Vince, founder of energy firm Ecotricity, argued that their visuals and information made it clear that their product wasn’t mined and thus didn’t require terms like “synthetic” or “laboratory grown.” They cited a 2018 ruling by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that stated “a diamond is a diamond” regardless of its origin. However, ASA found Skydiamond’s marketing to be misleading, as it omitted or obscured crucial information.
Furthermore, a survey of over 2,100 UK adults revealed that 25% were unaware of the existence of man-made diamonds. ASA emphasized that consumers could interpret the term “diamond” as naturally occurring crystallized carbon and that the distinction between natural and synthetic gemstones was crucial information for consumers.
ASA directed Skydiamond to refrain from using terms like “diamonds,” “diamonds made entirely from the sky,” and “skydiamond” without clear qualifiers like “synthetic,” “laboratory-grown,” or “laboratory-created.” Additionally, the claim of “real diamonds” for synthetic diamonds was deemed inappropriate.
Alan Cohen, co-president of the London Diamond Bourse (LDB), praised the ruling for protecting British consumers from deceptive marketing of synthetic diamonds. He expressed hope that such practices would cease and called for scrutiny of eco-friendliness claims in the future.
