Lightbox, based in Gresham, Oregon, has decided to slash its prices significantly, with reductions of up to 40 percent on its lab-grown diamonds, further distancing its prices from the market average.
After testing lower prices in the fourth quarter of 2023, Lightbox officially announced on Friday its decision to implement price cuts across all its products. The most significant price drop applies to its highest-quality diamonds.
Now, Lightbox is selling its “Finest” lab-grown diamonds, which boast D-F color, excellent cut, and VS clarity, for $900 per carat. This marks a 10 percent decrease from the trial price of $1,000 per carat and a 40 percent reduction from the original price of $1,500 per carat.
The price of I-J color lab-grown diamonds has been slashed by 38 percent, from $800 to $500 per carat, while G-H color stones are now priced at $600 per carat, down 25 percent from the previous $800 per carat.
Even before Lightbox made its price cuts permanent, its lab-grown diamonds were notably cheaper than the retail average, according to industry analyst Edahn Golan, co-founder of data analytics firm Tenoris. Golan observed that in April, the average retail price of a 1-carat lab-grown diamond was $1,093, which is 27 percent higher than Lightbox’s pricing for its standard lab-grown diamonds (G-J color and VS clarity).
Golan noted that retailers paid $364 for the same diamond, resulting in a gross margin of 67 percent. He remarked that De Beers, the parent company of Lightbox, appears to be committed to driving down retail prices for lab-grown diamonds by offering them significantly below market prices. However, even with the new pricing, Lightbox remains profitable, selling well above its production costs.
In addition to the price adjustments, Lightbox announced that it will now obtain batch quality verification for its lab-grown diamonds from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). GIA will evaluate a statistically significant sample from each production run to ensure they meet the lab’s quality standards for color, clarity, and cut. Each diamond in the batch will then come with a downloadable GIA “quality verification card.”
A spokesperson for GIA confirmed that the batch verification service was launched on Friday exclusively for Lightbox, similar to the pre-owned jewelry authentication service provided for eBay. The service will initially focus on verifying the quality of Lightbox’s D-F color white round brilliant-cut loose lab-grown diamonds, with the possibility of expanding to include blue and pink lab-grown diamonds in the future.
CEO of Lightbox, Antoine Borde, expressed his satisfaction with the company’s decision to lower prices, aligning them more closely with current industry dynamics. He also emphasized the importance of partnering with GIA to ensure the quality and consistency of their stones, aiming to enhance customer confidence and maintain transparency in their operations.
