London Diamond Bourse Joins Industry Push to Use “Synthetic” Terminology

The London Diamond Bourse has recommended its UK members use “synthetic diamond” exclusively to describe lab-grown stones, becoming the first UK trade body to state a preference among the terms currently allowed under existing guidance. LDB president Charlotte Rose told Rapaport News.

the term protects “consumer confidence in the wider diamond and jewelry sector,” while chair of the WFDB Trade and Business Committee David Troostwyk called it “technically accurate, historically accurate and internationally understood.”

The move follows a unanimous vote in favor of “synthetic diamond” by affiliated bourses at the World Federation of Diamond Bourses’ 41st World Diamond Congress in Singapore in July, a proposal that drew on work by CIBJO’s diamond commission. France and Russia already require “synthetic” in their markets, and the American Gem Trade Association recently told members to call lab-grown gemstones “synthetic” or “man-made.”

CIBJO itself is weighing a related step: its diamond commission has approved a proposal to drop “lab-grown” from its Blue Books in favor of “synthetic,” with the organization’s board due to vote on it. The proposal has drawn objections from lab-grown diamond companies and India’s Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, along with letters in support.

Not everyone’s convinced the push matters: writing in The Jewelry Wire, Rob Bates argued the terminology campaign is largely symbolic without FTC backing, and that most lab-grown retailers don’t use “synthetic” voluntarily.